National First Ladies' Library
Movies for a Nickel! The Nickelodeon
Students identify and participate in this activity to identify and learn about the early history of the film industry, and consider the impact of movies on society ever since. Then they use the websites listed to study various aspects of...
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Orchestra Tax Battle
Students read a newspaper article about the controversial taxation of an orchestra. They define vocabulary, complete comprehension worksheets, analyze the use of verb forms in the article and take a 'true or false' quiz.
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Scene Writing
Eighth graders create an original scene or short one-act play within specified guidelines. Assessment is based upon the performance of student-created scenes during class time. Rubrics for assessment and connection to state standards...
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Write Your Own "I Have a Dream" Speech
Students listen to King's famous "I Have a Dream" speech. They use a fill-in-the-blanks worksheet to express their dreams for the world in a format similar to King's speech.
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Our Side of the Story: African Americans Share Their Experiences of Slavery
Seventh graders listen to a variety of folktales sharing experiences of slavery. As a class, they compare and contrast reading a story and telling a story. They participate in a role play activity to discover the journey of a slave and...
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Richie's Rocket
Fourth graders, after reading with intonation and expression the book, "Richie's Rocket," by Joan Anderson, circulate in centers to create a puzzle with emotions and experiences from the ideas in the story, write the definition of words...
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Richie's Rocket
Fourth graders, while working in centers read Richie's Rocket by Joan Anderson, and then create a puzzle using ideas, emotions, and experiences from the story. In addition, they write specific definitions for certain words, use those...
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A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words
Students design and create photo albums that tell the story of the play, Twelfth Night, using pictures they take of themselves recreating various scenes of the play.
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I WILL NOT HEAR THAT PLAY: PERFORMING A DUMB SHOW
Students perform a "dumb show" based on a short passage from either A Midsummer Night's Dream or King Lear. This technique allows students to explain the action taking place on stage and the variety of different ways that action can be...
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Recalling History by Pulling Strings
Students investigate the role and nature of story-telling as it preserves history and culture and discuss how puppetry serves as an effective method of presentation. They create basic outlines for puppet shows that relay important...
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Integrated Dance Curriculum: Snow
Young scholars, through the leading questions, guided imagery, and dance, gain a greater comprehension of snow, weather, and the five senses.
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Getting to Know You
Students explore the concept of communication. In this communication instructional activity, students create collages featuring their likes and dislikes. Students present the collages to their classmates.
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JANE AND THE DRAGON
Third graders act out a play called Jane and the Dragon. Students develop vocabulary through dialogue. They delve into the feelings of others through learning about the characters. They also identify the characteristics of various types...
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Paper Dragon Puppet
Students construct simple dragon puppets in honor of Chinese New Year. They are introduced to Chinese mythology, make the puppets out of recycled materials and put on a show with the finished puppets.
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Chance Dance Compositions
Fourth graders create dances through a randomly generated process (such as throwing a dice) and perform their dances for the class. Class work is based on Merce Cunningham's "Chance Dance" and includes walking, skipping hopping, and...
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The Starry Night Time and Day Time
Second graders complete a unit of lessons on the solar system. They complete various art projects inspired by Van Gogh's 'Starry Night,' create a moon phases book, create a moon phase wind chime, develop a timeline of space exploration,...
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Mobile Phones
Investigate how mobile phones impact their lives through this technology lesson that has students discuss the history of the cell phone and research how cell phones are being used in third world countries. Students create a blog for new...
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About Abraham Lincoln
Fifth graders complete a unit of lessons on the life of Abraham Lincoln. They read and analyze a poem, create a timeline, write an essay, research The Gettysburg Address and The Emancipation Proclamation, explore websites, and interview...
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Tread Lightly: Where We Stand
Students explore the concept of ecological footprints. In this environmental stewardship lesson, students calculate their ecological footprints and consider how to reduce them.
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Physical Differences
Students read the story The Ugly Duckling and discuss how all people are physically different. In this physical differences lesson plan, students read the book and then use flashcards and a hands on activity in order to explore people...
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The Three Faces of William Penn
Students analyze art depicting William Penn. They analyze three different paintings discussing the symbolism, artistic elements, and depiction of Native Americans in each painting.
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America in Film and Fiction
Students begin the instructional activity by reading a book on film study. After watching the movie "Citizen Kane", they work together to identify the issues concerning the United States before World War II. As a class, they discuss...
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Out and About: Masks
Students investigate the art of mask-making. In this cultural masks lesson, students may visit the Hancock or Horniman Museums in Britain online or in-person to discover details about cultural masks and give a try at making their own.
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Build A Tree
Students study the different parts of a tree and the significance of each part. In this build a tree lesson, students use role-playing theater to reinforce what they are learning. Students use their imagination to become tree parts...