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News From Home
Students investigate the feelings of Iranian immigrants in California by reading an online article. They write an article on immigrants' thoughts on current events in their home countries.
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It's a Small World After All
Students link important individuals who shaped the news in 2002 by playing a variation of a game based on the idea that all people can be connected with 6 or less associations between them. They propose appropriate New Year's resolutions.
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Slanted Sentences
Students examine biased words in news articles, suggest synonyms, then rewrite the sentences to demonstrate how word choice can alter meaning.
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What's the Story?
Students explore how the same news story can be presented differently through various journalistic styles. They discuss the unique characteristics of each style and find articles on the same event in each of the different styles.
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Exhibiting Hope
Students watch a video clip about the effect of Hurricane Katrina. They examine the challenges that New Orleans still faces a year after the hurricane. They work together in small groups to create a museum exhibit on a topic of interest...
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Kicking It Around
Students analyze the recent boom in women's sports, focusing on the Women's World Cup Soccer tournament to examine various people's views about women athletes. They write a newspaper article summarizing what they learned in their...
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"One Giant Leap for Mankind"
Students explore the significance of the Apollo 11 lunar landing by interviewing an adult for memories of the mission. They incorporate their interviews into news articles as 'journalists' in July 1969 to document this historic 'step for...
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Too Free, Or Not Too Free?
Students create a survey that examines what level of electronic surveillance might be acceptable to members of the school and community. They poll the community, and analyze the results in the form of graphs and a written news article.
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Tour de Force on the Tour de France
Students explore the incredible obstacles that Lance Armstrong overcame to become the second American winner of the Tour de France. They choose a person whom they admire as the subject of a 'Man in the News' or 'Woman in the News' article.
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Does Free Speech Exist in School?
Students examine their own First Amendment rights as students. They read and discuss a news article, discuss the Supreme Court case Frederick v. Morse, take an online quiz and conduct Internet research, and create a brochure outlining...
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Legally Wed
Students explore the controversial topic of same-sex marriages in a fishbowl discussion. They write balanced news articles based on interviews exploring people's opinions on laws that define marriage.
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Interview With A Psychoanalyst
Students discuss health topics they would like to know more about. They read an article interviewing a psychoanalyst. They resarch any questions they have about a specific scienctist. They write their own newspaper article using...
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Dream Big
Young scholars discuss the success of privately built and flown space crafts by reading and discussing a news article. They develop adventure trip proposals to present to Sir Richard Branson. Students write essays reflecting on the...
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Team Works
Students define "group" and list American social and political movements throughout history. They examine one model of a successful team and positive group mentality by reading and identify the traits of a successful group and those of...
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Flights of Fancy?
Students reflect on the dynamics of human flight and how objects fall through the air and how science principles are used in flight.
They create a How-It-Works poster diagramming the science behind one method of flying. In addition,...
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Are We Safer?
Learners discuss the meaning of feeling safe in their environment after September 11th. After reading National Intelligence reports and news articles summarizing the findings about national security, they write letters to their...
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The Art of Violence
Violence and human suffering, as represented in art and film, are the focus of an investigation of the power of visual images and the moral implications of such representations. Class members examine “Guernica,” Pablo Picasso’s massive...
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Getting Fired Up
Students explore first-person accounts of volcanic eruptions throughout time and use second-hand information about volcanoes. They use both types of accounts to write news articles covering the events of a historic volcanic eruption as...
The New York Times
A Worker's Compensation
Middle schoolers read about the history of Labor Day in a newspaper article. They discuss difficulties American employees of the past had to face, learn about labor rallies, and conduct Internet research. Part of the intention of this...
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Is Your Home Hazardous to Your Health?
Learners use a newspaper article as a springboard to small group research about common household toxins, focusing on where would one find these toxins in the home, the effects of the toxins on the human body and treatment for poisoning...
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Social Activism in the United States
Seventh graders explore the goals of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. In this US History lesson plan, 7th graders read a newspaper article that reported a significant event during this era. Students write a summary of...
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Hard News to Hear
Students compare the news angle, information sources and construction of different news reports about the Russian school hostage crisis. Based on what they explore the event and about reporting breaking news, they write an analysis of...
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Straight News
Students review the 'Inverted Pyramid' and demonstrate their ability to outline it in a published news story. For this Inverted pyramid lesson, students read an article that is out of order and decide which order it should go in.
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A Choice of Voice
Team work can produce great results. Your class will analyze the design, news content, and demographic profiles of local alternative newsweeklies. They then design and write articles for their own community working together as editorial...