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Teachers See the Truth but Wait: Teaching Short Stories with Literature Circles

For Teachers 9th
Students use literature circles to analyze four short stories from the Realms of Gold, Volume 3. In this literature circle lesson, students are assigned a role in the literature circle to improve their critical thinking skills for...
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To the North: A Black Family Leaves Arkansas to Find Work in Michigan

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Upper elementary and middle school scholars study the economic factors that caused so many Arkansans to migrate to different parts of the country looking for work. Use this history lesson plan to help your charges gain a better...
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continuidad de los parques

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Action! Get your Spanish speakers acting with this plan. First read a short story together, then have small groups write various endings. After they write their ending, have them bring props and film their alternate ending.
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Lady of the Tomahawk: Your Story to Tell

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students put themselves in the role of a historical person and have to write a short story of dramatic dialogue about an event or person that has NOT been depicted in a work of historical fiction yet. This person is Hannah Dustin. A...
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Tortoise and Hare Races

For Teachers K
Practice basic map skills with the story of The Tortoise and the Hare. After listening to the story, class members create a map that indicates the starting line, the path the animals took, where they stopped to rest, and the finish line....
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Scene Writing

For Teachers 8th
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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Spaceship Earth

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students develop an understanding of our planet as a system by designing a very-long-duration space mission in which the life-support system is patterned after that of earth.
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Cause and Effect

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
Learners identify cause and effect relationships in a short story. After reading a short story, they participate in a discussion of how one event in a story can lead to several others. Students are then paired for a matching task that...
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Speak What We Feel, Not What We Ought to Say

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students examine and create their own interpretation of a particular character from the play, King Lear. They read the speeches, write a paragraph about their character, and present a short performance of their scene.
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Cuentos

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Students revise Spanish mystery stories. They sequence the events from a group's mystery story and suggest revisions for the setting. They revise their stories using the suggestions from classmates and describe characters in folktales....
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The Crucible

For Teachers 12th
Twelfth graders use an Internet scavenger hunt, vocabulary, sample essay questions, and short answer questions suitable for study and review of the play, The Crucible.
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Romeo and Juliet Mix-It-Up

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students identify themes in Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet by analyzing the film or text. For this tolerance lesson, students create their own Elizabethan era terms related to interacting with different social groups. In groups,...
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Comparing Tales through Performance

For Teachers K - 4th
Students compare and contrast versions of The Three Little Pigs. In this fairy tale lesson plan, students read 3 versions of the fairy tale and dramatize them in order to analyze the similarities and differences.
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Animaters and Lego Mania!

For Teachers 2nd - 7th
Students use various technology elements to storyboard and create an animal animation story based on a nonfiction story they've read. For this animation story lesson, students work in groups and read nonfiction animal stories. Students...
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Splendid China: Chinese Folktales

For Teachers 3rd - 7th
Learners investigate Chinese culture by reading their folk tales.  In this creative writing lesson, students practice identifying the different elements in a folk tale and examine the related vocabulary.  Learners organize...
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The Village and the Stars

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders discuss early school memories. They assess hopes and aspirations in greater detail and discover the importance of education as one of the shapes of our 'selves'. They observe parents' reactions to children growing up...
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Fitting Trash into Yesterday: A Fifth Grade Activity

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders explore the concept of waste management. In this recycling lesson, 5th graders discover the history of waste management and discuss how the U.S. should respond to the issue of ever-increasing waste.
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The "Producing Edgar Allen Poe" Challenge

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students create and perform excerpts from their specific "productions" of Poe's classic Tell Tale Heart.
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The Tell Tale Heart

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders explore storytelling by listening to a reading of a classic poem.  In this language arts lesson, 8th graders listen to an audio recording of Edgar Allen Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart.  Students examine the life of...
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Lattimer Massacre: What's Beneath the Surface?

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers research the growth of unions due to issues related to the Lattimer Massacre. They research primary source documents and create posters, skits and role plays.
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Was Goldilocks Innocent or Guilty?

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders act out a mock fairy tale trial. They use a fairy tale like "The Three Little Pigs", "Goldilocks and the Three Bears", "Hansel and Grete"l, and/or "Little Red Riding Hood".