Curated OER
Then and Now: Tolerance as a Casualty of War
Students compare terrorist attacks on the US. In this lesson plan on tolerance and war, students use various resources and links to examine the concept of toleration during war. Students will focus on the attacks of Pear Harbor in 1941...
Curated OER
Coming to America
Students discover their families' reasons for coming to America. They view the video "Molly's Pilgrim" and discuss the story. They interview family members as to why they came to America.
Curated OER
Corn in Ancient America
Young scholars explore the importance of corn to the survival of early civilizations of the Americas. Through research and discussion activities, they read and describe how corn was used as food and currency in early civilizations. ...
Curated OER
Early European Explorers Map
Fifth graders create an explorer's map. In this explorers lesson students use a map of the world as reference to draw their own map of Europe, North America, Central America, and the Caribbean Islands. The students use their maps to show...
Curated OER
History of Miss America
Students make a time-lines of of decades using images from Miss America. In this history lesson, students looks at the country's beauty pageant and how it changes the lives of women in America. Students debate issues such as size...
Curated OER
Whose Neighborhood is It? Whose America is This?
Learners use electronic resources to study immigration issues, analyze immigration issues dealing with security, economics, lawfulness, culture, and human rights, and discuss possible solutions. Students then express their opinions by...
Curated OER
The Children of Eric the Red Explore the West: The Norsemen Encounter Indigenous People of North America
Young scholars read about Viking exploration and complete activities based on the Indigenous people they encountered. In this Viking exploration lesson plan, students compare and contrast stories, write a character sketch, and more.
National Constitution Center
Address America: Your Six-Word Stump Speech
Stump speeches are the focus of this exercise that combines politics and language arts. After learning about this type of speech, the class listens to Obama's 2008 presidential campaign stump speech and answers a series of questions that...
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
European Explorers
To compare how the Spanish, French, and English approached the exploration of North America, class groups examine primary source documents and become experts on one of four explorers: Francisco Coronado, Robert LaSalle, Samuel de...
Scholastic
Writing to a Historical Poet
Poetry is a very personal and introspective art form. Give your class the opportunity to understand how a poet's voice can speak to them on a personal level, and that every reader can respond to an author differently. After a poetic...
Curated OER
The Peanut Wizard
Students read and discuss information regarding George Washington Carver and how the peanut became cultivated in the southern colonies of the United States. In this George Washington Carver lesson, students develop vocabulary that...
Curated OER
Music Theories
Explore the inception and evolution of hip-hop music as a springboard for writing music reviews and researching other genres of music. Learners will read and discuss the Times' article, From Underground Music to Fashion Statement to then...
PBS
Baseball: The Tenth Inning - Bases Divided
Baseball is a relatively high-interest topic through which social studies classes can explore racial prejudice in the US. Video clips provide much of the background information that groups record on their handout and then share with the...
Curated OER
John Brown, Then and Now
Eleventh graders study one of the selected images of John Brown and read an excerpt online that describes his role in the Civil War. They identify significant information about John Brown. They think about how this applies to current...
Curated OER
Waste, Then and Now
Students discuss and compare the waste disposal habits of today with those of Native Americans of long ago.
Curated OER
Everything was up to date in 1628
Learners view a video of Colonial House, a reality series where people lived according to the standards of European immigrants to the U.S. in 1628. In this colonial history lesson, students research changes in geographic areas over time...
Curated OER
Taking the Lead
Students discover how officials are elected in countries of interest to them. After reading an article, they examine election fraud allegations in Peru. They create a poster showing the election process and assess them in a written essay.
Curated OER
Mayflower Arrival Day 3
Seventh graders write a letter describing their arrival on the Mayflower. In this Mayflower arrival lesson, 7th graders research the passengers, comparing and contrasting ocean travel then and now. Students take a passenger from the...
Curated OER
Burial Ground
Students visit the burial ground at Huguenot Street and work in groups to calculate the average lifespan for a resident in the 1700's and one in the 1800's. They analyze the grave markers for further information.
Curated OER
Grand Canyon Suite
Take a trip to the Grand Canyon! Lesson one explores how Ferde Grofe painted a musical landscape of America when he wrote the Grand Canyon Suite. Learners then examine art that shows the Grand Canyon in lesson two. Finally, lesson three...
Curated OER
Clay Wipe Away: Ceramics
Discuss Pre-Colombian South American art with your class, then get out the clay and create some. Pupils practice using the wipe-away technique to create a ceramic tile similar to those made by the Maya. Great web links and a...
Curated OER
Picture This - Stars Over Hoke
The classroom becomes a safe and inclusive place for your ELLs as they create documents about their lives. Learners create, read, and present story books based on their own personal experiences. They use digital cameras to take...
Curated OER
That's the Spirit
Is, as Walt Whitman contends, America’s “almost maniacal appetite for wealth,” the heart of the American dream? Class members grapple with this question as they read David Brooks’ article “The Commercial Republic,” and quotes that...
City University of New York
Urban Politics: Machines and Reformers
Take a trip to the turn of the twentieth century with a resource about industrialism in America. With primary source documents and focus questions, learners think about the ways that government groups and organizations paved the way for...