Students engage in a rich study of vocabulary words from the song "America the Beautiful," using music and art.
"America the Beautiful": Using Music and Art to Develop Vocabulary
Grades
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Grocery Store Scavenger Hunt: Researching Nutrition to Advertise for Health
6 - 8
Lesson Plan
| Unit
After researching nutrition and analyzing food advertisements, students work in cooperative groups to create their own advertisements for food products.
Grades
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Campaigning for Fair Use: Public Service Announcements on Copyright Awareness
6 - 8
Lesson Plan
| Unit
Students explore a range of resources on fair use and copyright then design their own audio public service announcements (PSAs), to be broadcast over the school's public address system.
Grades
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Comparing Fiction and Nonfiction with "Little Red Riding Hood Text" Sets
K - 2
Lesson Plan
| Unit
Students discuss and compare differing versions of "Little Red Riding Hood" and other tales about wolves in cumulative read-aloud sessions and text set explorations.
Grades
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The History Behind Song Lyrics
6 - 8
Lesson Plan
| Unit
Students research the items listed in the song "We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel, noting their historical relevance, and then document their findings using an online chart.
Grades
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Literary Characters on Trial: Combining Persuasion and Literary Analysis
6 - 8
Lesson Plan
| Unit
Students stage a mock trial for a literary character, with groups of students acting as the prosecution, defense, and jury.
Grades
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Investigating the Holocaust: A Collaborative Inquiry Project
6 - 8
Lesson Plan
| Unit
Students explore a variety of resources as they learn about the Holocaust. Working collaboratively, they investigate the materials, prepare oral responses, and produce a topic-based newspaper to complete their research.
Grades
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Modeling Reading and Analysis Processes with the Works of Edgar Allan Poe
6 - 8
Lesson Plan
| Unit
Explore reading strategies using Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" and other works. Students read Poe's works in both large- and small-group readings then conclude with a variety of projects.
Grades
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Beyond the Story: A Dickens of a Party
6 - 8
Lesson Plan
| Unit
Students attend a 19th Century Victorian party to celebrate Scrooge's new outlook on life. They research characters from Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol and assume those personas for the party.
Grades
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Experiencing Haiku Through Mindfulness, Movement & Music
5 - 8
Lesson Plan
| Unit
By being present and mindful on nature walks, students write haiku using vivid sensory language; and explore body movement, music and art as visual and kinesthetic representations of their poetry.
Grades
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Investigating Animals: Using Nonfiction for Inquiry-based Research
K - 2
Lesson Plan
| Unit
Inspired by their curiosity about animals, students work together to research an animal of their choice and present the information they gather to an authentic audience.
Grades
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Book Reviews, Annotation, and Web Technology
6 - 8
Lesson Plan
| Unit
Students work in groups to create annotated book reviews with links to topics of interest related to their book.
Grades
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Choose Your Own Adventure: A Hypertext Writing Experience
6 - 8
Lesson Plan
| Unit
Students analyze "choose your own adventure" stories and brainstorm to develop setting, characters, and plots for their own adventures stories and related Websites.
Grades
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Writing Reports in Kindergarten? Yes!
K
Lesson Plan
| Unit
This lesson encourages young students to see themselves as writers with a message to convey. Three types of reports are provided to show what kindergartners and emergent writers can do.
Grades
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Story Character Homepage
6 - 8
Lesson Plan
| Unit
Students analyze personal homepages, as well as a character in a book they have read, and then create a homepage for the character.
Grades
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Expository EscapadeDetective's Handbook
6 - 8
Lesson Plan
| Unit
Students create a Detective's Handbook based on a detective mystery they have read. The handbooks include expository and descriptive writing, as well as a letter.
Grades
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From Stop Signs to the Golden Arches: Environmental Print
K - 1
Lesson Plan
| Unit
Students bring the print-rich environment of the community into the classroom through the use of environmental print, enabling emergent readers to delight in the realization that they are indeed readers.
Grades
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Introducing Each Other: Interviews, Memoirs, Photos, and Internet Research
6 - 8
Lesson Plan
| Unit
Students use their communication and writing skills as they interview a partner, write an article about them, and create a multimodal presentation to introduce their partner to the class.
Grades
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Cover to Cover: Comparing Books to Movies
6 - 8
Lesson Plan
| Unit
Students compare and analyze novels and the movies adapted from them. They design new DVD covers and a related insert for the movies, reflecting their response to the movie version.