In this lesson, students incorporate analyses of characters from The Crucible with examinations of original seventeenth-century portraits of Puritans to create a visual portrait of the character. The project culminates in a "Portrait Gallery Walk" where students present and defend their artwork.
An Exploration of The Crucible through Seventeenth-Century Portraits
Grades
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Analyzing the Stylistic Choices of Political Cartoonists
9 - 12
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Students explore and analyze the techniques that political (or editorial) cartoonists use and draw conclusions about why the cartoonists choose those techniques to communicate their messages.
Grades
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Opening the Door for Reading: Sharing Favorite Texts to Build Community
3 - 6
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
In this lesson, students build classroom community by exploring environmental print and a teacher-created display that focuses on a favorite book. They then create and share their own presentations.
Grades
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Improving Fluency through Group Literary Performance
K - 2
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Students participate in shared reading, choral reading, and readers theater, using books by Bill Martin, Jr. Repeated readings and literary performances help students with their reading accuracy, expression, and rate.
Grades
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Renaissance Humanism in Hamlet and The Birth of Venus
9 - 12
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
After reading Shakespeare's Hamlet, students identify, analyze, and explain how elements in Botticelli's painting Birth of Venus and examples from the play illustrate the philosophy of Renaissance Humanism.
Grades
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Book Report Alternative: Glog That Book!
5 - 8
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
In this alternative book report, students identify the elements of fiction in books they have read by creating glogs, interactive multimedia posters, and then share their glogs.
Grades
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Audience & Purpose: Evaluating Disney's Changes to the Hercules Myth
5 - 8
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
What drives changes to classic myths and fables? In this lesson students evaluate the changes Disney made to the myth of "Hercules" in order to achieve their audience and purpose.
Grades
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Seasonal Haiku: Writing Poems to Celebrate Any Season
3 - 5
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
After listening to haiku poetry, students use seasonal descriptive words to write their own haiku, following the traditional format. They then publish their poems by mounting them on illustrated backgrounds.
Grades
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BOOKMATCH: Scaffolding Independent Book Selection
6 - 8
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
This lesson will be turning heads and pages as students learn how to choose appropriate books for independent reading exercises and later evaluate their choices.
Grades
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Exploring Consumerism Where Ads and Art Intersect
9 - 12
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Students add up the effect of images and persuasive language to analyze the art and words in advertisements.
Grades
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In the Style of Ernie Pyle: Reporting on World War II
9 - 12
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Students will think this lesson should make the headlines when they finish researching Ernie Pyle's work in preparation for writing their own news articles.
Grades
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Pictures Tell the Story: Improving Comprehension With Persepolis
9 - 12
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Students get the big picture of the Middle East when they read and analyze Marjane Satrapi's graphic novel Persepolis.
Grades
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Discovering a Passion for Poetry With Langston Hughes
9 - 12
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Through a study of Langston Hughes' poetry, students connect his writing to his place in history.
Grades
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Magazine Redux: An Exercise in Critical Literacy
9 - 12
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Paper and pixels get compared in this lesson in which students compare both printed and online versions of a magazine.
Grades
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Writing Free Verse in the "Voice" of Cesar Chavez
6 - 8
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Poetry and politics combine in this lesson where students write a free verse poem in the voice of Cesar Chavez.
Grades
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Buzz! Whiz! Bang! Using Comic Books to Teach Onomatopoeia
3 - 5
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
This lesson is sure to sizzle, not fizzle, as students use comic strips to find onomatopoetic words, develop a vocabulary list from the words, and discuss why writers use onomatopoeia.
Grades
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Robert Frost Prompts the Poet in You
6 - 8
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Students will find their inner poet laureate in this lesson that involves writing a poem in the style of Robert Frost.
Grades
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The Connection Between Poetry and Music
3 - 5
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Students won't miss a beat in this reading fluency lesson that combines music and poetry.
Grades
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Alaska Native Stories: Using Narrative to Introduce Expository Text
3 - 5
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Tradition and technology come together in this lesson in which students learn about Alaskan animals through Native American tales and their own online research.
Grades
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Multimedia Responses to Content Area Topics Using Fact-"Faction"-Fiction
3 - 5
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Students climb into the mind of a spider in this lesson that asks them to compose a spider diary using spider facts, fiction, and "faction"fiction that sounds like fact.