Students debate about incorporating service-learning into their school's curriculum.
The Great Service-Learning Debate & Research Project
Grades
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Communicating on Local Issues: Exploring Audience in Persuasive Letter Writing
9 - 12
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Students will research a local issue, and then write letters to two different audiences, asking readers to take a related action or adopt a specific position on the issue.
Grades
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Our Community: Creating ABC Books as Assessment
K - 2
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Students create alphabet books, which are used as an integrated assessment with science, health, social studies, and any other content area. This lesson plans looks at the theme of community.
Grades
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Looking at Landmarks: Using a Picture Book to Guide Research
3 - 5
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
This lesson uses Ben's Dream by Chris Van Allsburg to highlight ten major landmarks of the world. Students research the landmarks and present their findings to the class.
Grades
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Authentic Persuasive Writing to Promote Summer Reading
9 - 12
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Turn summer reading lists from a teacher-centered requirement to a student-driven exploration by asking students to create brochures and flyers that suggest books to explore during the summer months.
Grades
|
Chasing the Dream: Researching the Meaning of the American Dream
9 - 12
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
By conducting interviews, sharing and assessing data, and writing papers based on their authentic research, students reach their own conclusions on the meaning of the American Dream.
Grades
|
Blending the Past with Today's Technology: Using Prezi to Prepare for Historical Fiction
6 - 10
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
To prepare for literature circles featuring historical novels, students research the decades of the 1930s to the 1990s and share their information using Prezi, a web application for creating multimedia presentations.
Grades
|
Vote for Me! Making Presidential Commercials Using Avatars
6 - 12
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
After researching political platforms of past presidents through primary sources and other resources, students create commercials for these presidents using Voki, an online web tool that produces speaking avatars.
Grades
|
Glogging About Natural Disasters
5 - 8
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
After researching various natural disasters, students share their findings with each other using glogs, or through poster presentations.
Grades
|
Name Tag Glyphs
2 - 5
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
In this lesson, students practice a way to communicate without words by using a glyph. They create a name card using information about themselves. Students also interpret glyphs made by others.
Grades
|
Not Your Usual History Lesson: Writing Historical Markers
6 - 8
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Students will develop their summarizing skills while learning about local history. They will learn to consider audience while selecting topics, conducting research and interviews, and writing historical markers for their town.
Grades
|
Sí, Se Puede: Making a Difference, One Letter at a Time
6 - 8
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
After reading the book ¡Si, Se Puede!/Yes, We Can!: Janitor Strike in L.A., students learn about labor unions, strikes, and organizing for change. Students interview staff members in their school to learn about their daily work life, and write persuasive advocacy letters.
Grades
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A Recipe for Writing: Fairy Tale Feasts
2 - 4
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
After examining recipes written based on students' favorite fairy tales, students research a recipe related to their favorite story, book, or fairy tale and include it in a classroom recipe book.
Grades
|
Boars and Baseball: Making Connections
4 - 7
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
In this lesson, students will make text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world connections after reading In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson. After sharing and discussing connections, students choose and plan a project that makes a personal connection to the text.
Grades
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Sharing Information about Careers with Infographics
6 - 9
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Students research careers of their own choosing. Then using Piktochart, students create their own infographics to illustrate their research.
Grades
|
Huge Mistakes that Led to Catastrophe: Learning about Human-made Disasters throughout History
5 - 8
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
After researching various human-made disasters such as the BP oil spill, the sinking of the Titanic, and the Great Chicago Fire, students share their research in oral presentations. Then students pair up to compare and contrast their disasters using the Venn Diagram Student Interactive or the Venn diagram Mobile App.
Grades
|
Learning about Clouds with Haikus
4 - 6
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Using a mobile app or Interactive activity, students write haikus describing various types of clouds that they have studied.
Grades
|
Greetings from the Biomes of the World
6 - 8
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
To share their research on biomes, students use iPads to create postcards from all over the world.
Grades
|
Getting Graphic with Alternative Energy Sources
7 - 12
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
After researching alternative sources of energy, students create online comic books to present their information.
Grades
|
A Blast from the Past with Nuclear Chemistry
11 - 12
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
After researching the history and basic facts of a nuclear chemistry topic, students utilize the Web 2.0 tool Timetoast to create an electronic timeline that they use to present their research to the class.