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Writing a Mystery Story
Students examine the elements of mystery stories and read Rage in Harlem. In reciprocal teaching groups, they discuss the author's development of the story, and complete dialectical journals.
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Literature Review
High schoolers review for a literature exam by answering knowledge question, interpretation questions and judgement questions about a novel or story they have just read.
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Student Book Reviews/ The Outsiders
Eighth graders participate in a lesson that focuses on the devleopment of reading skills looking for critical elements. They compose a book review for "The Outsiders" after reading previous reviews. Students also access the web in order...
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Searching for Me in You
High schoolers explore their own culture and identity through the study of literature and artwork of other cultures. Students read and discuss Last of the Breed and identify cultural values. They create a presentation that incorporates...
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The Call to Greatness: A Search for Moral Integrity in the Urban Classroom
Eleventh graders read a variety of novels surrounding the theme of "greatness." In groups, they discuss various aspects of each novel and create a group bulletin board to identify and display the most important information from the...
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Stories That Grow on Trees
Students create their own plot-choice story after reading and discussing a commercially published plot-choice book.
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True or False - The Hobbit
Students explore The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. In this literature lesson, students recall events and literary elements in the text of the novel as they complete a worksheet.
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Poetry
Fourth graders participate in reading and listening to poetry. They are exposed to a variety of poems and examine and identify basic elements of poetry. They write their own poems and recite a poem with enthusiasm, expression, and props.
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Word Choice: Loss and Lost
In these word choice worksheets, students read the sentences and then complete each sentence with the word loss and lost.
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Bless Me, Ultima - 1
Tenth graders consider the importance of setting in the Southwest-themed novel "Bless Me, Ultima". As part of a larger unit, 10th graders research the setting of New Mexico and work in groups to prepare presentations about the region's...
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Images of China
Young scholars examine the Chinese poem "The River-Merchant's Wife: A Letter" by Li Po while comparing the different ways of "reading" an artwork in order to understand the differences between Chinese and American painting.
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Bridge to Terabithia
Students read Katherine Paterson's book, A Bridge to Terabithia, and select small groups to complete a project based on a chapter of the book. They create a story web for the chapter, summarize it, design a brochure or advertisement,...
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A Clockwork Orange: Anticipation Guide and 4 Corners
Get your kids up and moving with this prereading activity for A Clockwork Orange! After your class completes the anticipation guide (included), they walk to the corner of the room that you've deemed for those who strong disagree,...
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Learning About Fiction Genres in the Elementary School Library
Teaching about fiction genres can be challenging. The lesson here, designed for library media specialists, offers a fun way to do it. In the lesson, learners visit the library and learn about the different types of fiction through book...
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The Call of the Wild: Differences Between a Book and a Movie Adaptation
Fling your class members “into the heart of things primordial” with a Venn diagram activity that highlights how the same themes are treated in the film and book versions of The Call of the Wild. Consider extending the exercise by having...
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Hatchet
Students write about a time when they were in a situation where nature frightened them. They write about how Brian solved the problem of how to start a fire in the story. Students complete a short research paper on one of the plants or...
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Lyddie
Students investigate the character trait of perseverance and how it is used to help a girl gain independence in a fictional story. The story also has them think about the value of relationships and then write reflectively about...
Star Wars in the Classroom
"Shakespeare and Star Wars": Lesson Plan Day 6
How can a screenplay create meaning and drama in ways that other forms of writing cannot? That is the question class members must answer as they compare the cantina scene of the screenplay for George Lucas's Star Wars: A New Hope with...
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Narrative Writing
Fifth graders study narrative writing. In this language arts lesson, 5th graders review how an author uses vivid verbs, imagery, and adjectives to capture reader's attention. Students explore literary devices of foreshadowing, flashback...
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A Look Through My Antonia's Eyes
Thoroughly delve into My Antonia by Willa Cather with a plethora of activities. Engage scholars with videos and web sites in this week-long unit that explains the historical context and creates pioneers in the field of research. An...
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Civil Rights in America
Seventh graders visit the Smithsonian and are shown different exhibits. They are to make their own drawing about one of the exhibits and write about the experience.
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Primary Sources and Protagonists: A Native American Literature Unit
Introduce your middle schoolers to the lives of past Native Americans. First, learners work together to put photographs in a sequence. Then, using their sequence, they create stories to share with the whole class. No matter how old your...
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Punctuation Game
Students identify and use hyphens, dashes, and semicolons. Using teacher created cards, they correct sentences written on the board by the instructor.
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Bring Literature Circles Into Your Classroom
Tips and strategies for adding literature circles to your language arts curriculum.