Curated OER
A Country Far Away
First graders compile questions they want to explore other people. Given the information shared by the guest speaker, 1st graders become familiar with customs from another culture and recall what they learned about another country and...
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
Happy Birthday, Martin Luther King, Jr.
Primary learners will embrace diversity and celebrate multiculturalism through these engaging activities. Which include reading the story Martin Luther King and singing the song "A Man Named King." They will also explore the...
Curated OER
Spring: Paul Laurence Dunbar
Explore the abundance of spring, no matter what season you are covering in your class! Using the poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar, GALE Biography Resource Center, and Litfinder, pupils work on researching the poet and analyzing the use of...
Curated OER
Civil Rights: Rosa Parks Centers
Research the Montgomery Bus Boycott and Rosa Parks. Set up different centers and have learners rotate through the activities aimed at researching Rosa Parks. They read The Bus Ride that Changed History: The Story of Rosa Parks, write a...
Smithsonian Institution
Watching Crystals Grow
Amazing science can sometimes happen right before your eyes! The class gets cozy as they watch crystals grow. They use Epsom salts, rocks, and food coloring to create crystals. They'll observe the entire process, documenting every step...
Curated OER
Pictures from Korea: Shards of an Almost Forgotten Past
Students explore the Korean War through photography. In this Korean War lesson, students examine photographs taken by a soldier and respond to question about them.
Curated OER
Jazz in America
Students learn where Jazz came from and why it is an important part of America's history.
Curated OER
Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison: Quiz
In this Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison learning exercise, students answer fifteen multiple choice questions about plot, characters, and theme as well as identify quotations.
Curated OER
The Postbellum Period and Freemen
Students become familiar with the ways slaves reacted to educating themselves.  In this postbellum and freeman lesson, students complete readings from chapters in the book Up From Slavery.  Students write about the...
Curated OER
Racism, Gender, Ethnicity, and Aesthetics in the Art of Graffiti
Students describe how graffiti is a part of everyday culture. They develop basic vocabulary terms for thinking and writing about graffiti and  make and justify judgments about aesthetics qualities in graffiti art. They compare and...
Huntington Library
The Poetry and Prose of Langston Hughes
Eleventh graders discover the poetry of Langston Hughes. In this social issues lesson plan, 11th graders experience the views of Langston Hughes. Students read Hughes' poetry and discuss the basic theme. Students evaluate the political,...
Curated OER
The Harlem Renaissance
The Harlem Renaissance inspired a group of writers, musicians, and artists whose influence is still seen today.
Curated OER
Mediterranean Trade in the Late Bronze Age
Seventh graders analyze the amount and conditions of trade in the late Bronze Age.  In groups, they research where a variety of items and goods originated.  They participate in Mediterranean trade days in which they try to acquire as...
Curated OER
Plants and Animals: Partners in Pollination
Students describe the complementary relationships between pollinators and the plants they pollinate, identify adaptations that flowers have developed to "encourage" pollination, and create and draw their own "designer" flowers.
Curated OER
Mineral Scavenger Hunt
Students complete a scavenger hunt worksheet as they find examples in their classroom, at home, etc., of minerals. Excellent worksheet!
Curated OER
Create a Classroom Exhibit: Rocks and Minerals
Students bring in rocks and minerals from home. They observe them and describe them carefully, completing a worksheet. Finally, a classroom exhibit is created.
Curated OER
Plants and Animals, Partners in Pollination
Learners participate in multiple hands-on activities to explore reproduction and pollination. In groups, using a cotton swab and powder, students simulate being pollinators and plants. They name the parts of the flowers and the function...
Curated OER
Rocks and Minerals
Students bring rocks and minerals from home to investigate in the classroom. In this rocks and minerals lesson plan, students observe all the rocks and minerals brought into the class and answer 7 questions about the features of the...
Curated OER
Under the Spell of Spiders
Students examine spiders. In these spider lessons, students will view spider images and live spiders to determine physical characteristics, habits, and habitats. Students will examine fantasy and folklore about spiders to create and...
Curated OER
How Size Shapes Animals
Students investigate how size affects large and small animals differently.  In this animal lesson plan, students determine how size affects different animals by constructing their own animal out of marshmallows.  Once students create...
Curated OER
Fossils Footprints Across Time
Young scholars examine fossils to understand how they are formed and how they give information about geological history. In this fossil lesson plan, students research and write about fossils and make models of different fossil types.The...
Curated OER
Going...going...gone? Tropical Rainforests-How They Work, What They Do for Us, What's Being Done to Them...
Sixth graders explore the Tropical Rainforest and come to understand what it is and how it affects the ecosystem.  In this rainforests lesson, 6th graders write about the Tropical Rainforest, imagine they are in the Tropical Rainforest,...
Curated OER
"Jazz is About Collaboration": Jim Crow Laws And Segregation
Students explore development of jazz music in the 1930s by forming imaginary jazz bands which tour several cities in Depression-era America.  Jazz band members create imaginary identities for themselves, develop publicity for their tour,...