Lesson Plan
Friends of Fort McHenry

Sensory “Star Spangled Banner”

For Teachers 4th - 8th Standards
Music can help us to access memories and events in a meaningful way, and Francis Scott Key used specific words to convey what he had seen and felt when writing what would become America's national anthem. Help your class connect to...
Unit Plan
California State University

The American Revolution

For Teachers 4th - 6th Standards
Invite your class on a ride through the American Revolution. Young historians travel through time as they explore the events that led to the foundation of the United States of America. Over the course of eight lessons, this unit...
Lesson Plan
1
1
MENSA Education & Research Foundation

Utopia/Dystopia: The American Dream

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
America was founded by dreamers, and the American dream still resonates in our country today. Track the American dream from its Puritan beginnings to its optimistic descendants with a instructional activity that focuses on speeches...
Lesson Plan
3
3
Dream of a Nation

Writing a Narrative Essay

For Teachers 11th Standards
Imagine using narrative essays to encourage change. This multi-week unit plan does just that. After reading a series of articles from Tyson Miller's Dream of a Nation: Inspiring Ideas for a Better America, class members examine the...
Lesson Plan
Journey Through the Universe

Voyage of Discovery

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
Did you know that Pluto is smaller than the United States of America? It is difficult to conceptualize the size of planets and the distance between them, and the lesson plan addresses those exact issues. After a discussion, pupils create...
Activity
2
2
National Park Service

News Bearly Fit to Print

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
There are an average of three human fatalities by bears in North America every year, which is low when you compare it to the 26 killed by dogs and the 90 killed by lightning annually. The lesson encourages researching human-bear...
Interactive
1
1
American Battle Monuments Commission

Americans in Great Britain: 1942-1945

For Students 6th - 12th Standards
Watch the pivotal moments of America's presence in embattled Britain during World War II with an exceptional interactive tool. From personal stories about life on the front lines to a map that tracks every group and division...
Lesson Plan
PBS

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
What rights are guaranteed to students? Do they align with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was approved by the United Nations in 1948? Middle and high schoolers present persuasive arguments about the rights they believe...
Lesson Plan
1
1
Science 4 Inquiry

Edible Plate Tectonics

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Many people think they can't observe plate tectonics, but thanks to GPS, we know that Australia moves at a rate of 2.7 inches per year, North America at 1 inches per year, and the Pacific plate at more than 3 inches per year! Scholars...
Unit Plan
Annenberg Foundation

Modernist Portraits

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
How did literature reflect people's attitudes in post-World War I America? A lesson explores the topic using a variety of activities. Individuals watch and respond to a video; read author biographies and engage in discussion; write...
Lesson Plan
Literacy Design Collaborative

American Dream: Reality, Promise or Illusion?

For Students 10th - 11th Standards
Dream or nightmare? Class members craft a synthesis essay with textual to determine to what extent the United States has fulfilled the ideas embodied in the America Dream.
Unit Plan
2
2
Odell Education

Reading Closely For Textual Details: Grade 8

For Teachers 8th Standards
Only a thorough understanding of history can save us from repeating it. Practice close reading skills with an eighth grade unit that focuses on 19th century America, including European immigration into Ellis Island and Frederick...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Give Me Liberty or Give Me Freedom

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Welcome to America, the land of liberty and freedom. Examine the ways in which the terms liberty and freedom have been used in the United States. After researching and analyzing quotations from the past and present, students create an...
Lesson Plan
US Citizenship and Immigration Services

Thanksgiving 1—Pilgrims and American Indians

For Teachers 3rd - 6th Standards
The Pilgrims first arrived in America in order to gain religious freedom. Here is a instructional activity that takes the class on this journey with the Pilgrims, stopping to look at how they got here, who they met when they arrived, and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Historical Fiction: A Wealth of Interpretations

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
How can understanding the genre of historical fiction help your language arts class with literary analysis? Use this lesson to help young readers learn about historical fiction. After reading a selection from the "Dear America" or "My...
Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Walt Whitman to Langston Hughes: Poems for a Democracy

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Explore the idea of democratic poetry. Upper graders read Walt Whitman, examining daguerreotypes, and compare Whitman to Langston Hughes. They describe aspects of Whitman's I Hear America Singing to Langston Hughes' Let America Be...
Worksheet
1
1
K12 Reader

Conflict Over North American Lands

For Students 4th - 5th Standards
Readers are introduced to some of the conflicts that arose over land and resources in the Americas in a two-part cross-curricular comprehension worksheet that asks kids to study the article and then to use information provided to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Criminal or Hero

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
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...
Lesson Plan
Global Oneness Project

The Power to Persevere

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Joris Debeij's film, Making It in America, takes a look at Alma Velasco, a Salvadoran immigrant who was granted political asylum in the United States. The lesson gives a face to immigrants and their struggles to embrace the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ancient Gold Working

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students create a sculpture inspired by the masks, pendants, or human and animal forms found in ancient Indian art of the Americas. They focus on the techniques of metalworking, especially repousse.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Compare and Contrast Timelines of the World

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders create a classroom timeline of important world events. This lesson is meant to be used during the entire school year. As the school year goes along, events are added to the timeline as chosen by the class. The events are...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Cuban Americans: Exiles from an Island Home

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students define the terms Hispanic and Latino and explain why most immigrants from Central and South America and teh Caribbean prefer one over the other. They define cultural identity, acculturation, and assimilation. Students explain...
PPT
Curated OER

American Becomes a Colonial Power

For Teachers 8th - 11th
Exploring the idea of America joining "the imperialist club" at the end of the 19th century, this presentation presents reasons why America not only had the drive to explore the world, but the power and wealth with which to do so....
Worksheet
1
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K12 Reader

From Nomad to Farmer

For Students 4th - 5th Standards
The gradual evolution of the earliest settlers in North America from nomads to farmers is the subject of a reading comprehension worksheet that asks kids to answer a series of questions using information provided in the reading passage.

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