Curated OER
Sodbusters!
Students study American settlers, how and where they lived by observing images. They investigate how the settlers used sod to build houses that were adaptable to the plains environment. They compare living in a sod homes with their home.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Tales of the Supernatural
Scary stuff! Whether approached as the first horror story or a "serious imaginative exploration of the human condition," Frankenstein continues to engage readers. Here's a packet of activities that uses Mary Shelley's gothic...
Curated OER
Women's Lives in American Paintings
Learners analyze paintings to determine characteristics of women and attitudes toward them in different time periods. They create a portrait of a woman and discuss their views of women through their own artwork.
Curated OER
Mastering the Document-Based Essay Question
Students use a primary source document from the Civil War period of history in order to derive meaning for an essay question. The essay is based completely on the document with no other research to support the content.
Curated OER
Memory and Legacy: Building Monuments and Memorials
Pupils analyze the reasons why groups build monuments and memorials. Using the Holocaust as an example, they reflect on issues that are addressed in monuments related to it. They create a monument of their own and write an essay about...
Curated OER
The Lewis and Clark Expedition
Pupils discuss their prior knowledge of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Using the internet, they research the personal, political and economic influences that made an impact on the expedition. They also discover how the expedition...
Curated OER
The Kanaka Village at Fort Vancouver: Crossroads of the Columbia River
Young scholars study the interaction between Native American and European cultures in the Pacific Northwest in the 1800s. They focus their study on the Hudson's Bay Company and Fort Vancouver.
Curated OER
Consumer Culture in the 1950s: New Shopping Centers and Advertising trends
Learners examine the effect of suburbs on American cities. They identify the changes the cities had to face after people moved elsewhere. Using primary source ads, they compare them with contemporary ads and discuss what can be found out...
Curated OER
Consumer Culture in the 1950s: New Shopping Centers and Advertising trends
Eleventh graders analyze the cultural and social aspects of the 1950s. Using primary source documents, they work together to determine what society was like. They use that information to write an essay about how their information...
Curated OER
Anne Frank: One of Hundreds of Thousands
Students show on a map territorial changes to Germany as a result of the Treaty of Versailles, then identify European countries that came under German control before and during World War II.
Curated OER
United Nations
Students conduct a fact-finding mission about the United Nations on the internet. They compile the information from all students on a class graphic organizer then break into small groups to analyze which part of the United Nations would...
Curated OER
Charting Identity: Building Community in the Classroom
Students define identity as it applies to them and their classmates. Using real-life situations, they discuss how identity plays a role in their school and community. They practice creating identity charts and write journal entries to...
Curated OER
Designing Animal Masks
Students explore cultural traditions. In this lesson, about culture, students understand beliefs and traditions of different civilizations. Students analyze the meaning of animals to represent meaning to a culture. Students create a mask...
Curated OER
African Art and Personal Adornment: African Folktales
Students write a folktale based on an African adinkra symbol. They research its meaning and relate it as the theme.
Curated OER
Rice Plantation
Eighth graders study the importance of rice as a cash crop and the crop's dependency on slave labor during the settlement of coastal South Carolina. They explain the importance of the rice plantations to South Carolina's colonial economy.
Curated OER
Cracking Catlins's Code
Students create a chart comparing visual clues with artistic meaning. This lesson plan is designed to introduce students to the ways in which consistent patterns of gesture and pose chosen by an artist (specifically George Catlin)...
Curated OER
Practicing Literary Analysis
Ninth graders analyze the poem, "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner." They read, discuss, and critique the poem in small groups focusing on plot and figurative language. They compose a short essay explaining how various literary elements...
National WWII Museum
World War II in Photographs
A picture is worth a thousand words, and this activity is worth so much more! Learners closely analyze a series of photographs from World War II, matching them with their appropriate captions and sequencing them into a correct...
Curated OER
Urban Ecosystems 5: In Defense Of Cities
Students explain that while cities have unattractive features, the density of human life enables energy efficiency, mass transit, recycling, and other benefits which are difficult or impossible in rural areas. This is the fifth in an...
Curated OER
Comparing Theories: Lamarck and Darwin
Students compare the evolution theories of Lamarck and Darwin. They use self-assessment and a video to increase their knowledge of evolution theories. They research questions and present them to the class.
Curated OER
Ordinary People, Ordinary Places: The Civil Rights Movement
Pupils investigate the message of Martin Luther King Jr. and the U.S. Civil Rights Movement. They explore various websites, conduct Internet research, and develop a presentation that analyzes an event and place of the Civil Rights Movement.
Curated OER
Give Me a Tall Ship
Sixth graders develop an understanding of floating, sinking, density, and buoyancy and apply it to the design of testing of ships.
Curated OER
Unicorns, Dragons, and Other Magical Creatures
Students exoplore the world of imaginary creatures (dragons, unicorns, etc.) They discuss the creature's special attributes and read stories about them. They create their own magical creatures in the form of puppets.
Curated OER
Live from Ancient Olympia!
Students study online resources to examine the ancient Olympic Games and athletes. They investigate the qualities of ancient Olympic athletes and role interviews with the athletes.