Teaching Tolerance
Thanksgiving Mourning
Two primary sources, a speech, and an article provide tweens and teens with different perspectives of the American Thanksgiving holiday. After analyzing Wamsutta James' suppressed speech and Jacqueline Keeler's article, class members use...
Incredible Art Department
Story Tellers - "Passing on the Traditions"
It's important for young people to learn about their ancestry and the role of storytelling as a means of passing along traditions, information, and lessons. Based on what they already learned about Native American oral tradition,...
Curated OER
Boarding Schools And Native American Culture
Young scholars engage in a activity that focuses on the influence of American values placed upon the Indians. Students use primary and secondary documents in order to explore the indoctrination. They create a project that reflects...
Curated OER
On Being Hindu...and American
Students explore the concept of acculturation. In this cultural diversity lesson, students examine how second generation Hindu-Americans have adjusted to life in the United States.
Curated OER
A Native American Legend
Students compare the Native American version of Cinderella to the more popular version they know. They compare legends with fairy tales and explore character traits and discuss the meaning of good character. They write a fairy tale of...
Curated OER
What is an American?
Students create a collage in groups that illustrates what it means to be an American. In this being American lesson plan, students compare different kinds of families and present their collage and describe what it means to be an American.
Curated OER
Mosaic America: Paths To The Present
Seventh graders study the ideologies of life, values, love, peace and struggle of African Americans, Latinos and Native Americans as citizens of the United States. Authors and artists are used as tools to open the eyes of the students...
Curated OER
Forced Assimilation
Students identify ways that a society promotes assimilation and examine areas where it still occurs in our present culture. They assess the value of assimilation.
Curated OER
Mapping the Human Movement
Students research data on African-American emigration, place the data in a chart and create a human movement map. They also create another map using research on current immigration information.
Curated OER
Celebrate Kwanzaa in the United States
Students explore and study the celebration of Kwanzaa in which African-Americans remember their heritage and remind people of the importance of sharing with family and friends. They participate in a chant about the seven continents and...
Diane Venzera
Kwanzaa Celebration: Celebrating Family, Community, and Culture
Kwanzaa is the focus of a three-part lesson that celebrates the history and traditions of the holiday. Before lighting the Kinara, scholars listen to a read-aloud of Seven Candles of Kwanzaa by Andrea Davis Pinkney. Learners express...
K20 LEARN
Diversity Quilt: A Lesson on Culture
After brainstorming the various aspects of cultural identity, class members interview each other, examine video clips, and read stories to discover how these aspects reveal one's cultural identity. Individuals then craft a quilt square...
National Museum of the American Indian
The Kwakwaka'Wakw: A Study of a North Pacific Coast People and the Potlatch
Discover the cultural practices and unique value systems of a group of native peoples from Canada called the Kwakwaka'wakw. Your young historians will discuss how conceptions of wealth can vary and how these native people utilized...
Curated OER
Indigenous Peoples’ Day Lesson Plan
Indigenous Land Guardianship, Settler Colonialism, Racial Capitalism. While the terms may be new to some, they feature in a lesson plan designed for Indigenous Peoples' Day. Young scholars investigate four concepts: Land...
K12 Reader
National Symbols
What are the most prominent symbols of the United States? Learn about the bald eagle, the American flag, and the Statue of Liberty in a reading comprehension activity that includes a short passage and five reflective questions.
Peace Corps
Introducing Culture
Growing up within a culture leaves a lot of ideas and values unspoken. Take a closer look at the cultures in which your learners live with a discussion activity that addresses cultural identity and traits of those living within the...
Channel Islands Film
Cache: Lesson Plan 1 - Grades 9-12
Archaeologists have discovered a cache of Native American relics. They want to preserve these relics by removing them from the rapidly eroding site to a lab where they can be studied. Native American traditions demand that the items be...
Curated OER
Becoming American: The Chinese Experience
Students examine the experience of Chinese American immigrants in the PBS series BECOMING AMERICAN. ESL learners investigate and explore their own identities within a multicultural context.
Curated OER
Africans and African Americans
Students complete small group tasks related to racism as it applies to African Americans, African immigrants, and white immigrants. Through discussion of their findings, students explain of challenges in society that African immigrants...
Curated OER
American Prehistory: 8000 Years of Forest Management
Students discuss the first people to live in North America and the types of evidence we have of their existence. They complete a set of worksheets and explore their answer in group discussions.
Curated OER
The Plains Native Americans
Students read The Buffalo Woman by Paul Goble and explore several aspects of Plains Indians cultures. They view historical photos of items from Plains cultures, reference maps and complete worksheets in small groups.
Curated OER
Viewpoint of the Native American
Students compare how Native Americans were treated long ago to how they are treated today. They write an essay from the perspective of a Native American from their time period explaining their side with details supporting their views.
Curated OER
Systems of Power Against and Within American Indian Communities, 1880-1940
Learners explore methods and the struggles of power between the federal policies and Native populations. They discuss the issue of controlling the Native Indian population, driving them from their land, and providing a mandatory...
Curated OER
Early American Portraits: a Strategy for Learning About Artists and Their Works
Students study artworks from several different artists. They compare and contrast these works and examine the historical background of the artist and his or her times.
They develop the capacity to think critically and communicate their...