Curated OER
Traveling Around Nebraska
Students analyze a current or historical photograph from their textbook and as a class complete a worksheet of the analysis. Using the Photographic Analysis Form, they locate and analyze two transportation photographs and use the...
Curated OER
Let's Relate It
Middle schoolers relate pirate history to present day locations. They stimulate background knowledge established through the research project. Students exercise communication skills as a means of discovery. They create their own trading...
Curated OER
African Americans: 1800 - 1870
Students explore living and working environment of both slave and free African Americans from places throughout the United States.
Curated OER
Country Comparison Venn Diagram
Fifth graders discuss different countries, their cultures, similarities and differences and choose a set of focus questions to research. They create a narrative story using their researched information in first person narrative stories.
Curated OER
Images of Gary: An Ideal Place to Live?
Students examine photographs depicting historical scenes from the US Steel Photograph Collection. They develop criteria to analyze or judge an image's representation. They assess photographs according to the criteria.
Curated OER
Plaid to the Bone
Students study Lady Anges Randolph and other heroic woman using multimedia. They create class presentations with their findings. They write a diary about living in a medieval castle after researching what life was like in them.
Curated OER
Create Your Own Classroom Olympic Games
Students create their own version of the Olympic Games. They compete in the games of their choice and keep score.
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Who Do You Know?
Students research and describe the contributions of African-American men and women. They write their notes in a Microsoft Word document. They present their information to the class.
Curated OER
Modern Minstrelsy: Exploring Racist Stereotypes in Literature and Life
Satires may be designed to expose a bias to ridicule but if misunderstood can they reinforce that bias? Langston Hughes poem, “Minstrel Man” opens a discussion of racist stereotypes, the minstrel tradition, and the musical, “The...
J. Paul Getty Trust
Picturing a Story: Photo Essay about a Community, Event or Issue
Picture this. Class members follow in the footsteps of W. Eugene Smith, Dorothea Lange, James Nachtwey, and Lewis Hine by creating their own photo essay about a local event or issue.
Sargent Art
Metal Embossing Weathervanes
Metal work has been used for hundreds of years. Ninth graders get a chance to experience the artistry of metal embossing in this highly structured lesson. Each step is accented with a helpful image and related instruction. The end...
Curated OER
Jazzing Up the Classroom
Tune-up mundane subjects with some lively jazz for a cross-currricular kick!
Curated OER
Colored Pencil Repoussé
Artists employ a basic metalworking technique by embossing lines and textures into a soft metal. They look for examples of embossed metals in historical and contemporary examples. This fascinating process has been used by many cultures...
Curated OER
Lascaux Cave Art on Ceramic Stones
Here is a great way to incorporate art into your next unit on prehistoric people. The class makes stones out of ceramic clay and then creates paintings like those found in the Lascaux Caves in France. A video link, full day-by-day...
Curated OER
Paper Weaving
Practice the native concept of weaving with traditional classroom items. Using assorted colors of construction paper, your class will simulate how to weave. This is a great activity to connect to a Native American, Mexican, or other...
News For Kids
News For Kids.net
Media lovers read articles on a variety of current events with a website made especially for kids. The website is easy to navigate and includes sections about everything from science to sports.
Curated OER
Learning from Artifacts Uncovering Clues, Large and Small
Learners observe artifacts from Fort St. Louis at a website in order to make inferences about the people who lived there. They paint pottery in the style which might have been used by one of the cultural groups who inhabited the fort.
Curated OER
Kente Cloths
Second graders create examples of Kente cloths using paper, markers, and paints in this multi-cultural Art instructional activity for the second grade. The two part instructional activity includes an introduction of Kente Cloth designs...
Curated OER
Promoting Diversity in Elementary School Curricula
Students discover the roles played by various racial, ethnic and religious groups in the development of American society. They explore the concept of racial and cultural diversity and global community, as these are joined by economic,...
Curated OER
The Dust Bowl
Eleventh graders develop an understanding of the Dust Bowl. In this 1930's America lesson, 11th graders respond to questions regarding the songs and literature about the era. The primary sources should be gathered by the instructor.
Curated OER
Controversial Columbus
Seventh graders examine the controversial role of Christopher Columbus. In this Christopher Columbus lesson, 7th graders determine what Columbus was like and what his motivations were as they research print and Internet sources.
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The Log Book of a Connecticut Slave Trade Ship
Seventh graders investigate the slave trade. In this Middle Passage lesson, 7th graders read excerpts of ship logs from Connecticut Slave Trade ships. Students respond to the provided analysis questions based on the logs.
Curated OER
Little Oyster: Ceramic Lesson
Children will love researching and then creating a bottom dwelling mollusk of their own. They watch clips describing the ocean ecosystem and how oysters fit into their environment. Next, they research what oysters eat and how they look....
Curated OER
Daydreaming with Marc Chagall
Explore the concepts of surrealism and cubism that Marc Chagall portrayed in his art. Your elementary artists will read articles about the artist and practice the methods used in surrealism and cubism.