Understanding geography and government begins at the local level. Using maps and the parts of a newspaper, a unit plan introduces the concept of community. It starts with the creation of classroom and school maps, and then moves through...

Fourth graders investigate the Hatfield and McCoy feud. In this Hatfield and McCoy feud lesson, 4th graders examine factors that caused the feud. Students also locate on a map where the feud took place, make a timeline of the main events...

From the time of its publication, Uncle Tom's Cabin has been controversial. To better understand the debate, class members first examine a broadside decrying the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, and then two newspaper reviews of the...

How much does your class know about Puerto RIco? How much can they learn from the back of a 2009 quarter? Use the coin, part of a series of quarters that depict US territories, to teach learners about the geography, culture, and history...

Students explore cartography.  In this map skills and map making lesson plan, Students work in groups to create wall size world maps including legends, compass roses, latitude and longitude, and physical features.  Students...

Reliable news stories are based on facts from reliable sources. Young journalists learn how to evaluate the reliability of news sources by watching a short explainer video. Teams apply their new source-digging skills to a current news...

Young scholars visualize census data on a map and use a map key to read a population map. For this census lesson, students use a map of the Virgin Islands and corresponding worksheets to gain an understanding of population density.

Fourth graders read about the era in their history books, write in their journals revolving around the Gold Rush, making crafts such as newspapers, and also play the part of the Forty-niners.

High schoolers interpret information on a weather map in order to construct a graph, and discuss how the weather impacts their lives.

After class members brainstorm a list of current social and political issues, groups each select a different topic from the list to research. Teams create a portfolio of at least 10 examples of stories about their issue, stories that...

Extra, extra, read all about it! Use a newspaper as the primary resource in a special education classroom to teach reading, writing, and math skills. The activities help class members build their reading skills as well as their...

Fun from A to Z! Use a collection of alphabet worksheets to help kids practice their letters. Kids can color and trace each letter, and draw items from a word list to indicate each letter.

Should primary graders have their own computers? Should animals be kept in captivity? Young writers learn how to develop and support a claim in this short unit on persuasive writing.

Second graders use a double bubble thinking map to compare newspapers and magazines. They browse through magazines and newspapers to identify characteristics of each type of text and find 5 features for each type of text. They share...

Happy birthday! Celebrate everyone's birthday with this writing activity, which prompts seventh graders to research historical events in a country at the time of their birth to create an essay. Working in pairs, they proofread each...

Learners analyze what it is like to live in an African village. They locate Tanzania on a map and compare life there to life here in the United States. They write about the health issues in East Africa.

Students effectively research using the internet, encylopedias, magazines and newspapers. They desegregate into needed and un-needed information based on their research findings. Pupils recognize and appropriately site sources using a...

Teach your readers strategies for breaking down informational texts. Pupils develop and implement the tools they'll need to decode texts for the rest of their lives with an informational resource that focuses on the structure and...

Students examine the locations of stories appearing in newspapers and determine where to assign reporters. Using various maps, they connect the stories to the correct maps and create charts of the story locations. Students explain their...

Fifth graders give presentations on colonial research. The others take notes on the presentations. They play a card game which helps them review content. They take a summative assessment and present their research notebooks.

What does it take to develop and publish a newsletter? Young academics create a newsletter with original artwork for their school or community. They explore social justice themes and spread messages of tolerance and inclusion. Scholars...

Students identify people, events and issues of importance during the French and Indian War and compare them with issues that only affected New Hampshire. They discover how newspapers gave people a sense of identity.

Provide parents with the tools they need to bridge the summer learning gap with this collection of fun activities. Whether it's creating an alphabet poster with illustrations for each letter, playing a game of sight word concentration,...

Students discover how land use in their community has changed. In this community and ecology lesson, students scan old newspapers to find articles about the development of community land. Students discuss and predict how land use has...