Crabtree Publishing
Remarkable Lives Revealed
Six lessons make up a unit all about biographies. Scholars read about a remarkable life while taking notes and identifying characteristics of the biographical genre. Readers examine the tale's obstacles, accomplishments, and sequence of...
Curated OER
Making a personal brochure
Seventh graders prepare brochures that connect their date and year of birth with a famous person, a family memory and a significant world event, as well as the meaning or significance of their first name.
Curated OER
What is History? Timelines and Oral Histories
Students determine that their lifetime shows just a small piece of history. They determine how two or more accounts of the same event can be different. They write an account of the same event from two perspectives.
Polk Bros Foundation
I Can Analyze a Story or History Completely and Carefully
Start off analysis of a text with a worksheet that asks pupils to complete several tasks. Class members note down a couple of characters or people and their distinguishing traits, describe the most important event, summarize the text...
Curated OER
Measuring Comprehension in First Graders
Make a prediction! Read The Very Cranky Bear with your first graders, making predictions and asking questions. Consider creating a list of comprehension questions to post while readers are listening to the story. Also consider making a...
Curated OER
Personal Memories
Students create an artistic classroom memory place for objects that represent an important moment in their lives.
Smithsonian Institution
Two Perspectives on the Battle of Little Bighorn/Greasy Grass
Learners understand why historians conduct research and the importance of perception when it comes to studying history. The resource covers The Wars of Expansion and the Battle of Little Bighorn/Greasy Grass through group work, debate,...
Brown University
Considering the Role of Values in Public Policy
Strong opinions come from deeply held values. Young citizens explore the values that are most important to them in a class discussion and activity. As they prioritize a list of values cards that include freedom, justice, and democracy,...
Spreading Gratitude Rocks
Values Survey
What are the most important values a person possesses? Teens and parents take a collaborative survey and discuss what values are important to them. They return the signed form to the teacher to confirm they completed the activity.
PBS
Interviewing: The Art of Asking Questions
Interviewing skills are important, even outside of a news reporter's desk or employer's office. Take your class through the process of interviewing people they don't know with a set of case studies featuring journalists and various...
Curated OER
This Ain't No Tea Party!
Create food-safe bowls with your class, then organize a meal for the community using the class's bowls to serve. This instructional activity is based on the Empty Bowels Project, where school kids gain an understanding of global hunger...
Curated OER
Summer Shorts
Want to use sequence maps in your narrative writing unit? Young writers work to create personal narratives about their summer vacation. They write a narrative of their vacation and create a display using summer clothing shapes made from...
Curated OER
The Ultimate Survivor Using Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
What items would you need to survive if you were stranded in a remote place? Using chapter 10 of Gary Paulsen's Hatchet, middle-schoolers work through a Six Trait writing activity to create a story about their own survival in a similar...
The New York Times
The One-Question Interview
Generate interest in current events, the theme of a new unit, or a research project. Individuals select a question from the list generated by the class, conduct one-on-one interviews, analyze the responses, draw conclusions based on...
Annenberg Foundation
America's History in the Making: Classroom Applications Four
The final installment of a 22-part American history series examines the many faces that make up the country's story. From Henry Ford to Tulio Serrano, scholars use biographical evidence and Internet research to uncover the people behind...
Missouri Department of Elementary
Lean Mean Coping Machine!
Seventh graders are asked to choose and rank five scenarios from a list of ten that are most important to them. After explaining the reasons for the choices, they then identify the coping skills they used to make their decisions.
EngageNY
Writing Interview Questions
And now for the star witness! Scholars take a look at a model newspaper article and discuss the importance of eyewitness accounts. In groups of three, they take turns underlining text from eyewitnesses. They then regroup to talk about...
Deliberating in a Democracy
National Service
Uncle Sam wants you to serve! Scholars investigate the role of mandatory national service in an open democracy. They research, watch a video, and hold a debate surrounding the issue of requiring one year of service to gain a better...
Curated OER
“Everyone Else Does It!” Ethics Project
Do you have good ethics? How about good morals? Scholars investigate the role business ethics, morals, and values play in society. Through role play, group work, and readings, they uncover the basis behind the importance of being...
NOAA
Climate Is Our Friend…Isn’t It?: Make an Extinction Polyhedron
Climate affects populations in different ways. Scholars research extinct organisms and mass extinctions in part three of the 10-installment Discover Your Changing World series. They create graphic organizers, then fill in the information...
Curated OER
Which Side to Choose? An Exercise in Choices and Ethics
Students evaluate their reaction to a series of statements to investigate that personal choices are based on personal goals, peer and social pressures, ethic and religious beliefs, and the knowledge of biological consequences. This is...
Curated OER
ONE VOTE
In order to understand the political process and the importance of voting, pupils will construct a class time line. They will group up and research a specific era, creating a time line of political events where one vote made a...
Curated OER
A Day in the Life of Me
Students respond to the text, A Day in the Life of Me. In this literature instructional activity, students discuss the sequence of events in the story and write simple sentences with a sketch of each important event.
Curated OER
The Timeline of a Lifetime
Students create a timeline which includes four important events from their own life, two national events and two world events. They write an essay highlighting the four events included on the timeline.