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Changing Roles of Children
Students examine how the lives of children have changed over time. Using the internet, they examine photographs to compare and contrast the roles of children in the past and present. They write a paper showing the similarities and...
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Urban Treasure Hunt
Fourth graders use clues, and a photo, to find the location of a building in Illinois. They then take a present picture and create a powerpoint presentation to compare past and present features
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Activating Background Knowledge
Students create a Venn diagram illustrating characteristics of the past versus characteristics of the present. They discuss the past and present and compare their Venn diagrams.
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History Detective: The Case of the Mysterious Trunk
Students role play as history detectives. In this historical inquiry lesson, students discuss what detectives do, analyze a trunk of "artifacts" and make conclusions about its fictional owner. Students complete six pages of related art,...
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Texas Week
Pupils explore Texas in the past and present. They pick out cities on a map and find information and analyze an Internet site.
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Wisconsin Heritage Timeline
Fourth graders explore why groups of immigrants settled in Wisconsin. Through intervies with family members, printed materials, and internet research, 4th graders discover the contributions early residents made to the state. Students...
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Work and Play: Today and Yesterday
First graders investigate the concept of play and work. They use primary and secondary resources in order to find the information of comparing the concepts in the context of the past to present day. Students brainstorm to find the...
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Anne Frank: Tiles - Discrimination Themes in Art Production
Young scholars brainstorm a list of past or present acts of discrimination of which they are aware. They think about the feelings of the victims of these acts. They attempt to make a graphic visual of how those feelings might look.
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Taking a Stand on Bullying
Middle schoolers stand up against bullying in a character-building instructional activity. After discussing historical figures who became advocates in times of adversity, they brainstorm ways to end bullying at their own school, and use...
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Clothing and Social Change in America
Students examine how clothing for men and women has changed over time with their changing roles in society. Students work individually and in groups to complete the tasks in this lesson.
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Father Knows Best
Learners recognize that history describes events and people of other times and places identifying George Washington by historical account. They describe everyday life in the present and in the past and begin to recognize that things...
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Celebrating 100 Years of Negro Leagues Baseball
Ninth graders locate original locations of Negro Leagues Baseball teams using latitude and longitude, calculate distances between locations using maps and/or Internet resources, and use critical thinking skills to compare and contrast...
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Rebellions
Tenth graders explore the causes and effects of the rebellions of Upper and Lower Canada and whether rebellion is an effective means of political change. They research and analyze the impact of the 1837-38 rebellions using primary and...
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A Better Way
Students increase awareness of organizations that grew out of necessity and increased social consciousness during the Civil War and Reconstruction. They trace the origins of three organizations founded for the common good. They link...
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Native American Research
Students investigate an Native American tribal group. They conduct research using a variety of resources. The subject areas to focus on are religious life, history, social structures, economics, geography, and environment. Students...
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European Agriculture
Students make inferences on how physical geography affected the development of early civilizations and come up with solutions to global issues. For this physical geography lesson plan, students compare maps of the past to maps of today...
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Making Masks
Students create paper masks linking the function and purpose of masks in the past, with modern life.
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Classrooms: Then and Now
Students look at schoolhouses from the past. In this comparative analysis lesson, students visit a one room school house and look at the tools used for learning. Students then compare the schoolhouse of the past to the schoolhouse of today.
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Town Directories: Life in Griswold during the 1870's
Eighth graders explore what the city of Griswold, Connecticut, was like in the 1870's. In this American history instructional activity, 8th graders research what the city of Griswold was like in the past and compare it to the present,...
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Hopi Agriculture
Students discuss the farming practices of the past and present of the Hopi people and discuss the importance of corn. In this Hopi agriculture lesson plan, students also plant their own seeds of corn.
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How Michigan's History Connects with Me
Fourth graders investigate Michigan history and how it impacts their lives. They create a timeline and make personal connections with the history of Michigan. Students explore the impact of events in Michigan's past on their own families.
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Pilgrims in Style
Students explore the Pilgrims and their clothing. They discuss current trends in fashion and complete a Venn diagram comparing the Pilgrim attire to present day clothing and research websites regarding the Pilgrims. After researching,...
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World War II: Bombs and Peace
Students explore the final events and end of World War II. They examine the community impact of such events as the dropping of the dropping of atomic bombs, and President Roosevelt's death. Students prepare a presentation.
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The More Things Change
Second graders discuss change in cities over time. They view pictures of a city as it has changed over time and then compare city pictures of the past to those of a modern city today. In preparing for a guest speaker who will come and...