What was life like in colonial America? Follow this lesson and your pupils will find out what people in colonial times did for work and for fun. Ask learners to compare and contrast the two texts and explain what the reading helped them...

Students complete a unit of lessons that examine life in early America from 1740-1840. They compare items with similar objects we use today, explore various websites, create a paper doll, try and guess the function of various objects,...

Pair the famous poems "I Hear America Singing," by Walt Whitman, and "I, Too, Sing America," by Langston Hughes, with a more recent poem by Elizabeth Alexander called "Praise Song for the Day" to demonstrate a theme and introduce your...

Discover the experience of being Muslim in America. In this diversity lesson, watch "9/11 Backlash: Being Muslim in America," and research how Muslims are portrayed in American television and movies. Debate the media portrayal of Muslims.

How did workers pick a trade in colonial America? Using a WebQuest approach, scholars explore life in the colonial era by looking at professions available to men like Benjamin Franklin. Individuals then apply their knowledge to create...

Students 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.

Third graders "travel" from Europe to North America as Columbus did. They organize the information into chronoglogical order.

Get your historians to hop into someone else's 18th century shoes with a simulation on rights in early America. Each individual gets an identity card, indicating their race, gender, and status (slave or free). Areas around the room are...

Students explain why Columbus said the native peoples he encountered when he reached the New World were "a people who lived in God." They explain if Latinos can still be said to be "a people who live in God." Students explain the role of...

How did colonial settlement and the establishment of the United States affect Native Americans in the Chesapeake region? Your young historians will analyze contemporary and historical maps, read informational texts, and work in groups to...

Students explore South America. For this South American lesson, students use their geography skills to create population, terrain, biomes/vegetation, and major exports maps. Students present their finished maps to their classmates and...

It's nothing new—America has always been a melting pot of cultures. The resource explores the diversity of individuals living in the American colonies during the Revolutionary War. Scholars examine artifacts and primary sources to...

Students study the Dominican Republic through watching and discussing a video about the country and its people. They explain life in the Dominican Republic and describe the emerging picture of the Dominican Republic as viewed through...

Students participate in a series of activities to explore the lives of slaves in 19th century America. They examine the design of slave ships, the hardships endured, and the ways that owners depended on slaves for their economic survival.

Sixth graders complete a five-week unit investigating the eight major biomes of South America. They conduct Internet research, collect short-term and long-term climate data, and create a HyperStudio slideshow stack about a selected biome...

  Students watch a teacher presented Readers Theater about Colonial America to introduce the students to the topic.  For this Colonial America lesson, 4th graders recreate a timeline of early American history, using...

High schoolers analyze political cartoons. In this colonial America lesson, students examine the provided political cartoons and respond to analytical questions about each of them.

Young scholars identify 50 States and the major geographic features, regions, and political representation of each. In connection, they investigate the causes and effects of European colonization on North America. They identify the...

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...

Here is a wonderful series of lessons designed to introduce learners to the variety of renewable, clean energy sources used by people all over the world. Geothermal energy is the resource focused on. This particular sources of energy...

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...

What brought settlers from Europe to North America? By exploring primary sources, such as posters seeking recruits for the new lands, class members take a deeper look at these motivations. To finish, they present their findings to...

The firsthand accounts of what it was like to be an enslaved person in the mid-1800s riveted a nation and the issue ultimately led to civil war. Using excerpts from Frederick Douglass's autobiography, budding historians examine what it...

Fifth graders can put their knowledge of early American life, the 13 colonies, and maps to the test when they play this Jeopardy game. The game covers terminology, famous people, and geography related to Colonial American times. Note:...