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Reading Comprehension Jobs
Students practice different strategies to help them draw meaning from their reading. Students, divided into groups, read an assigned text selection. Each group member provided a summary of what they have been read based on a particular...
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Au Revoir Les Enfants Film Comparison/Contrast
In this film analysis worksheet, students compare and contrast one of the themes in "Lord of the Flies" using the film "Au Revoir Les Enfants." Students write a comparison and contrast essay for the activity.
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Birth of the Cowboy
Students examine how the image of the cowboy changed at the turn of the century. They read about cowboys' shifting reputation at the turn of the century and connect popular perceptions of the cowboy to a trend in popular culture that...
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Race and Genetics: An Integrated Approach
Students analyze racial issues related to the Human Genome Project. They participate in a mock symposium and write a reflection/position paper based on specific ethical principals.
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Lizards
Fourth graders recall lizards from the text and report their important traits. The teacher adds the information to the map. They watch the map expand while it organizes all of the lizards and their characteristics.
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Art Mystery
Students explore famous artists in order to write mystery stories incorporating their life and works. They write their own based on their research of a particular artist.
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Science Fiction
Students complete compare and contrast activities for two stories about racism and tolerance in the science fiction genre. In this literary analysis lesson, students read a Ray Bradbury short story and Walter Mosley poem, watch a related...
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Kid Lit Crit
Students explore different types of student literature; they then write their own fiction pieces, in either fantasy/adventure or memoir/realism style.
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Watsons Go To Birmingham--1963Patricia Wachholz
High schoolers research the 1960s to prepare for reading the book, The Watsons Go To Birmingham, by Christopher Paul Curtis. They watch a documentary, create a timeline, and listen to music from the 1960s.
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The Little Rock Central High Crisis
Eighth graders identify the events that led to the Little Rock Central High Crisis. They observe and explain the causes and affects of the Little Rock Central High Crisis.
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The Chocolate War
High schoolers participate in a variety of activities in order to take part in a layered curriculum unit that focuses on a novel study. This allows for a student centered classroom and instructional practices.
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Romeo and Juliet Mix-It-Up
High schoolers identify themes in Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet by analyzing the film or text. In this tolerance lesson plan, students create their own Elizabethan era terms related to interacting with different social groups. In...
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Characters' Coming of Age
Students develop older versions of child or adolescent characters from favorite works of literature, adapting them for teenage or adult sequels. They each outline a sequel and write its first chapter.
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The Grapes of Wrath: Voices from the Great Depression
Students research the Great Depression. In this Great Depression lesson, students analyze primary sources to develop an understanding of the plight of migrant farm workers during the Great Depression as they read Steinbeck's The...
English Enhanced Scope and Sequence
Media Literacy with Focus of Strategies for Collaboration
Introduce your class to literary analysis with a series of activities that has them examine book and movie reviews. Groups then draft their own review of a text, select a digital medium, and craft a presentation.
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Out of the Dust: Visions of Dust Bowl History Lesson Overview
Students complete activities with the book Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse. In this literature lesson, students read this story and view the Dust Bowl history from the eyes of a child. They discover the Great Depression and life in the...
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Faulkner's "The Sound and the Fury": Narration, Voice, and the Compson Family's New System
Students compare and contrast narrative speakers in "The Sound and the Fury" and describe Faulkner's "South" in the context of the historical South. They describe how the South was changing socially and economically.
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Literature: "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" by J. K. Rowling
Students examine websites about the fourth book in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series.
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Dream Killers
Third graders explore figurative language in Jacob Have I Loved and define what is a dream killer.
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Citizens for Responsible Change
Third graders write a petition to a school figure, get signatures from other students, share the petition with the appropriate authority, and then work as leaders to carry out the group's solution.
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Dead Man Walking
Students consider personal opinions about capital punishment and have an intelligent debate after reading Dead Man Walking by Sister Helen Prejean.
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How the Vietnam War Transformed California?
Eleventh graders examine the effect of the Vietnam War on California. They work together to research social movements that occured during this period and its outcomes. They also interview veterans to better understand the impact of the...
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Technology: The State of the Internet
Young scholars develop ratings criteria for evaluating Websites. Once they brainstorm lists of qualities for Websites, students, in pairs, browse various Maine Websites and create evaluation systems. As a follow-up activity, young...
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Do a Ditty
Fourth graders work in cooperative groups to create a ditty to teach the characteristics that distinguish literary forms to younger students. The ditty is performed before the class.