Channel Islands Film
Telling Your Own Story
After watching and discussing a video on the Voyage of Cabrillo, individuals craft their own origin story and design and build an artifact they feel best represents their history.
Curated OER
Role Models
Third graders create posters of heroes and present their findings and what they think it means to be a hero. In this role models lesson plan, 3rd graders compare heroes and describe their characteristics.
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Role Models - Grade 8
Eighth graders research Elders as role models. In this native studies lesson, 8th graders select Elders of the First Nations and research their contributions to society. Students create posters featuring the their findings and present...
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Discovering Angel Island: The Story Behind the Poems
Poems carved into the wooden walls of the Asian immigrant prisons on Angel Island provide upper elementary graders an opportunity to study not only the story behind the poems but to also focus on the figurative language employed by the...
San Bernardino Co. Supt. of Schools
Was Julius Caesar a Good Leader for Rome?
Learners consider the various perspectives that different groups in Roman society may have had for Julius Caesar, such as Roman soldiers, senators, the working class, and slaves. The primary activity involves a reading of Caesar's...
Curated OER
E-mailing the Chamber of Commerce
Encourage effective internet research and e-mail correspondence as scholars investigate a US capital city they've never visited to find pertinent and relevant information. They begin by picking a city, then visit that city's chamber of...
ReadWriteThink
Biography Project: Research and Class Presentation
I Have A Dream ... that after the lesson, all individuals master the reading, writing, researching, listening, and speaking skills the biography project helps them develop. Martin Luther King, Jr. serves as a topic example for a model...
Classroom Law Project
What should I watch for in the debates?
Prepare your classes for election year debates with a series of activities that model how to watch televised debates and how to evaluate the moderators as well as the debaters.
Curated OER
Create a City: An Urban Planning Exercise
Students explore the effects of population growth in Arizona. In this history instructional activity, students work in small groups to create a "perfect" city. Activities include examining the Arizona census results then discussing...
Curated OER
Opening Statements (Timed Writing) Model Lesson Plan
Students review purpose and timing of opening statements in mock trials, discuss particulars of what should be included in opening statements, and write individual opening statements based on facts of their case.
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Living History
Students investigate historic events through the eyes of people who were their age when the event happened. Through personal interviews, students gain insights on the impact of these events on these people's lives and on the world at large.
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Mapping a Garden
Young scholars study the components of a map, particularly the legend, the key, the symbols and the area. They develop their own map of a garden that they can plant in a future science activity.
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Space Exploration
Sixth graders investigate the historical even surrounding the Apollo Mission to the Moon. They conduct research specifically to find information about the astronauts on the mission. The students conduct class discussion about the...
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Wetland Welfare
Young scholars research wetlands in the United States and create visual aids for use in oral presentations that make recommendations on preserving or restoring wetland welfare.
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Infusing Equity by Gender into the classroom
Students examine equality. In this civics lesson, students appoint committees for various offices then model a mock committee/application process in the classroom, followed by a discussion of whether equity was achieved or not and why.
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Adventures in Exploration
Fifth graders research major explorers in history using their textbook and then create a timeline using Timeline Software. Students participate in class discussions and write an essay about the explorer they researched.
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And the Streets Are Paved With Gold
Middle schoolers explore immigrant experience at Ellis Island, New York, at the turn of the century, and answer questions that challenge them to use thinking skills from various levels of Bloom's taxonomy.
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Christopher Columbus
Help first graders gain an understanding of the beginnings of our nation by learning more about Christopher Columbus. They begin by listening to a read aloud of Christopher Columbus and His Voyage to the New World (another title...
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Alternative Energy
Students discover types of energy. In this physics lesson, students discuss ways to power a car a design a model car kit with an alternative form of energy.
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Operation Iraqi Democracy
In this lesson, students consider various forms of government and examine the idea of political sovereignty, then prepare outlines for oral presentations on international models of government. For homework, they write response papers...
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A Sense of Place
Students read "Fish Tale: Falling For a Live One" from The New York Times and discuss the methods and techniques the writer uses to create a strong mental image. Students pick a place in their community they wish to write about and...
Curated OER
The Constitutional Convention: Four Founding Fathers You May Never Have Met
Students read biographies of their assigned Founding Father. They present an oral argument that their assignee deserves to be better known by making connections between regional politics and postions defined by character.
Curated OER
Mandatory Sentencing
Pupils review mandatory sentencing and brainstorm opinions based on Measure 11. They work in groups, hear case study then determine significan facts, the correct charge and the sentencing for the case. They discuss actual outcomes of...
Curated OER
Exploring Canadian Cities - a Day To Remember
Students research information on the geographical features, climate, and cultural activities of a Canadian city. They plan a day in the city with a schedule of activities. They synthesize information and create a large poster about the...