Center for History Education
Post-War Suburbanization: Homogenization
The results of World War II made waves all the way to suburban life today. Examine the flight from the cities using images and documents from the 1950s building boom, including a quote analysis and political cartoons. The resource...
Curated OER
Design Your Own Suburb
Students view and discuss urban and suburban scenes; and list the features of their ideal town and discuss whether these features can be found in cities and suburbs. They draw mental maps of a city and a suburb and brainstorm and list...
Curated OER
Alike and Different
Second graders listen to a book about how farms feed the world. They discuss elements of rural life. They listen to a story about the suburbs and discuss elements specific to a suburban community. They listen to a story about city...
Curated OER
Homelessness
Students explore homelessness. In this speaking, listening, and critical thinking lesson plan, students listen to and discuss 3 scenarios in which families from urban, rural, and suburban communities became homeless due to...
Curated OER
Post-War Suburbanization
Students research the suburbanization of post World War II America. They identify factors aiding suburban growth and assess the degree to which it impacted American life. Students view a documentary about the benefits of...
National Library of Medicine
Your Environment, Your Health: Runoff, Impervious Surfaces, and Smart Development
Can a sidewalk increase the amount of pollution in local streams? Scholars learn the answer to this question though research and experimentation in the fifth unit in the six-part series. Pupils study runoff, impervious surfaces, and the...
American Institute of Architects
Architecture: It's Elementary!—Fifth Grade
Young citizens construct an understanding of urban planning in this cross-curricular unit. Covering every aspect of city development from the political, economic, and social influences to sustainable building practices, this...
Compton Unified School District
How Can We Locate Places?
How can we locate places? Maps, of course! Expose second graders to the tools available in maps and discuss how these tools can help people find locations. Students also look at communities, including what makes a community and the...
Japan Society
Popular Culture and Japan’s Gross National Cool
From Manga to Godzilla and Pokemon, Japanese pop culture has been taking the globe by storm. This phenomenon is called "soft power." Learners will examine the differences between hard and soft power, as well as learn the historical...
Peace Corps
What's Mongolia Really Like?
Understanding different cultural experiences is a challenging and worthwhile objective throughout grade and content levels. This lesson facilitates an appreciation of rural Mongolian life through a simulation of being a nomadic teen...
Lehigh University
Glory (1989) - Should it be Shown in Class?
This is a fantastic activity that prompts learners to think like educators and consider the value of a historically based film beyond just the accuracy of information. Your young historians will work in groups to do a close reading and...
CFR Washington
Urbanization and Wildlife
Urbanization and how it affects wildlife is the focus of a presentation that uses statistics to make a case for concern and change.
Annenberg Foundation
Postwar Tension and Triumph
Go get the American Dream lifestyle! The 19th lesson in a 22-part series exploring American history shows learners the post-WWII economic boom. Using primary sources, photographs, and cartoons, groups discuss their findings and present...
Anti-Defamation League
The Hate U Give
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas became a quick hit in the young adult literature genre before its adaptation in the 2018 film of the same name. Use a thorough lesson, discussion guide, and series of activities to discuss the social...
Curated OER
Externalities, Property Rights and Pollution
Students discuss the positive and negative externalities of various situations. They use the concept of property rights in discussing specific problems.
Curated OER
Mapping the Prairie
Fifth graders study maps of the Chicago area looking at defining characteristics and place names. They investigate settlement patterns by looking at the maps.
National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science
The Zarkah Stone
Astronomy stars read the account of the Zarkah meteorite that struck thickly populated Park Forest, Chicago in 2003. In doing so, they differentiate between meteors, meteorites, and meteoroids. They will also be able to explain...
Curated OER
Children and Family Law
Students examine children's rights and how laws can affect their education and daily life. Through the investigation of various cases, they assess how the best interests of children are either upheld or ignored and how the Constitution...
Curated OER
Familial Relationships in Great Expectations: The Search for Identity
Students read the novel "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens. In groups, they use the text to identify and describe family relationships in the book. Using this information, they compare and contrast how these relationships are...
Curated OER
What Makes a Pig Squeal?
Show your charges a Powerpoint presentation about a pig having her hooves trimmed. They discuss what they learned from the pig story and exhibit proper group discussion behavior.
Curated OER
Communities Across the US
Third graders explore communities. In this communities lesson, 3rd graders discover different types of communities. Students compare and contrast communities.
Curated OER
Bias vs. Perspective: An Inevitable Aspect of Journalism?
Students explore the types of media that U.S. teens prefer the ways in which viewers identify and account for journalistic bias. They explore the ways in which media shapes one's opinion or affects their judgment.
Curated OER
Drug Abuse: Altered States
Students view an "In the Mix" video about drug abuse. They participate in a discussion about the video, distinguish several facts and myths about drug use, identify how drugs can affect people's lives and engage in role-playing the...
Curated OER
Live By the Gun, Die By the Gun
Pupils view a PBS "In the Mix" video about handgun violence and gun safety laws. They participate in a discussion about the video, speculate about the causes of gun violence and its prevalence in the U.S. and identify current gun laws.