Curated OER
Breaking the Color Barrier: Jackie Robinson's Combat Against Racism
High schoolers explore Jackie Robinson's career. In this 20th century American history lesson, students complete the provided analysis questions based on the provided primary documents about Jackie Robinson. High schoolers discuss...
Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary
Benjamin and the Way to A Good Life
Young scholars explore American history by reading biographical text in class. In this Benjamin Franklin instructional activity, students research the famous inventor by reading assigned text and answering reading comprehension questions...
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Wax Museum
Sixth graders put their research skills to work. In this Revolutionary War lesson, 6th graders research a famous figure from that era. Students use the information gathered to prepare for a wax museum experience.
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Metaphorical Gold: Mining the Gold Rush for Stories
Students complete a history and research lesson plan about the Gold Rush using selections from Jack London. In this Gold rush research lesson plan, students research the Klondike/Alaska Gold Rush and use details from the history in their...
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The Life and Work of Jacob Lawrence
Black History Month provides a time to talk about the accomplishments of African Americans like Jacob Lawrence.
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Reconsidering Malcolm X
Students analyze the strategies and speeches of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Text Features
Fifth graders utilize text features. In this text features lesson students read The Story of Jackie Robinson: Bravest Man in Baseball by Margaret Davidson. Students use clues from the table of contents, illustrations, and timeline to...
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Jackie Robinson and Civil Rights
Learners complete a worksheet and study key vocabulary while researching the biography of Jackie Robinson and the Civil Rights Movement. They chose another Civil Rights leader to investigate and present to the rest of the class before...
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Doing the Right Thing
Students consider the payoffs of doing the right thing. In this philanthropy lesson, students examine the virtue of courage in Jackie Robinson's life and in their own.
Historical Thinking Matters
Rosa Parks: 5 Day Lesson
What led to the success of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and how might historians approach this question differently? This rich series of lessons includes a short introductory video clip, analysis of six primary source documents, and...
American Institute of Physics
Dr. Gates and the Nature of the Universe
What do Russian nesting dolls have to do with physics? They make a great demonstration tool for explaining Dr. Sylvester James Gates, Jr.'s string theory to young scientists. A two-part lesson first introduces learners to Dr. Gates'...
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Living Art-i-facts: Technology Takes Us There!
Students create living artifacts dealing with different times and cultures. They explore Ancient Rome, the Middle Ages, Islam, Africa, and the United States.
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Speech in the Virginia Convention
“. . .different men often see the same subject in different lights. . .” but the great orator Patrick Henry used all the skills at his command to craft a speech to convince listeners to see things as he did--that liberty was worth dying...
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Tall Tales
Give your class an overview of American tall tales and some examples with these slides. The basic definition of folk stories, legends, and tall tales is explained, followed by famous characters from American lore. Reading suggestions are...
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Reporting on the 1920s
Use this roaring 1920s history lesson to have young writers research primary and secondary sources. They use their research to examine the events or famous public figures of the time period. Next, they imagine they're in the 1920s and...
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Do Heroes Have to Wear a Cape?
Young writers choose a person from American history, their community, or their family to use as the subject of a persuasive essay. The process begins with a discussion of the characteristics of a hero, the completion of a prewriting web,...
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The Nez Perce War
A lesson which combines the skills of notetaking with a history of the Nez Perce War against the United States Cavalry is here for you. Learners take notes while their instructor lectures them on the information. A quiz is given as...
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Hispanic and English Literature
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)....
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Voices of History: Relating Historic Events to Current Events
Students discuss the current events affecting the country today. In groups, they relate a historical event to a current event. They research and present the point of view of a historical figure in an interesting way. They compare and...
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Ray Charles
Learners read the book Ray Charles by Sharon Bell Mathis. For this biography lesson, learners read about the life of Ray Charles. Learners answer pre-reading questions about senses, strengths, and weaknesses they have. The lesson...
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Why Survey?
In this survey worksheet, students take surveys and answer questions about famous Americans, inventions, and teen ethics. Students answer questions about 3 surveys.
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Fossils Footprints Across Time
Students examine fossils to understand how they are formed and how they give information about geological history. In this fossil lesson, students research and write about fossils and make models of different fossil types.The PDF...
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Barbara Jordan
Students examine the contributions made to our country by Barbara Jordan. They read and discuss the books "The Sneetches" and "Building a Bridge," write journal entries, participate in a discrimination simulation, create a class...
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Baga Drum
Students examine a Baga Drum in order to explore the history of the Baga people of West Africa. In this art history lesson plan, students recognize figures used in Baga Drum design that represent aspects of Baga culture. They also design...