ELLs are introduced to the experiences of Filipino immigrants to the United States. As a class, they discuss the various waves of immigration to the United States and state the reasons why they would leave the Philippines. They compare...

What did the English settlers think of the Native Americans inhabiting the Chesapeake region of the United States? Learners analyze a series of documents and images to determine the English perception of the local inhabitants. A great...

The seventh lesson plan in this unit on colonial trade assesses fourth graders' ability to use details from an informational text to make inferences and create a piece of informative writing. The included assessment begins with learners...

As a summative assessment for this unit on colonial trade, fourth graders listen to and read informational texts in order to demonstrate their ability to take notes, write summaries, and draw connections. Young scholars first listen as...

Fifth graders collaborate with another fifth grade classroom while learning about various locations in the United States. This is a telecollaborative video conferencing project that is designed for students studying United States history...

Katherine Paterson’s young adult novel Lyddie is the foundation of a differentiated instruction unit that not only explores the rise of industrialization and labor but women’s rights issues as well. After learners read the novel, they...

The last instructional activity in this unit about human rights consists of a final assessment. To demonstrate the skills your class has acquired throughout this unit, they will work with a new article entitled "From Kosovo to the United...

Here is a mid-unit assessment for a group of lessons studying the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The first half of this instructional activity calls for several forms of review. Your class will review the content of the...

Close your colonial America unit with a performance-based assessment. Class members will show their proficiency in several skills including using details to back up inferences, determining the meaning of words in context,...

Research current and proposed peace talks around the world with this New York Times instructional activity, Using the Darfur peace talks in Abuja, Nigeria as a starting point, middle schoolers create a news program on the subject. They...

Young historians use their planning graphic organizer to prepare a personal narrative draft on expert trades. Since the instructional activity is considered the mid-unit assessment, learners respond to a writing prompt related to the...

Fifth graders will understand what the United Nations Organization does and will be able to identify the aims and purposes of the United Nations. They recognize the seven key areas of the Millennium Declaration.

Thanksgiving doesn't occur only once a year for the Haudenosaunee. Weave an instructional activity about reading closely with an inspiring message about eternal gratitude for all of the elements of creation into a unit on Native American...

Investigate the nature of crime dramas on television. What exactly are they trying to portray? Questions and a comparison chart support learners as they watch shows from Canada, Great Britain, and the United States. An oral presentation...

Demonstrate how to engage in a polite and professional conversation with this banking and interfacing lesson. Focusing on explanatory and informaitonal texts, middle schoolers write sentences using banking and finance terminologies....

In the tenth instructional activity of this unit, young scholars learn to categorize information as they continue researching their colonial trade. During guided practice, the teacher models how to read informational text slowly while...

Eleventh graders listen to a brief history lesson about the 40's and 50's mid-West America and the Migrant workers that worked the fields. Next, learners will read a short story written by Tomas Rivera (both in Spanish and English)....

Students compare the situation of Latin American immigrants with the situation of immigrants from other areas of the world. They use media to obtain information on topics of academic interest, personal interest, and intellectual interest.

Thanksgiving is a cherished tradition in the United States and Canada. Introduce the beginnings of the Thanksgiving celebration with a resource that features reading comprehension activities, vocabulary exercises, and a short...

Two activities bridge English language arts and social studies to take an inside look into immigration. Scholars interview a family member or someone they know who immigrated here. A crafted suitcase features information obtained in the...

Examine the different perspectives on the future of United States Navy bombing exercises taking place on Vieques, Puerto Rico with this lesson from The New York Times. Here, young learners read "Islanders to Vote on Vieques Bomb Drills,"...

Building on the previous activity in this unit on colonial trade, the ninth activity has young experts continuing their research and writing summaries of the information they find. To begin, children participate in guided practice where...

Study the impact and possible outcomes of the Exxon-Mobil merger in your language arts, social studies, or economics class. Secondary learners evaluate a series of graphs, write a paragraph interpreting the data, and engage in class...

Case studies, an examination of images, and readings of passages from the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child are used to spark conversations in ESL/ELD social studies classes about this highly-charged topic. Using a variety of...