Lesson Plan
Curated OER

America's First Pictures

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders visit the Smithsonian website to search online for early photo archives about life in the mid-nineteenth century.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

African-American Iowans: History, contributions & Accomplishments.

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students explore lives of African-Americans in Iowa. Students will examine biographies and discuss perspectives of African-Americans. They will then create posters illustrating elements of those lives finally, putting on a five act play...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Simple Cycles

For Teachers 1st - 5th
Young scholars use Inspiration to map cyclical events. They recognize links between separate events and structural patterns. They explore the Internet Connection section to browse additional resources on teaching about cycles used in...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Doing Our Share Lesson 1: Michigan History of Philanthropy

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students research the history of philanthropy in Michigan by looking at images and pictures while discussing the definition of philanthropy. They design a picture of the first time they saw a philanthropic act and write three sentences...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Prairie Voices: German Immigrants Move to Iowa

For Teachers 7th - 10th
Students create historically accurate travel journals. In this Iowa history lesson plan, students research the German immigration experience as they write travel journals that feature a German family's move into an Iowa county.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Doubles: Japan and America's Intercultural Children

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed
Students experience issues of intercultural children born as a result of the Occupation of Japan by American soldiers. They reflect on how these experiences and issues might be relevant to our own lives. Task cars are available to print...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Camera of My Family Video

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students examine the Noren Family's view of life in Nazi Germany. In this discussion lesson students answer twelve questions asked by the teacher.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Creatures from Planet X: Spiders

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students are given a description of some fascinating animals from "Planet X". They follow the descriptions given to illustrate one of these animals paying careful attention to introduced vocabulary such as 'appendages', 'receptors', and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Opening Doors to Social Studies with Children's Literature

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders read a story about immigration, listen to songs about America and explore the history of their ancestors. They discuss how immigration creates a multicultural country. Pupils create a collage of the people in America. ...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Am I Really Free?

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders write about slavery and freedom.  In this freed slaves lesson, 4th graders read historical information about free blacks during slavery and explore books, objects and slave narratives to learn more.  Students...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Michigan History of Philanthropy

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Young scholars investigate how philanthropy began in Michigan. In this philanthropy lesson plan, students read Michigan History of Philanthropy and read a timeline of several events. Young scholars create a picture with a sentence about...
Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Neh: Edsit Ement: Factory vs. Plantation in the North and South

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This lesson helps learners study life in the United States in the years before the Civil War. Students will gain a better understanding of why people grew willing to fight to defend their way of life. Many of the documents learners will...