Curated OER
Reading a Dialect
Reading a dialect can be difficult; show readers that it can also reveal fascinating details! They read two extracts from Jane Gardam's The Hollow Land, which is written in a British dialect. Readers answer comprehension questions,...
Curated OER
Earliest Americans
Students study the Earliest Americans. In this interactive lesson on the Native Americans, students study different tribes over the course of seven lessons. Students culminate their studies with a presentation and assessment.
Curated OER
American Music Styles - Lesson 1
Students describe some of the distinguishing characteristics of rock, folk, blues, and country music. They identify two main musical roots of today's American popular music.
Curated OER
A River, Dead or Alive: Native Americans and European Colonists' Treatment of a River
Students write an expository paragraph about the uses of the Nashua River for the Native Americans and the European Colonists. In this river uses lesson plan, students determine the causes and effects of both parties using the river.
Curated OER
A Native American Cultural Exchange
Fourth graders communicate with members of Native American tribes via email, exchange original poems with epals, and create multimedia presentations to share with classmates.
Curated OER
Letters from the Japanese American Internment
Middle schoolers explore the concept of Japanese internment. In this Japanese internment lesson, students examine primary sources that enable them to discover what internment camp life was like and its implications, Middle schoolers...
Curated OER
What's in a Name? The Use of Native American Images in Sports
Students discuss and analyze the pros and cons of using Native American names and images to represent sports teams. Using primary sources, including position statements from Native American tribes, interviews with school alumni and...
Curated OER
Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Lesson: Immigration
Many of your class members will have heard of Executive Order 9066 and the Japanese internment camps of World War II. Some may even recognize the terms “Issei” and “Nisei,” but few will have heard of Enemy Alien Hearing Boards, of the...
Curated OER
The First Americans
Third graders explore American history by researching Native Americans. In this American settlers instructional activity, 3rd graders research the Native American Woodland Indians and define the actions they took when faced with the...
Curated OER
Causes of the American Revolution
Fifth graders investigate the causes of the American Revolution. They explore how political, religious, and economic ideas and interests brought about the Revolution (e.g., the Stamp Act, the Townshend Acts, taxes on tea, coercive Acts)....
Curated OER
Native American Bartering
Fifth graders create items to barter. In this Native American bartering instructional activity, 5th graders read a book, design and make items, and barter with their peers. Students reflect on the experience through journal writing.
Curated OER
"Their Eyes Were Watching God": Folk Speech and Figurative Language
Using or considering using Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God? Then this packet is a must for your curriculum library. The examination of how Hurston combines folklore and folk language to create the voice of her...
Odell Education
Reading Closely For Textual Details: Grade 8
Only a thorough understanding of history can save us from repeating it. Practice close reading skills with an eighth grade unit that focuses on 19th century America, including European immigration into Ellis Island and Frederick...
Curated OER
American Revolution Vocabulary Cartoons (art)
Fifth graders discuss cartoons. In this art instructional activity, 5th graders make their own cartoon using vocabulary words from the American Revolution.
Curated OER
Novel Ideas: History of the American Novel
Explore the history of the American novel in the contexts of literature and US history. How does a novel or piece of writing from a particular time showcase the mood during that historical period? After conducting research and discussing...
Santa Ana Unified School District
Getting to the Core: Early American Poets
How do poets convey emotion and represent their views of life? Pupils learn more about Whitman and Dickinson through the unit and analyze their bold reinvention of craft and style for poets to come. Looking at classic pieces such as...
Gallaudet School for the Deaf
The History of the American School for the Deaf
To better understand the significance and history of the American School for the Deaf, hearing-impaired learners conduct research, hold discussions, and write a play. The lesson spans three class periods and allows the class to explore...
Odell Education
Making Evidence-Based Claims: Grade 8
American women have been working toward equal rights since the ink dried on the Declaration of Independence. Focused on the words and actions of Sojourner Truth, Shirley Chisholm, and Venus Williams, a language arts lesson takes eighth...
Reed Novel Studies
The Great Gatsby: Novel Study
Some people believe that no matter how hard a man works, the American dream will always remain out of reach. A study guide for The Great Gatsby explores the themes, such as the illusory American dream, and elements of F. Scott...
Reed Novel Studies
Sing Down The Moon: Novel Study
Human trafficking has existed in many forms throughout history. Using a novel study of Sing Down the Moon by Scott O'Dell, readers learn the story of a young Native American girl taken into slavery. Reading comprehension and...
Curated OER
The South, the North and the Great Migration: Blues and Literature
Here is a complex lesson plan that interweaves the history of the Jim Crow South and the Great Migration with the study of poetry, art, and blues music from the Harlem Renaissance. The plan helps young historians develop a deep...
Curated OER
World War II Home Front
Eleventh graders examine the political demands put on one of four groups living in America during WWII. Each class member is asked to research and write a paper describing the homefront experience for women, Hispanics, African-Americans,...
Curated OER
William Apess and the Mashpee "Revolt" of 1833
Prompt your class with the following question: What was the status of American Indians in Massachusetts during Jackson's presidency? To answer this question, class members will read a series of primary source documents (attached),...
Curated OER
Mexican Cessation
Eighth graders create a propaganda poster. In this US history lesson students research the various sides during the Mexican-American War. They present their poster and their position for or against the war.