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Lesson on 'The Chimney Boy's Story' by Wes Magee
Wes Magee's poem "The Chimney Boy's Story" about chimney sweeps/climbing boys is used as an introduction to a lesson that asks groups to research child labor in Victorian Britain.
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Writing: Laying and Covering the Foundation
Your middle schoolers can become stronger writers with a lesson covering the basics. They compose effective thesis statements and introductions, discuss different ways to capture a reader's attention, and compare a poorly written...
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Warm Glass Renaissance
Students explore an ancient artistic technique know as glass fusing or slumping. Using random arrangements of items, students decorate glass sheets. Next, students follow instructions for fusing the glass and placing it in a kiln.
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The Study of the Spanish-Speaking People of Texas: Daily Life
Young scholars analyze the different ways that photography helps historians understand the lives of people who lived in the past. They examine images from Russell Lee's photo essay and discuss how Texas' has changed from an agrarian to...
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Famous Women in the Military
Learners identify and research various women and their roles in military history. They describe how modern political positions are affected by differences in ideologies and viewpoints that have developed over time. Finally, students...
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Good Brother, Bad Brother
Studetns study how biographers create characters and history of individuals in biographies. They complete a variety of writting activities to demonstrate understanding.
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The Day Before
Students explore the impact a major event has on people and on history as their team selects an event and publishes their own magazine to recreate the times in which such an event occurred.
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To Tell the Truth: Will the Real Warren G. Harding Please Step Forward!
Tenth graders play the role of historians, working to become experts on Warren G. Harding's private and public life. They become contestants in a simulation of the popular 1970s television show "To Tell the Truth".
PBS
Primary Sources
Students see how to use primary and secondary sources to investigate history. Whether it is a photograph, book, map, letter, postcard, newspaper, or official document, students can use sources to reconstruct and relive history.
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Show Me the Money
Students investigate the history of paper currency in the United States and consider anti-counterfeit strategies that are used by making their own paper.
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Where in the World is Camelot?
Students research and plot the various locations of the legendary Camelot from "The Legend of King Arthur." They conduct Internet research, and plot the possible locations of Camelot on a current map of Great Britain.
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Colonial Migration
Students, in groups, create a student book for an assigned group of immigrants to the Colonial United States (Huguenots, Scots, Irish, Africans.) They create drawings for the book and rhyming text that depicts three struggles that...
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Historical Comparison of Anti-War Music
Students explain that, how in this world of increasing awareness and interdependence, music can act as a magnet to draw people together. They research and compare anti-war songs from many different generations.
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The Roadmap to the Jewish Golden Age of Spain
Students discover, through analysis of media and of primary source historical documents, how Jews achieved high levels of assimilation and acceptance under Islamic rule during the Golden Age of Spain, from the tenth to the twelfth century.
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What's in a Name? The Use of Native American Images in Sports
Students discuss and analyze the pros and cons of using Native American names and images to represent sports teams. Using primary sources, including position statements from Native American tribes, interviews with school alumni and...
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Historical Events of the Civil War
Fifth graders research the Civil War through the use of primary documents. In this historical events of the Civil War instructional activity, 5th graders write about the information gotten from the primary document. Students answer...
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Traveler's Trunk
Pupils analyze and interpret artifacts from the 1920s and explore the Great Migration. In this 1920s history lesson, students review background information about the Great Migration and use artifacts to study history of Chicago. Pupils...
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Students Working in Local Historic Preservation
Young scholars develop an appreciation of history as they volunteer their time in historical museums. In this historical perspectives lesson, students work with valuable local documents as they aid the staff of selected local historical...
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Enduring Influence: Rome, Greece, and Byzantium
Students explore ancient cultures. For this ancient history lesson, students view programs that depict the ancient Roman, Greek, and Byzantine cultures. Students consider how archaeologists, geologists, and scientists have uncovered the...
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Simple Cycles
Students use Inspiration to map cyclical events. They recognize links between separate events and structural patterns. They explore the Internet Connection section to browse additional resources on teaching about cycles used in...
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Letters from the Japanese American Internment
Learners examine letters of Japanese-American children during internment in World War II. They discover what it was like in the camps and how they were treated once they were released. They also view photographs of the camps.
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A Picture is Worth...
Learners use their photo analysis skills to gain an understanding of what pioneer life in Canada may have been like by examining historical photos. Students are then given an opportunity to present their findings to the class in a...
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Will the Real Ben Franklin Please Stand Up?
Students explore the life and accomplishments of Benjamin Franklin. In this colonial history lesson plan, students research Benjamin Franklin's work as a printer, a writer, a statesman, and an inventor. Students determine what his most...
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The Tudor's True Story
Students take effective notes from a video documentary, create an oral report about an assigned aspect of the video, and express an understanding of the King's six wives' lives.