1151 Choosing Clear and Varied Dialogue Tags: A Mini-Lesson Resource Type: Instructional Resource -- Promising Practice Discipline: English Language Arts Ohio Standards Alignment: Grades 3–4 Professional Commentary: In this mini-lesson, students learn to use more vivid and descriptive language in their writing by exploring the use of dialogue tags such as “he said” or “she answered” in picture books and novels. Students discuss the purpose, form, and style of dialogue.... 1152 Creating Family Timelines: Graphing Family Memories and Significant Events Resource Type: Instructional Resource -- Promising Practice Discipline: English Language Arts Ohio Standards Alignment: Grades 3–5 Professional Commentary: Learning is most effective when linked to what is already known. This lesson guides students through the creation of their family timeline and begins with the students' own concrete memories of family events. Those events are then linked to a wider, historical view of their family based on interviews with family members. The students then assign a mathematical value... 1153 Can You Convince Me? Developing Persuasive Writing Resource Type: Instructional Resource -- Best Practice Discipline: English Language Arts Ohio Standards Alignment: Grades 5–6 Professional Commentary: Persuasive writing is an important skill, but writing an argument can seem intimidating to elementary students. This lesson introduces persuasive writing techniques through a variety of engaging, interactive activities.... 1154 A is for Apple: Building Letter-Recognition Fluency Resource Type: Instructional Resource -- Promising Practice Discipline: English Language Arts Ohio Standards Alignment: Grades K–1 Professional Commentary: Most letter names are similar to the sounds they make, so knowing letter names is helpful in the development of letter-sound recognition. Kindergarten programs often include letter-recognition fluency as an important part of their early literacy program. This lesson consists of three 60 minute sessions, designed to make letter-recognition effective while keeping it fun through a variety of... 1155 Let’s Read It Again: Comprehension Strategies for English-Language Learners Resource Type: Instructional Resource -- Promising Practice Discipline: English Language Arts Ohio Standards Alignment: Grades K–2 Professional Commentary: One of the most effective ways to engage English-language learners (ELLs) and help them comprehend and read English is through repeated readings and retellings of appealing bilingual picture books. Using Con Mi Hermano/With My Brother by Eileen Roe, this lesson describes how to use the text to support English language learners.... 1156 Gaining Background for the Graphic Novel Persepolis: A WebQuest on Iran Resource Type: Instructional Resource -- Promising Practice Discipline: English Language Arts Ohio Standards Alignment: Grades 9–12 Professional Commentary: The graphic novel Persepolis is set in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. The changes that the events during that time led to are unknown to most students, but the repercussions of that time are still being felt throughout the world.... 1157 Many Years Later: Responding to Gwendolyn Brooks’ “We Real Cool” Resource Type: Instructional Resource -- Best Practice Discipline: English Language Arts Ohio Standards Alignment: Grades 9–10 Professional Commentary: In this lesson, students analyze the poetic devices and literary features of Gwendolyn Brooks’ “We Real Cool” and then imagine themselves as one of the characters in the poem many years in the future. Using online resources, students explore the poem’s rhythm and rhyme as well as how one reader has seen himself in Brooks’ poetry.... 1158 Weaving the Old into the New: Pairing The Odyssey with Contemporary Works Resource Type: Instructional Resource -- Promising Practice Discipline: English Language Arts Ohio Standards Alignment: Grades 9–10 Professional Commentary: This lesson is based on The Odyssey and the young-adult novel Running Out of Summer—a contemporary epic by Peter Morgan that follows the protagonist’s journey from Atlanta to Santa Monica to attend school. Students select one character from each as the basis for a comparison-contrast graphic organizer.... 1159 It's My Life: Multimodal Autobiography Project Resource Type: Instructional Resource -- Promising Practice Discipline: English Language Arts Ohio Standards Alignment: Grades 9–10 Professional Commentary: In this lesson, students select five important events in their lives and write summaries of them. Next, they carefully select songs and images that represent each event. After developing storyboards, students create PowerPoint audiovisual autobiographies which they present to their peers in class.... 1160 Copyright Infringement or Not? The Debate over Downloading Music Resource Type: Instructional Resource -- Promising Practice Discipline: English Language Arts Ohio Standards Alignment: Grades 9–12 Professional Commentary: Whether making tapes and custom CDs for friends or downloading music through one of the many music sharing systems available on the Internet, most students are aware of the ways that music can be distributed—and some have probably participated in sharing music themselves. This lesson takes advantage of students’ interest in music and audio sharing as... |