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Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program
Here’s the overview for a series of lessons about the Japanese American internment introduced by the resource entitled “A Fence Away From Freedom.” Included are the link to the Smithsonian website on which the lessons are based, a list...
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Folktales: Oral Traditions as a Basis for Instruction in our Schools
Pupils visit their school library to read a variety of folktales. While they read, they identify the trickster or hero in each and discuss how the character represents the chaos in the real world. In groups, they write their own...
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Writing The Resume: Skills And Accomplishments
Students spend time listing the things they are good at. In this exercise, there are no limits; students are encouraged to list all types of skills. They focus on those skills and accomplishments that are directly related to their job...
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So You Want to Be a TV Reporter!
Pupils work in pairs to interview each other. They identify interviewing skills and methods, conduct a preliminary interview, develop a working script from the notes and participate in a final interview for the camera.
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Writing About Art: Comparing Portraits
Students write a composition comparing and contrasting two portraits. In this comparing and contrasting lesson, students will observe two portraits and compare them through their writing. They then will write a letter to the artists...
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Writing to See
Learners write descriptively and creatively after looking carefully at a work of art.
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Extra, Extra Write All About It!
Students examine photographs from newspapers and write a headline and story for one of the examples. In this news writing lesson, students analyze a photograph as a class and discuss it. Students analyze photographs and example headlines...
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Using Southeast Asian Folktales to Teach Reading and Writing
Young scholars use maps to locate the countries of Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. In groups, they compare and contrast the three countries in regard to their culture, morals and values. They read various examples of folktales and write...
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Writing a Descriptive Paragraph
Students discuss the definition of a descriptive paragraph with the class. They read an example of a descriptive paragraph and then write one of their own using one of the included ideas.
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Writing A Thanksgiving Day Story
Students write a Thanksgiving Day Story using some or all of the words included in the worksheet. These stories can be fiction or non-fiction (Personal Essays). They are graded on sentence structure, paragraph structure, grammar,...
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Writing Decimals in Word Form
Middle schoolers observe an example on the board to examine what to do on their worksheet. They pass out the worksheets and work on them independently to practice their skills of writing decimals in word form.
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Making a Magical Story
Students create their own magical story. In this story writing lesson, students listen to the story The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe b C.S. Lewis to find the basic elements of a story. They come up with their own magical characters,...
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A Study of China with Lon Po Po, a Chinese Little Red-riding Hood
Sixth graders study and identify the elements of a story such as. setting, character, plot, and theme, using two versions of the folktale Little Red-Riding Hood. They use the Internet to locate more information on the author Ed Young.
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A Year (a Day or a Week) In My Life as a Shorebird
Learners describe the basic life history of one shorebird common to their area. They use the writing process which includes brainstorming, rough draft writing, peer editing, and re-writing to create a factually and grammatically...
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Breaking the Chains, Rising out of Circumstances
Students research, write, and draw about Roman versus American slavery. In this slavery lesson plan, students look at the Roman portraits of slaves, its influence on Western European art, and compare Roman slavery to American slavery.
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Identifying the Theme in a Story
Students recognize Theme through the use of simple, short stories. Using Pro Quest, students begin by researching the literary element, theme, and how it can be identified. They then identify the themes in Aesop's Fables and other short...
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Math and Money
Students explore personal finance. In this middle school mathematics instructional activity, students investigate banking, income tax, and the cost of living. The instructional activity includes two bonus lessons on graphing their...
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Spooky Story
Second graders write a Halloween story. In this combined technology and writing instructional activity, 2nd graders create a Halloween picture using KidPix, insert it into Microsoft Word, and then write a story to correspond with the...
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Basil Heatter, "The Long Night of the Little Boats"
“It was a miracle.” Basil Heatter’s “The Long Night of the Little Boats,” which details the miraculous rescue of the British army from the shores of Dunkirk in 1940, is featured in a series of exercises that ask class members to read,...
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The Jacket: Journal Templates Teacher's Guide
Explore this story involving prejudice and racism to enhance learners' comprehension skills. The story The Jacket by Andrew Clements involves an African American boy who is falsely accused of stealing someone's jacket. This teacher's...
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The Ultimate Classroom: R & D
Redecorate a classroom on a budget. Middle schoolers rebuild a classroom after a disaster. They conduct Internet research to determine construction supplies needed and the most cost effective way to reach the predetermined results. They...
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Read All About It! California History of the 30s and 40s
Explore the Great Depression! Discover the challenges people experienced during the time period. Learners investigate photographs from the Dust Bowl and WWII era and create a story line about the photographs, writing a newspaper article...
Smithsonian Institution
Students’ Response to 9/11—A Documentary Report
Young historians research the devastating attacks of 9/11 and use that information to script their own documentaries. The follow-up activity includes recording the documentary and conducting classmate interviews,
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Stereotype Characters Activity
Here is a instructional activity designed for middle schoolers which helps them recognize stereotypes one way or another against a particular group of people. They also determine what may have motivated the author to use a stereotype in...