Five segements from Ken Burns' documentary series Prohibition, easily accessed on the PBS website, are at the center of a terrific short unit on the roots of America's ambivalent relationship with alcohol. Engage your secondary...

Anita's iconic rooftop ode to American life in West Side Story is the focus of a lesson plan on immigration. As class members listen to "America," they follow along with printed lyrics, and discuss whether they agree with Anita's...

From deep in the jungles of Mesoamerica to the mound builders of North America, this presentation showcases the art of the Americas. It covers ancient American art, depicting architecture, ceremonial objects, art, and sculpture that span...

Take your art class back centuries to the art of metal tooling. This is an art technique also referred to as embossing, or repajado in Mexico and South America. This is a fun project to introduce a new technique and new materials. This...

Students explore the concept of landmarks.  In this landmark lesson, students brainstorm different landmarks around their community and nationally.  Students then identify the patterns in Georgia O'Keeffe's paintings or...

Students demonstrate dances of colonial America. In this colonial American lesson plan, students learn forms of colonial social dancing including the Juba and Virginia Reel. Students examine the history of the 2 dances as well.

Students create a video box about a Central American country. In this world history activity, student research Central America and pick a country they want to investigate. They work in groups to create a video box that shows images about...

Engage your class in photography with this series of activities! Beginning photographers research and explain elements of photography, camera equipment, and careers in photography. After the research portion, learners complete one of two...

What's the most popular music style in Brazil? What about Cuba? Or the Dominican Republic? An immersive project teaches young learners about the salsa, the samba, and the merengue with research assignments and dance performances.

Combine your lesson on patriotism with a lesson on comparing and contrasting. Focusing on The Star Spangled Banner, Take Me Out to the Ballgame, and The Old Folks at Home, this lesson prompts learners to compare and contrast each song...

A carefully crafted three-day lesson integrates poetry and visual art. By analyzing and comparing Langston Hughes' poem "Mother and Son" and Romare Bearden's collage "The Dove," readers explore the theme of hope. The lesson activates...

Young scholars explore Hispanic countries.  In this Hispanic culture and language instructional activity, students choose an Hispanic country to research.  Young scholars explore given websites and prepare a dramatization...

Students perform a song using correct rhythms, accurate pitches, and dynamic phrasing. They perform an accompaniment to "America" on Orff instruments.

Young scholars listen to story America the Beautiful, discuss places in America they have visited, define beautiful, and create and illustrate class book with pictures and words from song, America the Beautiful.

Learners research using Google Earth a variety of websites to explore America's most prominent and famous buildings. They then compare and contrast architectural styles and write a position paper defending or arguing against their chosen...

Sixth graders examine the meaning and background of the song, "America the Beautiful." In this "America the Beautiful" lesson plan, 6th graders read the words and history of the song and answer comprehension questions about it.

Students learn about and discuss the important symbols that represent America. In this symbols lesson plan, students cut out pictures of the bald eagle, American flag, Liberty Bell, and more. They color them when they have them cut out.

Students create a picture of a toucan from the continent of South America using a pencil, marker, and oil pastels. Students identify the continent of South America and discuss the Toco Toucan. They follow teacher directions to create...

Students examine the theme of independence in American history by participating in a class-wide paper quilt project. Each student creates three quilt squares representing the past, present and future of independence in the United States.

In this America quilts coloring page worksheet, students view and discuss all the different items on the quilt and then color the quilt with appropriate colors.

Fifth graders carefully analyze the artwork, Les Emigrants, and explore the reasons that people emigrated to the United States, and what life was like for new arrivals. They discuss what things immigrants were able to bring with them and...

Students complete a unit of lessons on a variety of types of American music. They record their impressions of music samples on a worksheet, identify types of instruments, and choose a musical selection for their family to respond to.

First graders sing America the Beautiful and understand the words to the song.  In this singing social studies instructional activity, 1st graders become familiar with the images and vocabulary in America the Beautiful while singing...

Students, after reading Chapter 1 in the book, "First Encounters Between Spain and the Americas: Two Worlds Meet," design and create a map of the Aztec Empire at the time of the first contract with the Spanish. They create the map from...