When children hear, write, and recite poetry, they understand more deeply the qualities of verse — the importance of sound, compactness, internal integrity, imagination and line. Working collaboratively on poetry provides a safe structure for student creativity. Using resources available through EDSITEment, make poetry exciting for your students as they listen to, write and recite poems that are sure to please.

The purpose of this project is two-fold: first, to encourage students to make the reading of poetry a creative act; and, second, to help students appreciate particular literary devices in their functions as semaphores or interpretive signals. Those devices that are about the imagery of a poem (metaphor, simile, personification, description) can be thought of as magnifying glasses: we see most clearly that upon which the poet focuses our gaze. Similarly, those poetic devices that are about the sound of the poem (alliteration, consonance, enjambment, onomatopoeia, and repetition) can be thought of as volume buttons or amplifiers: we hear most clearly what the poet makes us listen to most attentively.

This textbook follows California Language Arts Standards for grades 9-12 to provide a generalized understanding of composition and to serve as a supplementary aid to high school English teachers.

The Coral Bleaching: Making our Oceans Whiter lesson was developed by National Geographic. This lesson plan deals with coral reefs and the recent increase in coral bleaching. The students will be learning about the ecology of reefs, the habitats they create, the algal symbiosis that ends with bleaching, and the role of human impact. The plan also outlines a role-playing debate for the students, and an in-character written assignment to come up with a compromise to protect the reefs and the economies that depend on them. On this Starting Point page, teachers can find learning goals, teaching notes and tips, teaching materials, assessment hints and references and resources dealing with this exercise. It also describes the context in which the virtual tour, another feature of the webpage, is best used.

Educators can use the resources in this Collection to teach their students about the science and beauty of corals. They can use these organisms and ecosystems to teach many scientific concepts including symbiotic relationships, reproduction strategies, food webs, chemistry, biotic and abiotic interactions, human impacts, etc. Additionally, educators can use corals to teach about conservation and stewardship of the environment. Even if you don't live near a reef, students can learn that they can help protect coral reefs in the U.S. and around the world. There are many actions, small and large, that you and your students can take to help conserve coral reefs.

Dive in and explore what makes this beautiful world so fragile. In this Evolution Web feature, discover how coevolution has shaped the ecological relationships among reef creatures.

Elma Lewis reads the poem 'Sympathy' by Paul Lawrence Dunbar. Program is divided into two halves: the first featuring a 30-minute in-studio poetry reading by Elma Lewis, the second of magazine-style segments. Elma Lewis, Director of the National Center of Afro-American Artists, seated with children around her, talks about what poetry is, what a poem can make you feel, and why people used to write in rhymes. Lewis focuses on two African American poets, Langston Hughes (who is 'of this time') and Paul Lawrence Dunbar, and reads selections from each. The second half contains the following segments: a mime performance by Halim Adbur Rashid (Fred Johnson) titled 'The Writer,' 'Access' (with A.D. Saunders, who describes the Boston Jazz Society), 'The Word' (with professor and historian A.B. Spellman, who comments on Black History Week), the 'Community Calendar,' 'Information' (on Minority Recruitment Month for the Peace Corps), and 'Commentary' by Producer Marita Rivero. Original air date estimated. Directed by Conrad White.

This video segment, adapted from NOVA, describes the energy flow in a coral reef, including its food web.

This is a discussion of the key elements in the Common Core English Language Arts standards. It presents the five critical shifts within the standards toward: text complexity; analysis, inference and evidence; writing to sources; mastery of writing and speaking; and academic vocabulary, especially for English Learners.

We are excited to provide you with classroom resources that include hands-on activities and curriculum developed with Bay Area Educators integrating art, science and literacy in support of the California state standards. You can alternatively explore the Highlands using the multimedia resources we offer on this website, including a basic introduction to the Highlands of New Guinea, Podcasts, children’s stories, magazine articles, video clips, and images of daily life, landscapes, and ceremonies. We hope that this program will develop in our visitors, especially our young visitors, a greater understanding of environmental stewardship and conservation. All content contained in this website correlates to California Visual Arts and Science Curriculum standards, as listed below.

This BioBulletin Web site takes an in-depth look at coral reefs and how they are affected by human activities -- everything from agricultural pollution and ship grounding to snorkeling and overfishing. With Florida's fragile reefs as the backdrop, the site includes text, videos, photographs, and interviews with key scientists.

This showcase of digital broadsides is devoted to nature poets and their work. Imagine Nature explores the convergence of poetry, graphic arts, and the technology of the Internet. Along with the text of the poem, some broadsides includes an audio reading (often by the author), photographs or original artwork, related nature sounds, or videos. The featured works include: "The Snakes of September" by Stanley Kunitz| "Sleeping In the Forest" by Mary Oliver| "St. Francis and the Sow" by Galway Kinnell| "For Luis" by Michael McClure| "The Butterfly Obtains" by Emily Dickinson| "Little Cosmic Dust Poem" by John Haines|"Sitting by a Swamp" by David Wagoner.

This wiki page describes the goals and tenents of improv, as well as four different improv activities (Name Gesture Circle, Yellow Ball, Vacations, and Thank You) used in ISKME's Professional Development Teacher Academy: Teachers as Makers June 15-16 2010 at San Mateo County Office of Education.

This is an integrated lesson exploring simple machines. The poetry response part of this lesson serves to spark the students' interest as well as allow the teacher to identify students' prior knowledge of machine concepts and vocabulary. The machine walk gives a baseline assessment of students' understanding. The majority of students originally focus on complex machines; this will be evident by the types of machines they identify on their list.

is a collection of resources about poetry, literature, and writers -- William Blake, Stephen Crane, Mark Twain, Walt Whitman, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and others. Hear Allen Ginsberg, Rita Dove, and Stanley Kunitz talk about their work. Watch videos of Americans discussing their favorite poems. Read a weekly column featuring an American poem. Use the guide to streaming video literature to find webcasts of writers discussing their work.

Many students, especially students with limited English language skills, have difficulties determining the difference between narrative and expository texts. This unit will use vignettes written by Peace Corps Volunteers serving in Lesotho and Madagascar to compare these types of texts. As final products, students will write both a narrative essay and an expository essay. This unit was piloted with high school second language learners.

In this video segment from WILD TV, a guide describes how to camouflage a person’s body to avoid being detected in the wilderness.

This activity illustrates the interrelationship between science and engineering in the context of extinction prevention. There are two parts to the activity. The first part challenges students to think like scientists as they generate reports on endangered species and give presentations worthy of a news channel or radio broadcast. The second part puts students in the shoes of engineers, designing ways to help the endangered species.

Coral reefs are often portrayed as brightly lit, bustling underwater marvels full of colorful creatures. This video segment, adapted from NOVA, paints a different picture as it explores the nocturnal behavior of organisms in the reef.