Curated OER
Tooling Around Arizona: Reading Arizona Maps
Young scholars research Arizona maps. In this map lesson, students discuss map titles, scales, directions, elevation, and symbols. The class will examine topography, landforms, and rivers found on an Arizona map.
Curated OER
All Wrapped up and Nowhere to Go
Students consider the impact of legislating exessive packaging. In this environmental issues lesson, students visit selected websites to discover information about packaging and UK laws to reduce it. Students...
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Hurricane Katrina: You Be the Reporter
Students work in a small group to create news stories, feature stories and editorials/letters to the editor and organize them in a podcast, video-based program, or newspaper/magazine focused on Hurricane Katrina.
Curated OER
Holocaust Theme
Young scholars complete a unit of lessons on the events of the Holocaust during WWII. They write daily journal entries, create a collage, view and discuss videos, read and analyze novels and poetry, and complete a novel project.
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A Nation Divided
Fifth graders participate in various activities related to the Civil War. In this Civil War lesson plan students understand the events and feelings of people during the Civil War by studying primary sources, journal writing, readings,...
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Caring for the Land
Learners study soil management and issues relating to agriculture and the environment. For this agriculture and environment lesson, students define the terms farmer, environmentalist, and activist. Learners use a Venn diagram to compare...
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Grappling With War: A Discussion of the Conflict in Iraq
Students examine historical relationship between the United States and Iraq, and differentiate between fact and opinion.
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Strong Convictions
How can the rhetorical structure of an editorial help to develop its argument? Use this New York Times editorial to emphasize the importance of structure in a piece of informational text. Adolescent writers then use the editorial as a...
Curated OER
The School Holiday Calendar
Various Muslim holidays and their meanings are researched and your students will predict whether or not they should be recognized on the New York City school calendar. An extension could be to write a letter to the Mayor about...
Curated OER
Collective Poetry: Teaching Tolerance
Help your class create collective poetry following a simple, engaging model from Teaching Tolerance (tolerance.org). Each young poet writes five things on an index card: sayings from others, favorite sound, favorite place, favorite...
Curated OER
How Advertisers Persuade
This plan centers around the article "How Advertisers Persuade," although it is not included in the lesson itself. Get your class thinking about advertising, appeals, and techniques that companies use to get their products from the shelf...
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Recognizing Propaganda/Bias
Middle and high schoolers examine the uses of propaganda during the Nazi era. Using examples of propaganda used by Hitler, they discuss how it changed the thinking and ideas of people exposed to it. In groups, they identify how and why...
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Sounding Off About Impeachment
Help your middle and high schoolers reflect on the responsibility of newspapers to act as a vehicle for 'everyday citizens' to voice their opinions. Then, using an article about the first day of the Senate impeachment trial of President...
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Where Do You Stand?
Scholars assess a government's ability to intervene in personal health decisions. They research basic facts about euthanasia and describe their opinions about new legislation passed in the United States Congress about an individual's...
Curated OER
Your Right to an Attorney
An outstanding lesson on a person's right to have attorney's representation in a court case is here for your young learners of the law. Pupils read a lengthy account that spells out the laws regarding legal representation, then answer...
PBS
Does Art Imitate Life?
Write what you know, sound advice for any writer and something many famous authors are known to have done. Use these materials to explore how Shakespeare's life influenced his plays. This resource is packed with readings, video segments,...
Harry S. Truman Library & Museum
Marshall Plan: Convince the American People
This is an excellent resource for US history classes, especially AP history. After learning some background on the Marshall Plan, the class, divided into two groups, researches opposing positions on this aid program. Groups read and...
Curated OER
Writing a Letter to the Editor
Learners identify the main elements/structure of a letter to the editor. They brainstorm for thoughts and opinions on a specific topic and write a first draft of a letter to an editor of a newspaper. They give each other preliminary...
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"The Story of Ruby Bridges"
Third graders examine the role of Ruby Bridges in the U.S. Civil Rights Movement. They listen to the teacher read the book "The Story of Ruby Bridges" by Robert Coles, identify what is fact or opinion in the story, and sequence events in...
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I Want to Be a Beachcomber
Middle schoolers, in teams, examine the advantages and disadvantages of reading the news from the print format or from the online newspaper format. Students compare and contrast a printed newspaper with an electronic version using...
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Like It Or Not?
Write a review of the film adaptation of Holes. After viewing the film, your young reviewers make recommendations about viewing the film. Using details to support their opinions, they highlight the important parts of the movie without...
Curated OER
A Colony is Born : Lesson 5 - Dear Mem
Discover colonies! Young historians will listen to a primary source journal entry read aloud with a backdrop of wave sounds. They discuss the entry, add historical facts to a chart and personal insights to another. Then they listen to...
Curated OER
Men of Steel
Students explore early 20th century steel making. In this U.S. history steel making lesson, students view and describe a postcard and a picture depicting exaggerated aspects of the steel industry. Students listen to a poem...
Curated OER
A Lesson To Accompany "The First Bank of the United States: A Chapter in the History of Central Banking"
Here is an interesting topic. Learners examine the economics that led to the founding of the First Bank of America. They participate in a reader's theater experience depicting the debate between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson...