Lesson Planet Article
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Art and Culture of Germany

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Germany is a country with a rich and interesting history that can provide a wealth of teaching opportunities.
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Christmas Around the World

For Teachers 1st - 4th
Students demonstrate an understanding of how different cultures celebrate Christmas by participating in artistic, musical, culinary and role play activities.
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What did I find?

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students excavate an artifact. In this archaeology lesson, students get a bucket filled with dirt and a broken up artifact. They work in groups to take it out and to find what its purpose was. 
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Building an Empire Mapping China

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Learners create travel brochures of China's nine regions and make a bulletin board display with them.
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Burial "Rights"

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students, after viewing several segments of the video, "Stories Under the Stones," discuss the pros/cons of separate burial areas for different groups of people. They analyze a series of documents regarding the burial policy of one...
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Faith-Based Initiatives: Separation of Church and State

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students examine the role of religion in everyday life. In this religion and ethics lesson, students investigate the use of government funds to support faith-based initiatives. The lesson calls for students to conduct research, watch...
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My Community

For Teachers 1st
First graders design a Powerpoint presentation to reflect information about their community.  In this community instructional activity, 1st graders create slides to explain the weather, geography and other information about the city.
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Ancient Greece

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders examine the research that archaeologists have done on a Late Bronze Age shipwreck in order to work out the extent of trade in the Eastern Mediterranean during this period, with emphasis on the involvement of the Mycenaeans...
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Education Reform

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students identify problems and potential improvements for U.S. public school education. They research and debate the pros and cons of the "No Child Left Behind Act".
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Civil War Battlefields

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders research a specific battle of the U.S. Civil War. Using the Internet and the Encarta Encyclopedia they conduct research, and create and publish a travel brochure that incorporates historical and visual information about...
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National Turkey Off to Disneyland

For Teachers 2nd - 6th
Young scholars share their holiday traditions, then read about an American Thanksgiving custom. In this current events instructional activity, the teacher introduces the news article with a discussion and vocabulary activity, the...
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Learning About Maps

For Teachers 2nd - 5th
Students take a "field trip" with the teacher through the school then draw a diagram of what they saw. They bring the maps to the computer lab where they create electronic maps using the software program Neighborhood Map Machine.
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What Can I Afford?

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Learners explore the costs of various cell phone plans, and various types of banking accounts to determine which one would yield the highest returns if the money saved from the cell phones were placed in different accounts.
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Stonehenge: Solving Ancient Mysteries

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students investigate the mystery of Stonehenge. In this Stonehenge lesson, students participate in a classroom activity that requires them to research information about Stonehenge as well as information regarding archeology and...
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Changing Perspectives on the Japanese Internment Experience

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explore the issue of Japanese-American internment. In this World War II lesson, students analyze historical biases regarding Japanese-American internment as they analyze literature, research print and Internet sources, and...
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Create a "Hero" Trophy

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Students identify American heroes. In this research skills instructional activity, students discuss the characteristics of heroes and examine society's definition of heroes. Students research selected American heroes of the 20th century...
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Coal Mine Industrial Picture Analysis

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Learners observe coal mine pictures. In this US history lesson, students analyze the pictures realizing that history is shown in pictures and then write a newspaper article about life in a coal town using the pictures as...
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QUIZ SHOW! What were you thinking? What did you say?

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students participate in a game show to share the information they have uncovered about the US expansion policy and how it affected Native Americans.
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Using Text Features

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders read a nonfiction story that is presented to them with graphic features, and presented to them with only the text.  In this text features lesson, 4th graders decide what the benefits of text organizers are and create...
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If I Could Have Lived in Another Time or Culture

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders develop multi-paragraph compositions. They include an introduction, first and second level support, and a conclusion. They use a variety of sentence structures (e.g., simple, compound/complex) and sentence types (i.e.,...
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Role Playing in North America: Mid 1600s-Mid 1700s

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders apply their knowledge of North American history from the mid 1600's through the mid 1700's to a role-playing scenario. In small groups they plan, write, and perform a dramatic skit of a group that was affected by events in...
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Being a Good Citizen

For Teachers 1st
First graders discuss citizenship. In this being a good citizen instructional activity, 1st graders complete a worksheet identifying characteristics of a good citizen. Students draw a picture then use a flip camera to capture good...
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Create a City: An Urban Planning Exercise

For Teachers 6th - 8th
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...
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Portrait Sculptures

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders study Marisol's art work by comparing ad contrasting several sculptures. They create a 3-D portrait of a person they either know personally, or to portray a social issue. The sculpture be made of a cardboard structure they...