Third graders examine photographs as primary source documents. Students are broken into groups and are given photographs of the See Family.

Fourth graders identify primary source items in the study of their families. They relate the importance of primary source materials in understanding history and events of the past.

Woody Guthrie will capture the imagination of even your most reluctant learners. Using his work, your class will develop their skills in non-fiction reading comprehension, interpreting primary source material, and use of multiple forms...

First graders create two personal artifacts to add to a primary source shoebox that represents information about themselves. The first draw a self-portrait then build an artifact from Play-Doh and pipe cleaners to represent something...

Students interview a subject about important historical events in his or her lifetime and create an iMovie of the experience. Era-related data is imported into the project from a variety of sources and presented to the rest of the class.

Students explore the industry involving communication and put communication devices into activities. In this communication lesson plan, students put items into chronological order, review primary sources, compare and contrast items, and...

Several social activities provide showcase the perspective of many prominent figures in World War I history. Students read an assigned case study about a memorable person and complete several activities to further understand this...

First graders are introduced to photographs and newspaper articles to be used as primary sources. Using a projecter, they are shown photographs of a famous person to prove they were real and not make believe. In groups, they use...

Students explore key concepts/facts in 20th Century history, develop interview questions, and produce master list of questions that can be used in project. Students then interview grandparent, great-grandparent, or other elder about...

Students create and perform Corridos which are oral tradition ballads. In this Passing Down Family History Through Oral Tradition lesson, students interview family members using a predetermined list of questions. In addition, students...

Students practice effectively interviewing a subject and then use that interview to create a movie.

Young scholars investigate the broad range of jobs that can be found in the world of design. Students explore sound design, language architecture, etc. Young scholars design a resource book and post it on a website for others to share.

If the world were 100 people...17 would not have access to safe drinking water, 18 would not be able to read or write, and 52 would not have a primary education. Using the theme of "100 people," this resource explores other major issues...

Students report on family trends, functions of the family and various ways of selecting marriage partners. In this family lesson plan, students act as editors, commercial skits, and writers for a newscast about families.

Students create photographic family histories. In this technology skills lesson, students create family trees with digital photographs that they take of the family members.

Learners examine immigration. For this oral and social histories lesson, students analyze primary sources to research immigration history in their community. In this year-long research project, learners participate in visual and...

Young scholars work with primary documents and latter-day photographs to recapture the experience of traveling on the Oregon Trail. Working in groups, they write a scene for the movie that is historically accurate and based on the kinds...

Middle and high schoolers look at historical photos and written materials, and they develop questions which they use to interview an elder in their community. Learners are divided into groups and given sets of historical family photos...

Fifth graders write a paragraph comparing their lives to the lives of a child working in South Carolina during the early 1900's. In this Industrial Revolution lesson plan, 5th graders explore primary and secondary sources to teach them...

Middle schoolers follow an overview of the American Civil War from a film, the text and/or teacher direct instruction. They create a timeline with a large map of the U.S. in the 1860's available for student reference as they do the...

Students investigate equality by reading a historical fiction book in class.  In this civil rights lesson, students read the story Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry with their classmates and define the Jim Crow Laws that kept blacks...

Students read a New York Times article in order to examine the importance of cultural artifacts. They create essays from the point of view of one cultural artifact to demonstrate the knowledge they gained by doing research.

Second graders research their family history and how it connects them to the past. They identify their ancestors, graphically organize relatives in a family tree, and chart significant events in their lives on a timeline.

Students create a quilt square for a class quilt using at least three, two-dimensional geometric figures. They research and write a brief description of at least two different quilt patterns that they find. Pupils discuss that quilts are...