Middle Tennessee State University
Fights, Freedom, and Fraud: Voting Rights in the Reconstruction Era
As part of a study of post Civil War era, young historians investigate the changes in voting rights during the Reconstruction Era (1863-1876), the fraud involved in the Hayes-Tilden presidential election of 1876, and efforts by Pap...
Smithsonian Institution
World War I
How did World War I effect the United States' status as a world power? Pupils examine a website to learn many interesting facts about American involvement during World War I. They read passages and interact with artifacts in an online...
Pulitzer Center
Peacebuilding: Taking Home Lessons Learned in Africa
Learners take a closer look at one journalist's work on UN Peacebuilding efforts in four African nations: Sierra Leone, Burundi, Central African Republic, and Guinea Bissau. They collaborate to define peacebuilding and discuss...
Curated OER
Snail Invasion
Exponential growth is modeled by learners as they analyze and interpret the data presented in this real-life scenario centered on the destructive invasion of the Giant African Land Snail. Learners get a touch of history and practice...
Smithsonian Institution
Comparing Confederate and Union Soldiers
The Civil War, a war that divided a nation. Comparing and contrasting the Confederate and Union soldiers is not always an easy task, but the eighth of 15 resources makes it easy to teach the concepts. Exercises include watching videos in...
Curated OER
Criminal or Hero
Young scholars investigate slavery in America circa the American Revolution. They will examine point- of view and perspective as they research a variety of informational resources. While this is designed to be used with the PBS video...
Curated OER
Coil Pots
Children learn by doing. Here, they discuss cultural uses of containers, coil and slab techniques, functional aesthetics, and the principles of art and design. The entire process for making a coil pot is fully described here to make the...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Women's Lives Before the Civil War
Women's lifestyles before the Civil War made a huge impact as a point of causation. Give middle schoolers the opportunity to view firsthand the lives of women before the Civil War. They analyze primary source documents, view photographs,...
Curated OER
Ethnic Humor
Uncovering the function and forms of ethnic jokes, this presentation with enlighten your students as it explores the concept of "insiders vs. outsiders" and various examples of ethnic stereotypes in literature and society. The...
Curated OER
Life in the Colonies
What was life like for the early colonists? Read along with an informational presentation, rich in text. Colonial slavery, slave culuture, colonial religion, and the Great Awakening are all described in full. Tip: The resource could be...
Curated OER
Lesson: Emory Douglas: Art and Activism
Visual literacy can be experienced in many different ways. Learners discuss the times, graphic art, and cultural significance of activism in art as they explore artist and Black Panther, Emory Douglas. This is a discussion-based lesson...
Curated OER
What This Cruel War Was Over: Slavery and the Civil War
Can't travel to Richmond for your Civil War unit? This plan creates an authentic experience, using primary sources and the essential question: Over What Was the Civil War Fought? Historians examine the Appomattox Marker, the site of Gen....
Curated OER
Sentence Completion 6: Low-Advanced SAT Level
Consider using this activity, another in a series of sentence completion exercises, as the basis of a lesson on test taking or comprehension strategies, as a critical thinking exercise, or as extra practice for up-coming standardized...
Time For Kids
A Peaceful Leader
The legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr's life and message is just as important today as it was in his lifetime. Introduce elementary learners to the movement for civil rights with a timeline of Dr. King's life, as well as...
University of Virginia
The Songs in Uncle Tom's Cabin
Experience Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin in an innovative, musical way. A list of audio links leads class members to spirituals from the novel, such as "Die in the Field," "The Wings in the Morning," and "Blow Ye the...
Digital Public Library of America
The American Whaling Industry
When thinking about the American whaling industry most imagine Moby Dick and Nantucket sleigh rides, harpoons and scrimshaw, whale-oil lamps and baleen in women's corsets. But it may come as a surprise that the industry was also...
Curated OER
Different Strokes For Different Folktales
Young readers use graphic organizers, such as Venn diagrams and story maps, to analyze a variety of folktales and the elements of a story. They use writing, sequencing activities, and creative art to identify the morals learned from a...
Curated OER
Benjamin Franklin: Goods and Services in Colonial America
Fifth graders examine the impact of Benjamin Franklin's ideas on the goods and services available in Colonial America as well as analyze the importance of Franklin to modern society. While listening to "How Ben Franklin Stole the...
Curated OER
The Quilting Connection....a Teaching Unit on Slavery, the Underground Railroad And Quilting
Students research the Internet, read designated books and selection, participate in discussions and write short reports while completing this series of lessons about slavery and the Underground Railroad. As a final project, they design a...
Lesson Snips
Lessons from the Holocaust
Connect global examples of attempted genocide with a well-designed social studies instructional activity. It includes an excellent informational text with background information on the Holocaust, as well as worksheets, book report...
Curated OER
Peace Corps Challenge Game: Soil Runoff
Learners examine the causes and effects of soil runoff. In this environment lesson plan, students look at ways in which soil runoff is controlled. Learners then play a game and discuss how the Peace Corps deals with soil runoff in...
Curated OER
Gettin' Through Thursday
Have your class explore active reading strategies! In this guided reading lesson, learners make personal connections to characters having a bad day as a prior knowledge activation discussion. After reading Gettin' Through Thursday, class...
Curated OER
Au Marche Sandaga a Dakar
A 3-day French lesson plan targeting food shopping vocabulary. It is designed for elementary French learners pretending to communicate with merchants in a small village outside of Dakar. The plan follows a class reading of the picture...
State Bar of Texas
Brown v. Board of Education
You walk each day over 20 blocks to school as a 9-year old because the color of your skin does not allow you to attend a school in your own neighborhood. Scholars use the 1954 Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education to investigate...