Annenberg Foundation
Taming the American West
Have you ever seen a movie about the romance of the American West with its buffalo, horses, cowboys, and endless frontier? The 13th installment of a 22-part series on American history presents the myths associated with the American West....
Project Articulate
Textured Landscapes with Grant Wood
Explore the world of textured landscapes through the eyes of the famous artist, Grant Wood. Here is an elementary art lesson plan in which scholars learn about Grant Wood's life, view his work, draw their own textured landscape, and then...
PBS
Alexander Graham Bell: Scientist, Inventor, and Teacher
Hello? Hello? Scholars investigate the impact Alexander Graham Bell's telephone had on the American landscape. Using drawings, video clips, and primary sources, the mind of the inventor comes to light as pupils dream of new inventions to...
Carolina K-12
The End of World War II: Pearl Harbor, Japanese Internment Camps, and the Atomic Bomb
The end of World War II saw major events that would forever change the global landscape and international relations. Using a fantastic PowerPoint presentation and several primary source documents, your learners will discuss the...
Penguin Books
A Teacher’s Guide to the Penguin Edition of John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath
The dry Oklahoma landscape in America's Dust Bowl sent many farmers in search of the promised land. A teacher's guide to John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath discusses the characters' desire for a better home along with other themes...
C-SPAN
Landmark Supreme Court Case: Roe v Wade
Perhaps no issue is as controversial than abortion in the American landscape. Go beyond the rhetoric by examining the Supreme Court case that legalized abortion in the United States. A guided note-taking activity unpacks the arguments...
Annenberg Foundation
Native Voices
The Navajo people build their dwellings with the doors facing the rising sun in the east to welcome wealth and fortune. Pupils learn about the traditions of the Navajo people in the first part of a 16-part unit. They explore American...
Annenberg Foundation
Egalitarian America
What does a true American represent? Scholars investigate the equal rights era of the 1960s and 1970s in the 20th installment of a 22-part series on American history. Using photographic, magazine, written, and video evidence, groups...
National Museum of the American Indian
The A:Shiwi (Zuni) People: A Study in Environment, Adaptation, and Agricultural Practices
Discover the connection of native peoples to their natural world, including cultural and agricultural practices, by studying the Zuni people of the American Southwest. This lesson includes examining a poster's photographs, reading...
National Center for Families Learning
Hidden Flags
Scholars scour a city landscape to locate twenty-five hidden flags. After each discovery, the narrator offers a piece of information about the American symbol. When all flags are found, a fireworks display appears in...
Huntington Library
Everyday Life - Exploring the California Missions
Young scholars relive history as they examine primary sources that document everyday life in the California missions. During a class viewing of the included slideshow presentation, children analyze documents, paintings, and...
Smithsonian Institution
Borders and Community: Early 20th Century Chicago Neighborhoods and Ethnic Enclaves
Chicago is one city, four neighborhoods, and countless nationalities. The lesson explores the ethnic division of Chicago in the early twentieth century. Academics read primary sources, analyze maps, and tour an online exhibit to...
Rainforest Alliance
My Forest or the Rainforest?
The differences between tropical and temperate rainforests range from animals and flowers to climate and landscapes. Kindergarteners compare and contrast characteristics of their local forest to a tropical rainforest.
American Museum of Natural History
Field Trip Mars
Fly around the Martian surface. Pupils view a presentation on the planet Mars featuring a flyover that shows different views of the surface where rovers have landed and explored on different missions. As individuals watch the images, the...
National Endowment for the Arts
Reader Resources: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
A handy guide offers high schoolers support as they read the American novel, The Great Gatsby. Complete with a biography of F. Scott Fitzgerald, a timeline of the Roaring Twenties, discussion questions about the novel, and more, this...
Channel Islands Film
Island Rotation: Lesson Plan 1
How do scientists provide evidence to support the theories they put forth? What clues do they put together to create these theories? After watching West of the West's documentary Island Rotation class members engage in a series of...
Rainforest Alliance
How Do Jaguars and Howler Monkeys in Belize Depend on Us?
How does weather play a role in the lives of land and sea creatures? Find out with a instructional activity focused on habitats and the ways animals from different homes are connected. Here, learners explore how the life of a...
K5 Learning
Robert Fulton – Steamboat Inventor
Examine the life of steamboat inventor, Robert Fulton, through reading comprehension worksheet that includes both multiple choice and short answer questions. Then, take part in a word search and write definitions, words, and...
National Geographic
Mapping the Americas
Celebrate the geography of the Americas and develop map skills through a series of activities focused on the Western Hemisphere. Learners study everything from earthquakes and volcanoes of the Americas and the relationship...
Global Oneness Project
Resiliency Among the Salmon People
Is losing cultural traditions the cost of social progress, or should people make stronger efforts to preserve these traditions? High schoolers watch a short film about the native Yup'ik people in Alaska and how they handle the shifts in...
Scholastic
Perfect Postcards: California
It's time to hear about some adventures in travel! The Transcontinental Railroad changed life and travel in the United States during the 1800s. Practicing online research skills, pupils discover the features they would like to visit on...
Scholastic
Perfect Postcards: Illinois
Connect the geography and history of Illinois using an art-centered lesson on the railroads. The railroad connected once-distant places, particularly in the Midwest. Using research, class members create postcards of fictional cross-state...
Civil War Trust
Map the Civil War
Mapmaking was a very important element in successfully planning attacks on enemies during the Civil War. Guide pupils through the process of pacing to find the average length of their steps, measure the distance between one object...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Character in Place: Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path” for the Common Core
How do writers use the interaction between elements like characterization and setting to create meaning? Readers of "A Worn Path" create a series of comic book-style graphics of Eudora Welty's short story and reflect on how Welty...