Curated OER
Virtual Colony Project
Students develop strategies to create a successful colony by analyzing the environment, individual rights, and responsibilities. They gain an understanding of the challenges faced by colonists.
Curated OER
Massacre or Street Fight? A Study of Images Relating to the Boston Massacre
Fifth graders examine how the merchants of the city allowed the economy to flourish. Using primary sources, they discover how international trade helped to develop the United States. They also identify the role of Elias Hasket Derby, a...
Curated OER
Aquarium Bill of Rights
Students review the Bill of Rights on Aquademics and list the rights that are guaranteed to United States citizens. In groups, they role play the role of important leaders whose rules would make a difference for the lives of fish in...
Curated OER
This Land is Your Land
Students consider the concept of borders and their development by looking at maps and documents. They create a presentation highlighting a current border dispute and propose solutions.
Curated OER
George Washington: Founding Father
Students explore George Washington. Focusing on his personal life, it offers an examination of the man behind the towering symbol. Washington's stature as first president and founding father created a public persona. George
US Citizenship and Immigration Services
Thanksgiving 1—Pilgrims and American Indians
The Pilgrims first arrived in America in order to gain religious freedom. Here is a instructional activity that takes the class on this journey with the Pilgrims, stopping to look at how they got here, who they met when they arrived, and...
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
What Brought Settlers to the Midwest?
Drawn by promises of fertile land, thousands of settlers poured West because of the Homestead Act of 1862. By examining images of the ads that drew them westward, learners consider the motivations for movement. They also consider how the...
Curated OER
Decolonization and Self-Determination
High schoolers define and discuss colonialism and self-determination. After reading the European's view on the topic, they analyze a map of imperialism in 1914. They watch excerpts of a video and take notes on various United Nations...
Curated OER
The Affects of Environment on Native American Culture
Young scholars research the culture of the Native Americans. In this U.S. History lesson, students are given the major geological areas where the Indians lived prior to the arrival of the Europeans, then they create a notebook that...
Curated OER
Africa Review
Seventh graders trace the major events in African history. In this social studies lesson students, create a flowchart depicting the things they learned during this lesson. Students understand the chronology of major events that took...
Curated OER
Independence Masks
Young scholars explore how art reflects the economic, political, social, religious and historical concerns of a culture. They research a former colony to determine if there is any history of a mask. Students create a mask representing...
Curated OER
Huguenot Street
Third graders visit Early Huguenot Street and identify architectural structural and design elements that were in use before 1720. They consider how architecture has evolved and complete Venn diagrams with their observations.
Curated OER
New World, Old Evils: Latin America and the Holocaust
Students examine how Latin America was affected by the Holocaust in Europe. In groups, they research topics related to Latin America and World War II. They interview survivors if possible and discover how entire nations were effected...
Curated OER
Three Young Pilgrims
Fifth graders study the story of the voyage of the Mayflower told from the view point of the three Allerton siblings who were on board the ship. The book tells of their voyage across the Atlantic and their first year here on the North...
Curated OER
Samuel's Choice - Social Studies Using Children's Literature
Fifth graders read a book about independence, freedom, and slavery. Students create a story map of the book. They research the causes of the Civil War. Students write a newspaper article from the point of view of an American colonist.
Curated OER
Affects of Geography on Colonial Cultures
Sixth graders examine the effects of geography on the development of culture. They discuss how geography can affect the lifestyles and development of a society's culture. Students examine the geography and climate of New England and the...
Curated OER
Three Centuries of Child Labor In America
Fifth graders investigate the history of child labor that is found in America. They use a variety of resources to conduct research. Students create cause and effect arguments using the information that is found. They also compare and...
Curated OER
Causes of the American Revolution
Students access websites for background information and learn how to interpret political cartoons. They incorporate higher-order thinking skills to determine if the information presented in the cartoons is accurate, what the colonists...
Curated OER
Patriots v. Loyalists
Students consider how colonial citizens chose sides in the American Revolution. In this Revolutionary War activity, students role play Loyalists, Patriots, and undecideds in a classroom simulation. Students research their positions so...
Curated OER
Gone to Texas
Fourth graders role play as empresarios attempting to bring colonists to Texas in the 1800's. They create an advertisement that encourages the immigrants to come to Texas.
Curated OER
Celebrating Benjamin Franklin
Students explore various websites featuring the life and achievements of Benjamin Franklin. They investigate Franklin's roles in colonial society as well as pictures of his various inventions. They view excerpts of historical documents...
Curated OER
Surveying: 19 Chains and 50 Links
Through an interdisciplinary instructional activity, emerging engineers explore the history of surveying systems. After discussing various systems, they perform surveys on printable pages. Using their geometric skills, they physically...
Curated OER
Uncle Sam is Rich Enough to Give Us All a Farm:
Students examine websites and video clips to become familiar with tenets of the Homestead Act, challenges faced by settlers and misconceptions about settlers. They role-play colonists on the Planet XR-38 and make choices similar to...
Curated OER
Corn Field Math
Learners complete problems dealing with whole numbers, fractions and percents. After exploring the history of corn and related farming vocabulary, students work in pairs to solve multi-step problems. They incorporate the use of number...