Curated OER
Cultural Spaces
As a way to help your young scholars understand tolerance, personal space, and cultural diversity, this lesson has them give up personal space for three minutes. There is no discussion prior to this activity and seemingly very little...
Curated OER
Doctor Mae C. Jemison - First African American Woman in Space
Seventh graders trace and analyze the life of Doctor Mae C. Jemison and the circumstances that enabled Dr. Jemison to achieve her goal of becoming an astronaut. They explore the role of NASA in the development of America's Space Shuttle...
US Institute of Peace
Maintaining Trusting Relationships
What role does trust play in diffusing a tense situation? Young social scientists explore trust on a personal and global level during a lesson on peace and conflict. After participating in a trust sit, participants work in groups to...
Curated OER
Green Spaces
Young scholars map the green spaces around their school and predict the impact of population growth on green spaces in their region.
Curated OER
Social Sstudies: Change in Space and Time
Students examine the dynamics of change and compare and contrast it with other cultures. They cite examples of how people change over time and explain why it is necessary. Students organize a skit, Webpage, or Powerpoint presentation...
Curated OER
A Personal Narrative on the Immigration Experience
The students create a personal narrative on their experiences with immigration. In this lesson, students are asked to read and understand examples of narrative writing as well as evaluate lyrics from Ben Folds Five to determine elements...
Curated OER
Retraidos
Students discuss the statement "You can buy in any language, you sell in the language of the customer." Students watch a demonstration of personal space and discuss the different distances that various cultures assign as appropriate...
Curated OER
Going for the Gold!
Fourth graders discuss their success and failures. They write a short essay on what they have been taught about the personal and ethical skills needed to work with a diverse group of people. Students discuss in small groups to determine...
John F. Kennedy Library Foundation
JFK Challenge
And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country. And so begins your invigorating, innovative learning experience in the JFK Challenge app! Learners...
Curated OER
Monuments, Memorials and Public Spaces
Monument and memorial lesson plans can get students thinking about important topics and time periods in history.
Curated OER
Lesson: Dongducheon: A Walk to Remember, A Walk to Envision: Interpreting History, Memory, and Identity
Cultural discourse can start through a variety of venues. Learners begin to think about how our minds, memories, and identities shape our attitudes toward culture and history. They analyze seven pieces from the Dongducheon art exhibit...
Curated OER
Fill-In l Remembering Dick Clark
Your scholars may have an idea of who Dick Clark is, but do they understand the role he has played in American history for over 50 years? Give learners some practice with media literacy as they read an article about Clark's life and fill...
Boston University
Scramble for Africa
In this fantastic simulation, your young historians take on the roles of imperialistic European countries in the nineteenth century and then "scramble" to carve up the continent of Africa! This is a very hands-on activity that will help...
Curated OER
Immigration and Ancestors
We are all immigrants to this country and the study of immigration can help students connect to history in a personal way. Students will listen to audio clips from the Ellis Island web site, discuss the treatment of immigrants in the...
Foreign Policy Research Institute
Democracy Wall
How free are people in the United States, or in the world for that matter? The class reads and compares two articles that discuss levels of freedom enjoyed by different people around the globe. They discuss why some people have more...
Curated OER
Class and Health: You Are What You Eat
Students determine a working definition of class in order to determine how social class can affect personal health. They research their own nutritional needs and work to encourage healthy change in their communities.
Curated OER
Storytelling: Writers' Workshop Learning Center
Evaluating a variety of narrative texts can help build strong writers. Pupils identify plot elements and their relation to personal experience, then apply what they gleaned from the class discussion to create their own narratives.
Curated OER
Tolerance: Words that Hurt/Words that Heal
Students "role-play" the part of a person who says unkind things and are photographed while doing so. They then act out a story about making friends. They practice saying kind things and are photographed. Word bubbles are added...
National Gallery of Canada
Who Am I?
Connect design elements and principles to identity a culture with a discussion and related art activity. After analyzing artwork in relation to design, class members talk about personal and cultural identity. Using items that...
Curated OER
Growing on My Own, Kids on the Grow
Learners participate in an after school program that promotes critical thinking, concern for others, recognizing differences, accepting differences, self-motivation and personal safety. They cover how kids develop, expressing different...
Curated OER
Exploring Philanthropic Motivations
Students understand the reasons people give to those less fortune. In this philanthropic lesson, students read Passing the Dream by Penny Caldwell. Students respond to the poem by making a list of things they would like to change...
Deliberating in a Democracy
Freedom of Expression
Should democracies include hate speech as a protected right? Scholars analyze the rights found under the First Amendment to the Constitution through researching evidence. Freedom of expression becomes the focal point of the...
Curated OER
Lesson 3: A Visitor From Outer Space
Students review provisions of Bill of Rights and First Amendment, choose five rights they would like to preserve, support their choices and ideas with reasoned arguments, and discuss consequences of keeping or losing particular rights.
Curated OER
Tall Tales: Reconstructing A Personal Tell
Sixth graders discover the ways archaeologists examine artifacts and where they are found. After being introduced to new vocabulary, they use artifacts from their own lives and discover what could be told about their life from them. ...