Curated OER
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?
Students work in groups to imagine, research and simulate a dinner party involving an author, a fictional character, and a significant historical figure as dinner guests. The activity uses Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and the time...
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A Different Drummer
Eighth graders investigate philosophy and meditation techniques by discussing Emerson and Thoreau. In this philosophical traditions lesson, 8th graders identify the men Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, their work, and...
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What Makes a General?
High schoolers explore the duties of commander-in-chief. In this George Washington lesson, students research Revolutionary War military leaders and examine the relationships they had with George Washington.
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Utopian Visions
Students examine Sir Thomas More's Utopian vision. In this philosophy lesson, students read Utopia and determine the pros and cons of Utopian societies. Students then create and present monologues of residents of the Utopia.
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Let the Phone Get Them Talking! Using the Yellow Pages as a Teaching Resource
Students categorize information in the Yellow Pages. In this Let the Phone Book Get Them Talking! lesson, students find pictures in the Yellow Pages and thus gain a better understanding of how the book is organized. Students locate local...
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What would you do if faced with this problem?
Students determine how and why an individual from each of four disciplines - Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, and Legalism - might respond to the same problem.
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Working Together to Improve Our Community
Learners from the fourth grade research a solution to a community problem and converse with eighth graders via email. Eighth graders study the political process and work with the fourth graders to present information to the public to...
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Change the Face of History
Learners create and write a "Choose Your Own Adventure" story as they investigate the Revolutionary War. They choose a historical figure who played a key role in the war who meets other influential figures and has the opportunity to...
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Apples! Apples! Apples!
Students explore the life of Johnny Appleseed as they create a MediaBlender project of Johnny's journey through the Midwest territory, and compare and contrast items he brought on his journey with items students would bring with them on...
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Learning To Get Along With Classmates: A Discussion of Bullying And Intimidation At School
Students discuss cliques, intimidators, support systems and how it feels to be victimized, and discuss ways to deal with hurtful people.
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Rights And Responsibilities: Debating Free Speech, Responsibility And Censorship on Campus
Learners weigh rights of students and others to free speech versus the responsibilities that come with those rights.
PBS
Home, Sweet, Home!
Students investigate the local history and architecture of their community. They draw maps, conduct Internet research, discuss varied architectural designs, take a walking tour of their town and work in teams to record their community's...
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Exploring the Self
Students examine a variety of songs, poems, and books exploring and analyzing the theme of self reliance and being true to one's self. They write a poem, essay, or letter that captures their true spirit and individuality and then they...
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Biographies
Students read a biography and discuss what defines a biography. Students choose a biography of their own interest to read and write a report about one of the people in the biography. Reports are shared with classmates.
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If These Walls Could Speak...
Young scholars examine the relationship between history, the use of a given space, and its design. They research the relationship between technology and design while exploring a variety of sources. They study what scale models are and...
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The Dangers of Illiteracy
Learners consider a fictional situation in which literacy could spell the difference between life and death. They apply their knowledge of how reading empowers people by creating a literacy program that addresses the special needs of a...
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Isolation or Intervention?
Students research the attitudes and politics of pre-World War II America. They become isolationists or interventionists and present their points of view during a simulated city council meeting.
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Identifying and Using Parallelism and Balance in Literature
Students examine the story for use of balanced sentences and parallelism-two literary devices-and then practice using those devices in writing of their own. They combine the simple sentences grammatically into one correct sentence. A. I...
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Sleuthing a Writer's Skills
Young scholars examine the author's lively text to determine how she achieved her many literary effects. They discover the author's techniques in describing people and events, in setting tone, and in establishing pace. They reflect about...
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A Card For Every Season
First graders express themselves in simple sentences through the use of computer generated greeting cards. For this greeting card lesson, 1st graders use Microsoft Publisher to design a cover and create text for the inside of a greeting...
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Aqueduct Architecture: Moving Water to the Masses in Ancient Rome
Ninth graders compare ancient and modern technology in water transporting. In this lesson on the evolution of the aqueduct, 9th graders build a working aqueduct model and examine its components. They explain the importance and use of the...
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My Brother Sam is Dead: A study of the Revolutionary War
Fifth graders complete an analysis of the Revolutionary War through literature. After "My Brother Sam Is Dead," students create a time capsule containing items that would be relevant during the Revolutionary War. They identify key...
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Abraham Lincoln: The Face of War
Students compare life masks and photos of Abraham Lincoln that were made before and at the end of the Civil War. For this "Faces of War" lesson, students analyze images of Lincoln in a historical context and create a timeline of event.
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The Rise of Community Activism
Students examine the rise of citizen leaders and community organizing.