Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Making a Pinhole Camera

For Teachers 6th - 10th
Students participate in a number of activities in order to study the history of photography and to examine the workings of a pinhole camera.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Folk Rock Singers and Songwriters

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students listen to and analyze songs of folk rock musicians of 1970 and then compose and perform a song in a popular or folk style for acoustic guitar and voice or for two acoustic guitars.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Slavery in the Antebellum South

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students discuss Stephen Foster's depiction of slavery. Using the internet, they discover what the life of a slave was really like in the antebellum South. As a class, they discuss contemporary arguments for and against slavery.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Minerva Mosaic of the Library of Congress

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students analyze the Minerva mosaic. In this Library of Congress lesson, students conduct primary source analysis of the mosaic as they interpret the symbolism and mythology featured in the mosaic.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Differentiated Way through Think Dots

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students examine reasons that led people to explore, identify "West" as defined following Revolutionary War, explain importance of finding natural resources, develop time line of dates and events leading up to Lewis and Clark Expedition,...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Birth of a Nation

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders portray one of the actual framers of the Constitution. They summarize each class period with a journal entry and culminate the experience with the actual framing and signing (or not signing) of the Constitution.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Creating Characters

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students identify simple pictographs and ideographs from Chinese writing. They create their own images, and combine characters to communicate ideas to one another, introducing basic foundations of how elements of the Chinese writing...
Lesson Plan
National First Ladies' Library

Science: The Purloined Letter

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students examine Edgar Allan Poe's "the Purloined Letter" from the perspective of a profiler. To sharpen search procedures, they examine the text and make lists of items and places in the house that were searched. Then students discuss...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Dance with Me

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders create a simple dance that illustrates the changes in rhythm in a song. They identify the form of the song. Ask volunteers to show movement or steps that could be used for each section
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

From Object To Story

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students engage in a study that focuses upon the study of artifacts for the purpose of defining the heritage of family. They conduct research using a variety of resources. The information is used in order to create a personal family...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Foodborne Illness Educational Materials

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students work in teams to research and create educational material succinctly summarizing known salient fact, including prevention, of a particular foodborne illness. Pupils educational materials are presented in both oral and written...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Paper Vests

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders listen to background information on designated Black Americans and read some books about them. They choose one of the persons studied and create a paper vest relating the person's contributions.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Research Project

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders use research, word-processing, graphic skills and a multi-media presentation. They complete a research project that meets the requirements for the Grade 6 Renaissance report.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Country of Migrants?

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Pupils list reasons in support or rejection of the United States being a country of migrants through a written statement and discussion. They answer questions posed regarding immigration.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Jam on Gerry's Rock: A Maine Folksong

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Students study folksongs and The Jam on Gerry's Rock. They discuss folksongs they are familiar with and listen to information of The Jam on Gerry's Rock. They sing the song and discuss the story it tells and its qualities as a folksong....
Primary
Library of Congress

Loc: Volcano of Delight Historic Sheet Music 1800 1922

For Students 9th - 10th
This sheet music collection consists of about 9,000 items published from 1800 to 1922.
Graphic
Duke University

Historical American Sheet Music: Mandy by Irving Berlin

For Students 9th - 10th
Take a look at the sheet music from Irving Berlin's "Mandy", performed at Ziegfeld Follies in 1919. Very cool old poster.
Primary
Duke University

Molly Green; In Dahomey (Historic American Sheet Music)

For Students 9th - 10th
This site shows the original sheet music for the first black musical, "In Dahomey," which was written by Paul Laurence Dunbar and Will Marion Cook.
Website
Library of Congress

Loc: Lyrical Legacy: 400 Years of American Song and Poetry

For Students 9th - 10th
Explore eighteen American songs and poems each represented by an original primary source document, along with historical background information and, in many cases, sound recordings and alternate versions.
Activity
Curated OER

History Matters: Making Sense of Documents

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Designed to help teachers and students make effective use of primary documents. There are well written section on how to make sense of numbers, ads, music, diaries, and more. included are interactive activities for students to help them...
Article
Cyberbee

Adventures of Cyberbee: Digital Audio Basics [Pdf]

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Try this beginner's tutorial for recording sound on the computer. It covers the historical background of audio files, file formats, basic audio recording, synthesized music and copyright.
Handout
Library of Congress

Loc: Battle Hymn of the Republic

For Students 9th - 10th
A historical look at the writing of the Battle Hymn of the Republic and many versions of historically significant sheet music.