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Designing Your Inner Self
Students identify connections between various cultures and the symbolism used in them. Individually, they reflect on their own culture, beliefs and values and identify the symbolisms they use to show them. They discuss how their clothes...
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Westward Expansion and the War with Mexico
Students evaluate primary sources to develop their own opinions about Westward Expansion. In this Manifest Destiny lesson, students examine and respond to questions about Gast's painting titled American Progress Students research how...
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Talking Rocks
Third graders consider the differences between pictographs and petroglyphs. They create symbols from a story about their worlds. They make pottery art.
Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary
B. Franklin, Printer and the Public Eye
Students explore U.S. history by researching famous Americans. In this Benjamin Franklin lesson plan, students read portions of a biography about Franklin and identify his position within U.S. politics and as a leader in the battle for...
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Chinese Calligraphy
Students explore Chinese calligraphy. In this art and social science instructional activity, students copy the Chinese character ideograms in order to create words or phrases.
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Rock Art
First graders create and share their own rock art based on Navajo and Hawaiian rock art.
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Animals in Art
Students look at how animals are shown in literature and art as representing emotions, telling a story, or sending a message in this elementary school Language Arts and Visual Arts lesson.
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Rockin' Chalk
Fourth graders access prior knowledge of rocks and minerals. In this petroglyphs lesson, 4th graders become familiar with artwork on rocks. Students create original artworks using rock art.
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One Grain of Rice
Learners complete a Know / Want to Know / Learned chart about India. They locate India on a map and read facts about India. They access the Internet and view a slide show about India. They read "One Grain of Rice" in the Scott Foresman...
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Labyrinths
Whether studying metaphors or Greek mythology, this labyrinth project is a fantastic lesson plan to add to your unit. It includes two versions of the labyrinth; making it with yarn or stone. If your materials are limited, you can even...
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The Three Faces of William Penn
Students analyze art depicting William Penn. They analyze three different paintings discussing the symbolism, artistic elements, and depiction of Native Americans in each painting.
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Thanksgiving: Multiple Perspectives
Young scholars examine different perspectives about Thanksgiving that include those of the European Settlers and the Native Americans. They read and discuss an article about Plymouth being "America's Hometown." They develop a landmark...
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Why Is Water So Important to My Community?
Students read and listen to stories and sayings in New Mexico families. Using the text, they discoer the values and beliefs of a culture. They reflect on the meanings of symbols related to water. They discover the importance water has...
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Create your own Parfleche!
What is a parfleche? It is a box used by the Plains Indians to carry goods as they traveled. First, the class will discuss the uses of these highly ornate boxes and the nature of the Plains Indians' nomadic lifestyle. Then, the class...
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Pursuit of Meaning
Students study art based on the theme "The Pursuit of Meaning." In this art instructional activity, students research the role of a museum curator and create a proposal and exhibit catalog based on the theme "The Pursuit of Meaning."
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36 Public Policy Questions to Energize Your Government/History Classroom Debates
Need topics that are sure to engage your debaters? This list of public policy questions includes such topics as school mascots, regulation of major league baseball, physician-assisted suicide, and violence in video games. A great...
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Coming To America
Students investigate the history of America with the help of children's literature. The story is structured as a timeline that begins at the time of Columbus and progresses to the present. The teacher reads the story with the class and...
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Migrating to Texas
Fourth graders explore the migration to Texas from other parts of the United States. Through journal entries they write about the trip as if they were the settlers coming to a new and foreign country. Working in small groups, 4th graders...
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Daruma
Students study the significance of the daruma through history since the sixth century. Students discuss good luck symbols used by other cultures. Students make a paper mache daruma, filling one eye and setting a goal.
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Knowing Where You Are
Learners work together to research the names of places in their state. They divide up their state so that each group can research a different section and complete a chart of the different names. They create a key for the map to explain...
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A Medal for Peace
Students create a class peace medal to present to another grade/class as a symbol of friendship between the two groups of students. Then they write an explanation of what the purpose of the peace medal is and how it relates to Lewis and...
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Meet You at the Midden: Map Game
Fourth graders use a sketch map to interpret map symbols in order to participate in a game. Using the game cards, they identify reasons why people modify their environment to meet their needs. They compare and contrast how people lived...
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Make a Paper Mache Bowl
Students create a paper mache bowl. In this paper mache lesson, students use wallpaper paste, newspapers, and paint brushes to construct a paper mache bowl. Students decorate their bowl with unique designs.
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Andrew Jackson and the Trail of Tears
Students examine the three historical portraits Andrew Jackson, iam Pitt and Portrait of a Boy for symbolism. They research Andrew Jackson's involvement in the Cherokee Indians' Trail of Tears in North Carolina, and compose a portrait.