Curated OER
Where Do You Live?
Students explore the make-up of the immediate community. They construct a small model of their community with buildings, lights, street signs, flowers, etc. Students share their community model with the class.
Curated OER
I'll Lend a Hand
Students explore and examine a vast amount of opportunities to share while assessing human differences and similarities. They study the variety of community and classroom diversity that is all around them and depict their skills within...
Curated OER
Picturing The Distant Past
Students investigate the past of your local community. They interview relatives or members of the community that lived in the distant past. Students use the information to create a drawing to depict the picture of how it may have looked.
Curated OER
Multicultural Bingo
Create classroom community with this Bingo icebreaker, which has the group finding out interesting details about one another. For this version, individuals have a 25-square grid, each square containing one multicultural experience or...
Curated OER
Salt: White Gold
Students examine the importance of salt for trade routes and the economy of a community.
Curated OER
When I Was Young In Appalachia
Young scholars comapre and contrast the lifestyles of the people of the Applachian region with their own community through in-class discussions, creative projects, hands-on activities, food preservation, homemade remedies, home...
Curated OER
Tell Me a Story
Second graders identify the chronological order of events in their own lives using drawings and photos of themselves and asking their parents questions. They write about a significant adult person and their life experience in their...
Curated OER
Sea Liverpool
Learners explore Liverpool England's maritime history and development as an important port from its early days to the present. Through hands-on activities and community based instruction, they simulate sailing experiences and life aboard...
Curated OER
Bold & Bright in Harlem
Students research and explore the Harlem Renaissance and its rich history to create a bold, bright drawing illustrating everyday stories of people in their community. They research William H. Johnson, Romare Bearden and Jacob Lawrence.
Curated OER
Faces in the Crowd Lesson Plan
Students examine the faces of other students in the classroom and the community. They determine the similarities and the differences in hair texture and color, skin tones, shapes of noses, and eyes. Using a glue mixture, they paint the...
Curated OER
Multicultural Mobile
Students create a mobile to show the multicultural diversity in their community. They complete a survey of the people in their neighborhood and the areas they come from. Students use their data to create a mobile that showcases the...
Curated OER
Holiday Cookie Exchange
Learners build community with cookies. In this service learning lesson, students make holiday cookies to share with the custodial maintenance staff and cafeteria staff in their school.
Curated OER
Hands of Persons Unknown
Students consider the impact of lynchings on the African American community. In this lynching lesson, students investigate the lynching of Claude Neal. Students write opinion pieces about the Claude Neal lynching.
Curated OER
A Barn Guide to History
Students use the internet to research the history of their local area through the use of barns. In groups, they discuss the importance of the barns in their community and develop an interpretation of the history of various barns to...
Curated OER
American Jews and Civil Rights
Tenth graders examine the Civil Rights movement of the 1960's and how American Jews were involved. They discuss the responsibilities of any minority or ethnic group. They consider the process of change in politics as well.
Judicial Branch of California
Separate But Equal - Is It Black or White?
The story of Ruby Bridges and the case of Brown vs. The Board of Education are fantastic tools for discussing the concept of separate but equal. Kids tackle some big questions about what is fair, what is civil, and what rights or laws...
Curated OER
The Ethics of Outsourcing to China
After viewing clips from a documentary on factory work in China and US outsourcing, learners have a fishbowl discussion. They work in groups to build both personal points of view and strong arguments on the effects of outsourcing in...
American Documentary
The Benefits and Drawbacks of Plea Bargains
The outcome of 90 percent of criminal cases in the US is determined by plea bargains. Clips from the documentary Better This World create the backdrop for an investigation of the benefits and drawbacks of the plea bargaining process....
Curated OER
Documenting Child Labor in Nepal
Fourth graders, using Apple's iMovie, create a digital documentary to raise awareness about the existing child labor in Nepal.
Curated OER
Creating Civic Awareness Through Artistic and Literary Forms
Interpret current events using editorial cartoons and other print media. Middle schoolers explore the meanings of literary and artistic terms such as satire, irony, and caricature. They visit internet sites to develop an understanding of...
Curated OER
Teddies
Here's a really cute lesson that utilizes all of your children's teddy bears. Each pupil brings their favorite teddy bear to school. The lesson has many wonderful suggestions for learning activities that can be done with the bears once...
Digital Forsyth
Restoration Project
In need of a neat idea that incorporates technology skills, art, and history? Young art historians will each select an old photograph from a local archive to digitally restore. The primary focus is to add color, clarity, and remake the...
English is a Piece of Cake
Emotional Intelligence
How would you describe a great leader? Explore the theme of leadership with a unit that focuses on emotional intelligence, and how great leaders have a strong sense of emotional intelligence.
Lemos and Crane
Homophobic Bullying
Discuss homophobia and bullying with a collaborative and supportive lesson. Class members engage in a series of activities focused on the ways bullies use physical, verbal, mental and emotional, sexual, and cyber tactics to spread...