Curated OER
Contemporary Fairy Tales
Eighth graders listen Steven Kellog's, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Raymond Briggs, Jim and the Beanstalk. They use a Venn diagram to compare the two elements of the two stories. They write and publish an original contemporary fairy tale...
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A Midsummer Night's Dream
Students explore the world of love and magic in William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Comparisons are made to the life experiences of the reader as love's portrayal in contemporary situations are analized.
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Lincoln's Legend and Legacy
Learners evaluate Lincoln's impact on American History. In this Civil War lesson, students view a film clip of writings about Lincoln. Learners take notes and compare how the writings define his legacy. Students write their own poem or...
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Fires of the 21st Century
Students explore historical perspectives. In this contemporary history instructional activity, students listen to Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire," discuss they lyrics, and add a new verse to the song for the years 2002, 2003,...
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Portraits Visual and Written: Louisa May Alcott and Samuel Clemens
Students discover the life and work of an American author, either Samuel Clemens or Louisa May Alcott. In this study of visual and written portraits lesson, students take a look at the authors through four different sources: a portrait,...
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A New Birth of Freedom: Black Soldiers in the Union Army
Students use primary documents to analyze the events surrounding black soldiers joining the Union Army. In this content area reading instructional activity, students view multiple primary documents, analyzing and answering questions...
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King Arthur: Man or Legend
Learners research the Legend of King Arthur. In this King Arthur activity, students explore him as he is presented in stories, poems, and art. Learners compare and contrast the real life of King Arthur versus the man in legends and...
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Exploring Pottery Techniques
Young scholars examine Native American pottery. In this visual arts lesson plan, students analyze burnished and glazed clay pots. Young scholars study how to create pots from online sources and respond to questions about the process....
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Make Mine Turkey
Young scholars compare foods available for the Pilgrims' Thanksgiving with contemporary Thanksgiving foods. After reading information about the first Thanksgiving, pupils create a menu and compute the cost of a turkey dinner, using...
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Project-Based Learning: Improbable History
Students explore conflict. In this contemporary history instructional activity, students participate in 4 weekly activities that require them to research current conflicts and create time-travel cartoons that illustrate how the conflcits...
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MTV and Othello
After reading Acts III and IV of Othello, give your class a fun, interactive, music-related activity. Begin by asking high schoolers about songs they have heard in movies or plays. Let them look up the lyrics online and ruminate about...
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A New Deal for the Arts - WPA Photographs
Students examine school life during the 1930s. They discuss the Great Depression and the New Deal, examine and discuss photographs from the Library of Congress website, and complete a worksheet about school life during the Great Depression.
Library of Congress
George Washington: First in War, First in Peace, and First in the Hearts of His Countrymen
Does the lens of history portray George Washington as a good leader? A three-lesson unit looks at Washington's early military career as the commander of the Virginia Regiment, his role in the fight for independence from England, and his...
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Recycled Paper
Sixth graders keep track of the amount of paper they consume on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. The goal of the lesson is to have them all find ways to reduce the amount they use. Everyone creates recycled paper from old newspapers...
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Catch-22
During or after reading Catch-22, have your high school scholars complete this research project. First they'll brainstorm a list of people they might like to research, then they'll dive into your library's resources! There are several...
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"Pray, Why Speakest Thou Thusly?"
Examine popular language and slang and how they have changed over the course of American history. Conduct Internet research, use an online interactive Colonial House website to translate 17th century language into 21st century language,...
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Reading Pictures, Seeing Poetry
Learners examine the painting, The Combat of the Giaour and Hassan based on a poem by Lord Byron. They compare how Romantic artists and writers made choices about visual elements and language to depict their subjects.
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What We Leave Behind
Young scholars analyze primary source documents from the 1830's. They examine how records, memoirs and artifacts preserve history and discuss what should be placed in a time capsule for future generations.
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Responding: "Guerrilla" Art
Eighth graders examine a new kind of art that is used to respond to political and social issues. Using primary source documents, they read examples of how others have responded to various issues in the past. Individually, they create...
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The Conditions of Today
Students demonstrate their ability to use the library to research into current working conditions for the American worker. They identify connections and compare findings about contemporary conditions and the in-class readings of The...
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O Greek Shape! O Fair Pose!
Students analyze the black-figure painting style of ancient Greece and its influence on Neoclassical artists during the 18th century, as seen in drawing, painting and silhouettes, or shadow portraits. In this ancient art lesson,...
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Human Rights/Civil Rights
Students connect their examination of the novel Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry to a historical and contemporary study of the issue of human rights and civil rights by creating a HyperStudio stack.
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Class in the Media: Writing a Television Show
Students look at popular media presentations to determine what type of messages they convey about class and class-linked behavior. They listen to contemporary music to explore how the songs touch upon social class issues. They read...
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Alternate Histories
Students create a mixed media collage. In this visual arts instructional activity, students look at the work of Jane Ash Poitras. They create their own collage that shows their personal and collective history and experiences.