Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Viewing Guide for The Ponder Heart

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students conduct research through library and Internet resources. They research in a multidisciplinary fashion, and make creative leaps in their analysis and interpretation of the novella.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Transportation Transformed America

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders focus on the role of transportation. In this transportation lesson, 11th graders look at the lives of Americans at the turn of the centuries. They compare and contrast 2000 to 1900. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Bob Dylan: No Direction Home

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students hold panel discussions on selected topics about the 1960s and their impact on modern-day events. As visual reinforcement, they watch the film about Bob Dylan and research the music of the period as well as his musical...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

"Jazz is About Freedom": Billie Holiday's Anti-lynching Song Strange Fruit

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Working in small teams, learners analyze a variety of primary source materials related to lynching (news articles, letters written to or written by prominent Americans, pamphlets, broadsides, etc.) in order to assess the effectiveness of...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lincoln, Douglass, and Black Emergence (Literature and Politics, 1840-1865)

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Students examine the ideas of Lincoln and Douglass. In groups, they compare and contrast writings from each man and how they formed the nation with their ideas. After watching "Glory", they discuss how people like Lincoln and Douglass...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Motion Capture and Analysis

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students capture the serve motion of a tennis player with a digital or video camera. Using transparencies or a software package, analyze the speed, acceleration, displacement and time of the racquet head and ball in the tennis stroke.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Data Gathering: Vietnam

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students study the Vietnam Era by interviewing people and writing a questionnaire to gather data on the attitudes, feeling, and experiences of the interviewee during this era.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Teaching Acting Technique and Building a Character Through Cinema

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students review the style techniques related to the American Method Acting and practice using them in groups. Using various scenes from films, they try to recreate the scene using props. In groups, they discover the proper way to get...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Wealth In Poverty

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students investigate the social problem of poverty. They view a film in order to create context for the activity. Students evaluate different quotations about the issue. Classroom discussion is used to find the definition of being...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Civil Rights Methodology Martin Luther King, Jr. – Stokely Carmichael

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students compare and contrast the visions of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Stokely Carmichael. In this African-American history instructional activity, students read speeches by each of the men and summarize the arguments made by each of...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Case Study: Manzanar

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders investigate Japanese-American internment. In this World War II lesson, 11th graders conduct research from the Manzanar National Historic Sites and then write essays based on their findings.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Thomas Edison, electricity and America

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students will examine Edison's application of electricity and the concept of the American Consumer Culture and what thay means. Students will evaluate how these ideas and concepts led to change.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Dangerous Straits

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Learners view a film and read articles that explore controversial Chinese and American relations. They conduct interviews, participate in class role-plays and develop policy recommendations for government agencies.
Unit Plan
Curated OER

From Sea to Shining Sea

For Teachers 5th
Students study the geography of the United States of America. Students write letters, create travel brochures, make maps, graph population numbers, read fiction and nonfiction selections, complete KWL charts, and watch films.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Codex Comes Home: Leonardo Lives in Seattle

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Young scholars complete a unit on the life of Leonardo da Vinci and the content of the Codex Leicester. They write an encyclopedia entry, watch a film, complete a data sheet, conduct Internet research, and write a letter to Bill Gates...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Twain: Icon and Iconoclast

For Teachers 8th - 10th
Learners examine work by Mark Twain in the context of pre- and post-Civil War America. In this cross curricular lesson, students gather biographical information about Twain, use a Venn diagram to compare and contrast him with...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Radiation

For Teachers 8th - 10th
Students distinguish between natural and man-made radiation. They measure radiation using a Geiger counter and investigate footprints of radiation.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Nationalism and Conflict-Two Fronts, Two Perspectives!

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students examine the major conflicts of the 20th century. After watching a video, they discuss the various types of technology and how they were used in World War I. They watch excerpts from films covering different wars and view them...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Cultural Palette

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students examine pieces of music and art that represent who they are. They study Haitian culture and traditions by performing the musical production "Once on the Island." They watch and discuss the film "The Nature of Music."
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

I'm Gone

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students plan a mock mission to Mars. In this space science lesson, students work in cooperative groups and select one experiment to take on their mock mission. Students create a mission plan form and send a proposed experiment to NASA.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Cuban Missile Crisis

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students reflect on the events that lead up to the Cuban Missile Crisis in the early 1960s.  In this history lesson plan, students explore the conflicts between the United States and the Soviet Union revolving around missiles in...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Active Viewing: Eyes on the Prize "Awakenings"

For Teachers 11th
Dive deeper into the Montgomery Bus Boycott with this multi-stage lesson, centered on the essential question: Why did the boycott last so long? Historians investigate the Jim Crow south through a video clip (not included), then analyze...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Jazz in America

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders explore Jazz in America. They examine greats in Jazz, such as Duke Ellington. They are also to discuss the cultural implications of the music itself.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

'Song of the South' a racist tune?

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students read the information about the movie "Song of the South" and watch some of the clips. They write their reaction to the proposal to re-release the movie. Students consider whether it would matter if the studio adds an...