University of Northern Iowa
Additional Folklife Information
Use a packet packed with ideas for how to celebrate the traditions of your country, state, community, and pupils's families. Suggestions for how to draw on oral and material traditions, customs, beliefs, music, and stories all find a...
PBS
Family History: On Your Honor
What is your history? Scholars work with their own families to create a unique story of the courage and bravery of their ancestors. The third and final part of the series culminates in a creation of not just a family history, but a...
PBS
The Last Generation: Climate Change and the Marshall Islands
Are some families down to their last generation? The final segment of a two-part climate change series investigates the vanishing Marshall Islands. Scholars divide into research teams to analyze three different individuals whose lives...
University of Richmond
Renewing Inequality: Family Displacements through Urban Renewal 1950-1966
What is progress? Who bears its cost? High schoolers consider the questions as they review data on families displaced by urban renewal projects in the 1950s and 1960s. An interactive, curated data project asks historians to consider the...
PBS
Stories of Arrival
While every family's immigration story is unique, patterns emerge when looking at individual narratives. Using clips from the PBS video series, "Latino Americans," learners look at commonalities among immigrant experiences. A chart helps...
DocsTeach
The School Lunch Program and the Federal Government
The school lunch program is rooted in the struggles of the Great Depression and is still assisting families today. Academics research documents and images relating to the creation of the school lunch program. Scholars use a worksheet to...
Curated OER
Social Studies: Kyrgyzstan Bride Kidnappings
Young scholars examine the Kyrgyzstan bride kidnappings and compare wedding traditions there with those in the United States. They explain these differences and similarities in a fictitious letter to a peer in Kyrgyzstan.
Curated OER
Social Studies - Concentration Camps - 1
Students compare and contrast concentration camps. In this World War II instructional activity, students examine photographs and documents from Jewish concentration camps in an effort to understand their function. Students complete...
Curated OER
Lesson Plan on Family History and Past Generations
Second graders listen to The Keeping Quilt and through class/small group discussion relate this story to beliefs, customs, and traditions of their own families. They make a class quilt based on these discussions.
Curated OER
Developing a Relationship with Senior Citizens
Young scholars examine how to value their elders and the senior citizens in society. They show empathy through literature to people who are generation or more older than themselves. They also study the importance of genealogy.
Global Oneness Project
Living with Less Water
Did you know that California produces two thirds of the fruits and nuts consumed in the United States? That it produces almost one third of the vegetables? Did you know that scientists warn that California is facing the onset of a...
Curated OER
We Are Philanthropists- Soup service Families
Students complete a service project. In this philanthropy lesson, students gather with their families to discuss how they can give to others. Students and their families prepare jars of dried soup mix that will be distributed to local...
Curated OER
Becoming a Member of an 1830s Family
Students compare and constrast life in an 1830s family verses a modern family. They role play the position of a family member in 1830 while wearing traditional clothing for the time period. They write journal entries to show their daily...
Curated OER
Educating Myself Benefits Others
Most upper graders don't realize that when they choose to attend college, they're benefiting the whole community. Invite them to explore how they, as educated individuals, can contribute to their family, community, and global society....
National Council for the Social Studies
Analyzing a Product or Political Advertisement
How do advertisements evoke specific thoughts and feelings? Class members find out through the exploration of the Internet, videos, television, magazines, radio, and posters. Learners investigate commercial advertisements, political...
K20 LEARN
Plantation Life And Slavery: Antebellum Era
Learners evaluate primary sources from the antebellum era to determine the accuracy of textbooks. They examine narratives from enslaved people, then compare them to their own text. Extension activities include the opportunity to write a...
Smithsonian Institution
A Life in Beads: The Stories a Plains Dress Can Tell
Young learners discover how the Sioux and Assiniboine tribes preserved native culture through the making of traditional dresses, identifying the resources used to make the dresses and discussing behind the meaning behind some American...
Montgomery Public Schools
Romeo and Juliet Study Packet
William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, a play about star-crossed lovers, resonates deeply with teenagers. The study packet contains study questions for each act of the play. Learners use a graphic organizer to analyze whether characters...
Teaching Ideas
The Victorians Pack
What was life like during the Victorian era? Images of crowded factories and lavish palaces may come to mind—and both would be accurate. Learn more about Britain during the 64-year reign of Queen Victoria with a series of informational...
Curated OER
Genealogy Research
Personalize history through genealogy. Get your scholars examining their family's past by utilizing resources at your local genealogical society. Learners complete family pedigree charts and choose to do one of the following: research...
Curated OER
Migration of the African American Family
Students investigate the influence Africa has had on African-American families as they have migrated from Africa to various sections of the United States. They utilize map skills to locate regions in Africa and in the United States.
Curated OER
South Korean Women at the Turn of the Century, with a Focus on the Modernity
High schoolers consider the role of women in South Korea. In this global studies lesson, students examine articles and interviews regarding women and educational achievement. High schoolers discuss women's issues in South Korea and...
Curated OER
Blueberries: A Native American Treasure
Youngsters study the history and uses of the blueberry. There are actually six different lessons linked into this plan! The lessons can be useful within a variety of curricular areas, and are particularly appropriate around the...
Curated OER
Celebrate Your Culture
Third graders share some special occasions/events observed by their families/neighborhoods, and special activities/traditions connected with the event. They identify their own culture's customs and those of others.