Curated OER
Transparent Shoebox Dig
Take this simulated archaeological dig one layer at a time with your young pupils to encourage observation, critical thinking, and careful attention. Using a transparent box full of layers of sand and artifacts, pupils examine the...
Curated OER
The Declaration of Pillnitz (1791)
Primary source documents are wonderful because they provide a real context for historical events. Here is an expert from The Declaration of Pillnitz (1791) for your readers to examine. They consider the passage then use it to answer...
DocsTeach
Patent Analysis: Alexander Graham Bell's Telephone
Believe it or not, the plugs and wires on Alexander Graham Bell's patent application for telegraph improvements has a direct connection to devices today. Young historians examine the fine details of the patent application. After they...
DocsTeach
Patent Analysis: J.W. Davis and Levi Strauss's Fastening Pocket Openings
Commonplace today, the zipper and button construction of blue jeans was a major innovation. Using the patent for the J.W. Davis and Levi Strauss innovation, individuals comb an image of the fly for clues. Afterward, they discuss its...
Curated OER
Primary Source Activity: Jose Marti
Analyze a primary source document "Our America" which depicts a Spanish-American point of view. The class answers 3 critical-thinking questions based on the reading and create a time line of Cuba's struggle for independence.
Curated OER
Cartoons for the Classroom: General Motors Bailout
Bestow background in big business bailouts on your scholars with this political cartoon analysis handout. Two cartoons focus on the General Motors bankruptcy, and its effect on American taxpayers. Background information gives context for...
Curated OER
Cartoons for the Classroom: The Future of Newspapers
Are newspapers dying, or fighting to survive? Give your scholars access to this controversial debate using political cartoons. In this analsyis handout, 2 cartoons display the changing role of newspapers in a world of online media....
Curated OER
Stop Action and Assess Alternatives
Students stop action and determine how history may have been altered. In this historical perspectives lesson, students consider how the Cherokee Removal, the Transcontinental Railroad, the Immigration Act of 1924, and the dropping of the...
Curated OER
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Guide your class on an adventure 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea with this Hampton-Brown outline. It provides educators with a guide to increase reading comprehension, critical thinking, literary analysis, and reading strategies. This...
Curated OER
A Glimmer of Beauty: Lesson Plan
Fully analyze the elements of art and unexpected beauty in the William Merritt Chase's Still Life with a Fish. The class will examine the painting very closely, then use photography to express unexpected beauty in still life. This is a...
Curated OER
Let Me Tell You About My State
State reports can be a lot of fun, especially when the learners get to choose the state they study. This research and writing-focused social studies lesson engages learners in collecting information, essay structure, research, and...
Curated OER
Data Analysis and Froot Loops
Use this probability and graphing lesson to have your learners work with a partner to make a necklace out of Froot Loops. They record the cereal colors randomly chosen and strung, graph their data, then use a ratio formula to determine...
Curated OER
Understanding and Using Primary and Secondary Sources in History
Explore primary and secondary sources in this historical analysis lesson. Young researchers define the terms primary source and secondary source. They read a primary source document provided by the teacher and answer questions about the...
Simon & Schuster
Curriculum Guide to: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Great Expectations can prove to be a challenge for instructors who choose to use Dickens's novel as required reading. Here's a curriculum guide that includes lessons that address some of these challenges. The first lesson in critical...
Kenan Fellows
Designing and Analyzing Data Collected from Wearable Devices to Solve Problems in Health Care
Wearable devices have become more the norm than the exception. Learners analyze data from a sample device with a regression analysis in a helpful hands-on lesson. Their focus is to determine if there is a connection between temperature...
C-SPAN
Why Do Americans Not Vote in Elections?
In an age of inflamed politics, who votes, who doesn't vote, and why are the questions everyone is trying to answer. Pupils listen to scholars, journalists and data crunchers on voting statistics to make their own conclusions. A chart...
Curated OER
Questions in Art History
This worksheet provides a wonderful scaffold for those learning how to analyze art in a critical and thoughtful way. It describes what art historians do, then requires learners to view and analyze one of the listed works. Twelve...
Curated OER
Applying KWL Guides to Sources with Elementary Students
What is a KWL chart? Here is a well thought-out lesson that has learners use KWL charts to gain historical perspective. Your class examines primary sources about historical events and identifies what they know, want to know, and,...
Curated OER
Cartoons in the Classroom: Doves, Flags, and Bombs
A political cartoon is timely and thought-provoking. Learners analyze the symbolism found in the cartoon as it relates to current tensions between North and South Korea. Three in-depth analysis questions guide and stimulate class...
Curated OER
Cartoons for the Classroom: The Climate Change Debate
Is global warming all smoke and mirrors? Find out what your scholars think with this handout, which has them analyzing two political cartoons on the topic. Background information gives context, detailing the computer hacking during the...
Curated OER
Crazy for Cubes: Art and Science
Learners discuss Sol LeWitt and conceptual art, then analyze the differences in expressing a concept through model-based inquiry and aesthetic art criticism. They develop a geometric, scientific, or mathematical concept, then create an...
Curated OER
Solar Kit Lesson #8 - Positioning Solar Panels II: Explorations with Stationary Panels
This lesson plan is preparation-intensive, but well worth the investment. You will construct five or six portable testing stations with which lab groups will gather data on the best position for collecting sunlight with a solar panel....
Curated OER
Mystery Strategy for Elementary Students
Learners of all ages solve historical mysteries. Elementary learners research historical topics by organizing information presented by their instructor, formulating hypotheses, and considering solutions to mysteries presented about...
Curated OER
Campaign Ad Critique
Learners analyze current campaign TV ads and literature. They identify the ad by "type." They learn to look beyond the ad to understand its intended purposes and its real content.