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Interactive
Annenberg Foundation

Placing Artifacts in Time

For Students 6th - 12th Standards
Can history distort the true story behind famous people? Scholars analyze the many faces of the Native American Pocahontas. Incorporating technology and historical thinking skills, they uncover the many different sides to the Pocahontas...
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Website
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Smithsonian Institution

New American Roles

For Students 5th - 12th Standards
America has dealt with its fair share of hardships in contemporary history. The resource discusses the events of the Gulf War, September 11th, the Afghanistan War, and The Iraq War. Scholars click on artifacts to learn more information,...
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Website
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Smithsonian Institution

Mexican War

For Students 5th - 12th Standards
Did you know that without the Mexican War, the United States would not include the states of Arizona, California, New Mexico, Texas, Nevada, Utah, and even parts of Colorado? Scholars learn a variety of interesting facts about the...
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Unit Plan
National Museum of Australia

Telling Our Indigenous Stories

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
How far back is 40,000 years? Scholars research the first indigenous people in Aboriginal Australia. Using museum artifacts, maps, and background readings, they form conclusions on the life of the first Australians and their struggles to...
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Lesson Plan
BrainPOP

Famous Historical Figures Lesson Plan: Who Am I?

For Teachers K - 12th Standards
History detectives select a famous person to research, fill a bag with items associated with their subject, then ask class members to guess the historical figure represented by the artifacts.
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Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

The Immigrant Experience

For Teachers 4th - 6th Standards
The Buttonhook by Mary Jo Salter is the focus of a unit that explores the immigration experience to Ellis Island. First, scholars bring in an artifact that represents their heritage. A group-exercise allows them to share and discuss...
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

Persuasion Portfolios

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
After class members brainstorm a list of current social and political issues, groups each select a different topic from the list to research. Teams create a portfolio of at least 10 examples of stories about their issue, stories that...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Traveler's Trunk

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students analyze and interpret artifacts from the 1920s and explore the Great Migration. In this 1920s history lesson, students review background information about the Great Migration and use artifacts to study history of Chicago....
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Smiley Face Circle Stories

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students examine different artifacts from the 1970's. In this history lesson, students discover what each artifact is by seeing the artifact and reading a card defining what the artifact represents. On the second day, students create...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Archaeology of the Future

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students view pictures of classmates' homes, make list of different objects in picture, and discuss what they can tell about place from evidence in picture. Students then observe artifact pictures, and read and complete artifact chart.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Location, Location, Location: Using a Grid to Determine Context

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders are introduced to making inferences about artifacts. Using a grid system, they locate the artifacts and determine where they originated from. They use this information to make conclusions about the way people lived...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Second Grade Time Capsules

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders leave clues from the past for students of the future by creating time capsules filled with artifacts from the year. These artifacts are buried along with others on school grounds somewhere. Students identify and analyze...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Stampin' Around Chicago

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students discuss the United States Postal Service and choose an artifact from one decade. In this art instructional activity, students research how the artifact chosen relates to Chicago and the United States. Students create their own...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Quilting Our Communities

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students share personal artifacts and use them to make a classroom community quilt.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What's That Relic?

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders listen to a read aloud of David Mc Cauley's book Motel of the Mysteries. They discuss an unknown artifact and decide what it might be used for. They research other artifacts and play "What's that Relic?"
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Time in a Teakettle

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students compare and contrast the development of teakettles. In this artifacts lesson, students divide into groups and examine different teakettles. Students complete an artifact analysis worksheet, draw a picture of their kettle and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Moving Objects

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students discover the history of the United States by examining the Great Migration.  In this U.S. History instructional activity, students research the immigration movement on the Internet and complete a worksheet about the large...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Unearthing Ancient Greece

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students locate and analyze clues about ancient Greek life. In this ancient Greece lesson, students look at art, architecture, and artifacts to determine what was important to the Greeks and discover details about their culture. Students...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Transmission of Family Histories

For Teachers 1st - 2nd
Students examine how different artifacts represent family history, stories, and experiences. They act as reporters for their own family artifacts sharing them with the class.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Making Faces

For Teachers 1st - 2nd
Students analyze facial expressions on artifacts. In this artifacts lesson, students examine facial expressions on artifacts. Students draw a face with an expression of their choice.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Chronology: Visual Timeline

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Learners begin their timelines with the first narrative that they read and add to the timeline as they go. They create a list of history topics and themes that are important to the story. Students add these as sub-headings to the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Written Clues About the Past

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders investigate written clues from the past. In this clues from the past lessons, 3rd graders read and entry called, "Rick's Backyard Site." They complete the associated resource sheets. They read about a second site and use a...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mysteries of Egypt

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Learners investigate the Egyptian civilization. In this cultural instructional activity, students watch the film Mysteries of Egypt and create a replica of an ancient Egyptian artifact.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Public Displays of Contention

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students consider historic events or movements that may be viewed as controversial by different groups of people, and then create proposals supporting the inclusion of specific artifacts to be displayed in related museum exhibit

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