Urban Life Teacher Resources

Fifth graders participate in activities during a visit to Central Park. For this urban life lesson, 5th graders visit Central Park where they explore pond dipping, stream chemistry, and play a native plant Bingo game.

Students analyze the design of cities and systems as an architecture analysis. In this architecture analysis lesson, students complete image based discussion and two related activities for the lesson.

Art is a wonderful way to express feelings of social unrest or change. Learners will examine the works of two contemporary Japanese artists, and how they each have used art to say something big. They analyze the work of Katsuhiro Saiki...

Young scholars compare two paintings, depicting urban life in America in the 1940's, answering a series of questions, then create a short story about the paintings' characters. They compare 'Nighthawks' and 'Nightlife.'

Students research living organisms by exploring their school grounds. In this microscopic observation lesson, students gather materials, insects, and objects from their playground and schoolyard and bring them into class. Students...

Learners design an artistic and literary collage of contemporary urban life that seeks to interpret, analyze, and evaluate its mettle. They integrate their impressions of urban life with established views, thereby enriching their...

Students explore African American migration. For this black culture and history lesson, students use a map to identify northern and southern states in which African Americans lived in the 1900s. Students observe and describe objects and...

Experience a bit of what life was like at the turn of last century with images of rural and urban life. Learners consider pictures from each environment and then compare and contrast them. Activities include discussing the differences,...

After reading a series of primary source documents, groups compare the lives of and opportunities available to rural and urban women in the 19th century to rural and urban life in the 21st century. As an exit ticket, individuals craft a...

While cities had only a small fraction of the population in colonial America, they played a significant role in pre-revolutionary years, and this was certainly true for the largest city in the North American colonies: Philadelphia. Your...

Besides serving as awe-inspiring monuments of human achievement, skyscrapers are built to perform a wide range of functions in urban communities. The second lesson in this series begins by exploring the history of the Empire State...

Traffic is a very real concern for any Urban dweller. After watching a video showing various traffic issues and solutions, learners group up to discuss and develop innovative traffic solutions of their own. They explore vocabulary and...

Cities are compared to living, breathing, metabolizing organisms. Fourth in a five-part series of lessons, this one focuses on the flow of materials through a city. Links to interesting websites and images make your delivery of...

High schoolers examine the historical, social, and cultural context of modernist poetry. They explore websites, complete a chart, compare/contrast rural and urban life, watch a video of early New York, and complete a writing assessment...

Fifth graders research the impact of immigration. In this social studies lesson, 5th graders discuss how immigration affected the economy. Students discuss the living and working conditions of immigrants in the 1800s.

Students analyze the influences on urban life in the early and late 19th century, different economic, cultural, and social characteristics of slavery after 1800, the rise of racial hostility, and the ending of the Atlantic slave trade.

Young scholars plan a visit to Musse d'Orsay to examine Paris in the 19th century.  For this visual arts lesson, students explore the Haussmanian period and urban life in the 19th century.  Young scholars discuss the...

Students examine the various portrayals of African-Americans in literature, focusing on the opera, Porgy and Bess. They conduct Internet research on African-American culture between the two World Wars. Students write fictional or...

Music, writing, and activism all tell the story of history! The resource uses these elements and more in a presentation to discuss the Jazz Age and Harlem Renaissance. Your class views biographies, discusses important events, and...

Students create a storybook using vocabulary from the topic "urban and rural life". They write about past events in a children's story. They present their story to the class at an author's tea.

Progress through various aspects of the  "The Beautiful Era" in this presentation. Political, technological, and scientific contexts surround the time of innovation and change in the world landscape. The short length of this slide...

Students explore language arts by creating their own stories in class. In this book making instructional activity, students read the story City Pig in class and create storyboard illustrations in order to analyze the story. Students...

Students complete pre reading, writing, during reading, and interdisciplinary activities for the book Love To Langston. For this reading lesson plan, students complete journal entries, go over vocabulary, answer short answer questions,...

Students examine how Wilma Mankiller became the first female Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation. They listen to a teacher-led lecture, write a letter to President Andrew Jackson, participate in a jigsaw activity, conduct research,...