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Conflicting Views
Students complete a Venn diagram comparing the United States and Afghanistan. They research the history of the Taliban and how they relate to the United States and its foreign policy. They write a paper on possible solutions.
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Unit Plan for Mark Twain and American Humor
Students create brochures about the humor of Mark Twain. In this literature-analysis lesson plan, students read "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" and other short stories by Twain. Students write analytical paragraphs and...
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An Ancient Revolution: The Written Word
Students examine the Bible, one of the earliest written sources, as a compilation of narratives, and search the resources on the HERITAGE DVD-ROM for historical "proof" as well as create their own stories and scripts based on ancient...
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Harlem Renaissance
Students investigate the African American culture in the 1920's and the Harlem Renaissance. They read and analyze poems written by poets of the Harlem Renaissance, listen to jazz music and identify the characteristics of the music, and...
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Transforming Fairy Tales
Students use the computer to write, draw, explore the Internet, and combine all of these elements. They write their own fairy tales, use computer software to create drawings of the characters for their tales and use the Internet to...
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Substance Abuse Prevention at Hollywood High
Students research alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs using cd-roms, Internet websites, and media center materials. In small groups they write a script and create a computer animated movie using the "Hollywood High" computer software.
Pennsylvania Department of Education
Analyzing Literary Elements in Fiction
Students analyze the characters and events in fictional writing. In this literary elements lesson, students study the meaning of the words characterization and fiction. They listen to the story Pigsty by Mark Teague, or any other book...
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Football: It's Not Just for Jocks!
Eighth graders complete a variety of football-themed activities. They develop creative writing projects with a football inspiration, research and interpret football statistics and practice football skills in P.E.
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I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Students read and analyze the novel "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou. They discuss the poetry and prose of the book, the importance of role models, complete a worksheet, and write a narrative using figurative language.
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Boundaries That Inspire: The Sestina
Young scholars study the poetic term "enjambment". They use one word as more than one part of speech and let words (instead of ideas) inspire lines and non-sequential, dreamlike, compulsive narrative.
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Theology…the Use of Silence in the Classroom
Immerse your class in the Middle Ages with a thorough history lesson. After viewing examples of illuminated manuscripts such as the Book of Kells, they discuss how these were the mode of keeping and storing information employed by the...
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Stain My Days Blue
Students read several poems related to the life and culture of the Appalachia region. They are introduced to the poetic forms of simile, alliteration and onomatopoeia and respond to the poems through journal entries and poetry of their own.
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Creative Writing Inspired by Paintings
Third graders view a PowerPoint presentation of the images by Maxfield Parrish. They wirte a short story based on one image and create drawings of an imagined character.
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Am I Really Free?
Fourth graders write about slavery and freedom. In this freed slaves lesson, 4th graders read historical information about free blacks during slavery and explore books, objects and slave narratives to learn more. Students write a...
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Comparison Contrast Essay
Students compare and contrast the experience of the migrant worker as depicted in The Grapes of Wrath with the experiences of migrant children as depicted in the narratives and poems provided.
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Deciphering Community
Young scholars explore the concept of a community. They identify and group various kinds of communities. Students create a concept map exemplifying their membership in different communities. They write a narrative describing their...
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Language Arts: Lewin Project
Fourth graders read and respond to the poem, "When I Am Angry." They complete surveys by analyzing the most common feeling and draw a bar graph of their behavior, using different colors to identify the duration of various feelings. ...
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Reader's Theater
Students act out and interpret the story for their peers. They study the simplest form of an organized reading to a more elaborate activity involving props, costumes, or a reinterpretation of the narrative into another art form.
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We're Environmentally Friendly
Fourth graders examine written works dealing with environmental issues and resolutions during a 5 week unit. They create posters, poems, and rap songs demonstrating authorship and knowledge of the environment.
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Re-Presenting Race in the Digital Age: "Who Can Pass"
Eleventh graders examine the relationship between race and class in historical and societal settings. They read and discuss the poem, "Passing," by Langston Hughes, analyze photographs by Yinka Shonibare, answer discussion questions,...
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Introducing Tolkien and His Words
Students identify and describe the types of narratives that made Tolkien the writer he was. In groups, they examine different myths and folktale motifs. They discuss what Tolkien meant by "faerie" and "eucatastrophe." As a class, they...
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About Life: The Photographs of Dorthea Lange - Images of Children in Dorothea Lange's Photographs
Students examine how visual artists tell stories with their work. In this visual art instructional activity, students study two of Dorothea Lange's photographs to find elements of art and narrative content, use descriptive language when...
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Three Coffles Lesson Plan
Students read about the slave trade in primary source documents. They discuss differences and commonalities in experiences. They write prose or poetry from the point of view of one of the figures from the reading and create a triptych.
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Exploring the Life of a Slave
Eleventh graders explore importance of abolitionists who worked to advance freedoms of black Americans prior to/during Reconstruction era, read and identify key concepts in Frederick Douglass's narrative, recognize how Douglass's slave...