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Literary Analysis of Theme
Remember reading "The Lottery" and "The Possibility of Evil" by Shirley Jackson? Learners can experience and analyze the tension, themes, and human experience found in these pieces through reading and class discussion. They use...
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Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day
Second graders interact with the story of Alexander's horrible day by connecting it to their lives. They practice predicting, writing paragraphs, reading aloud, discussing his problems, making a card to cheer him up, and designing a pair...
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Introduction to Drama
Introduce your class to drama! You cast each pupil as a different character from a story you have read. They are given a general outline of the scene, act out the scene multiple times, then discuss the weak and strong aspects of each...
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Counting Back and Counting On
Read aloud your choice of books about counting on and counting back (a list is provided, or tell stories of your own). Your learners will write horizontal equations to portray what happens in the story. They build a paper chain and...
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Latin Roots Dict, Vent, Duct: Beginning Quiz
Learners fill in the blanks for 12 sentences with words derived from the Latin roots dict, vent, and duct in an interactive online quiz. A word bank provides choices from the beginning level at MyVocabulary.com. Alert quiz takers that...
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Word Roots 1: Dict, Vent, Duct Advanced Fill-in-the-Blank
Choosing words from a provided list, learners use context clues to fill in each blank on this online, interactive vocabulary activity. Class members receive immediate feedback when they click submit. Consider this list as part of a unit...
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Latin Roots spect, sta, vert: True/False Quiz
Secondary etymologists assess their mastery of words derived from the Latin roots spect/spec, sta/sist, and vert/vers. Using true/false format, learners agree or disagree with how the words are used in context sentences. Handy for SAT...
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Word Roots 7: SPECT, STA, VERT Advanced Fill-in-the-Blanks
Looking for a solid vocabulary exercise? This one might be for you! For this activity, learners fill in 12 blanks using context clues, word roots, and a word bank. They can receive instant feedback, since this resource is online and...
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Tolerance: Words that Hurt/Words that Heal
Students "role-play" the part of a person who says unkind things and are photographed while doing so. They then act out a story about making friends. They practice saying kind things and are photographed. Word bubbles are added...
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Desert Views: First Impressions
Students are introduced to primary source material and the ways in which early travelers viewed aspects of the desert environment. The lesson addresses the geography themes of location, region, and human/environment interaction.
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Rhyme Time Lesson Plan
What words rhyme? Help young learners deepen their understanding of rhyming words with this interactive plan. First they identify some words that rhyme, then they participate in a picture walk. Use books with rhyme, like Come Rhyme...
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Shaping Up!
Kindergartners are introduced to basic shapes. Learners spend 45 minutes a day in geometry centers carrying out the activities outlined in this ambitious plan. There are games, hands-on activities, interactive websites, art projects,...
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Some Houses Are Made of Straw, Wood, or Brick: But... This House is Made of Mud...
First graders read and discuss several stories. They share information about different types of shelter around the world. They explain that lifestyles and shelter depend very much on where people live and how they use the resources...
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The Meaning Behind the Mask
Students explore the world of African masks and storytelling. They create masks that tell stories of their own.
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The Power of Mental Images: Visualizing Literature
Looking for a powerful reading comprehension method? Try visualization! Learners use this strategy to increase comprehension of a chapter book selected by the teacher. As an assessment, individuals or small groups draw pictures of the...
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Dino-Facts!
Students use a database to gather facts about dinosaurs. They practice searching about specific dinosaurs that are of interest to them. To end the lesson, they write a story describing the behaviors, eating habits, and environments of...
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The King's Chessboard
Middle schoolers speculate on the better rate of pay: a dollar a day for 10 days, or a penny the first day, two pennies the second, doubling each day for 10 days. Start by listening to the story The King's Chessboard, by David Birch....
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The Power of Mental Images: Visualizing Literature
With a chapter book in hand, readers practice visualizing the events and characters of the story. The lesson gives suggestions of novels that are rich in detail to help facilitate the process. Drawings from what they read act as the...
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My Senator and Me: A Dog's-Eye View of Washington, D.C.
Although this legislative process activity is designed to accompany a specific text, it is valuable independently. Young learners participate in a picture walk (worksheet included) through My Senator and Me:...
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Peace Education | Wreath or Tree Craft
What is peace and what does it mean to our society? To understand why peace is celebrated and what character traits or concepts relate to the action of peace, learners engage in a discussion, story time, and a craft project. The lesson...
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Literacy Lesson: Guided Reading
Here is a wonderful lesson plan designed for students with special needs. This well-thought-out lesson plan uses Big Books, familiar stories, and has a lot of review learning built into it. The book, The Keeping Quilt is used in the main...
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Time Capsule Survey
Here's a fun way to incorporate technology into your curriculum. E-mail each of your class members a picture and 10 questions about the photo. Individuals then imagine the story behind the image and e-mail back their responses. Although...
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Talk is Cheap
Second graders listen to the tale, "The Tortoise and the Hare" and discuss the moral of the story. Afterward, they brainstorm words that encouraged the Tortoise to accomplish his goal. Students then review the concept of goal setting and...
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Graphing Memories
Mem Fox’s Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge provides the labels for a graphing activity. Class members create an illustration of a memory item brought from home, and place their illustration in the proper column of a graph. When the...