National Endowment for the Humanities
Colonizing the Bay
Eleventh graders review the goals of John Winthrop. In this American History lesson, 11th graders read Winthrop's speech and summarize his key points. Students predict the possibilities for success and failure in the Massachusetts Bay...
Curated OER
Bradford England
Students explore the locality and diversity of culture within the Bradford District of England. Through map activities and discussion, they identify the major forms of transport, people and places in the region. Students compare and...
Curated OER
Puerto Rico: The 51st State?
Young scholars explore Puerto Rico. In this Puerto Rico current events lesson plan, students conduct a Webquest to answer questions about Puerto Rico's culture. Young scholars discuss whether Puerto Rico is a country or a state, and...
Curated OER
A House is a House for Me: Library Skills for Young Readers
Read Mary Ann Hoberman's book A House is a House for Me to introduce the idea that a library is a house for shelves of books. Young readers practice alphabetizing in the picture book (easy fiction) section of the library. They learn how...
Curated OER
Dictionary Work - Entry Words
Second graders examine the use of entry words in the dictionary. For this dictionary use lesson, learners look at guide words in a children's dictionary as the teacher/librarian describes the characteristics of each entry. They complete...
Curated OER
Comparing Sparta and Athens
Young scholars are taught the differences between totalitarianism and democracy. They discuss the historical roots of the democratic tradition. Students are introduced to the term totalitarianism and are told that it is a form of...
Curated OER
The Great Fire of Saint John: Producing Historic Plays
Students produce a play about their community. In this historic play instructional activity, students research their community and script historic play books that provide a background about their community.
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Trekking to Timbuktu: Timbuktu: A Center of Trade - Teacher Version
Fourth graders discuss the origins of Timbuktu, explain the importance of its location, and describe the kingdom of Mali. They also explain how and why Timbuktu became a part of Mali.
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On the Road with Marco Polo: Crossing the Deserts of China
Students explore the geography of China. They describe the geography of the Taklimakan. Students discover the best route to travel from one end of the desert to the other. They investigate how some of the local inhabitants make a...
Curated OER
Trekking to Timbuktu: Trade in West Africa (Lesson 2)
Students examine the importance of trade in West Africa. Using a virtual time capsule, they travel back to ancient times and travel along with a caravan. They answer specific questions related to the journey and items they are trading....
Curated OER
Bully Busting
Students keep a respect journal. In this character counts lesson, students write in a journal what it means to be respectful. They answer sentence stems and share their thoughts with classmates.
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On the Gulf: Coastlines in Danger
Learners study the Mississippi Rover and how it has changed over time. In this environment lesson students research and summarize things about the ecosystem of the river.
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Living in the UK
Students research the countries in the United Kingdom. In this geography activity, students visit suggested websites and complete the included worksheets. Students work in pairs to complete the questions. This is a WebQuest activity.
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Globalization
In this globalization worksheet, learners, with a partner, discuss and complete a variety of activities associated with global warning and phrases connected to it.
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Characteristics of Imaginative Stories
Third graders explore genre characteristics. In this genre literacy lesson, 3rd graders listen to a variety of fiction stories and classify them according to genre. Students identify common features in each genre and complete a chart by...
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Ellis Island/Angel Island
Fourth graders research Ellis Island and Angel Island. In this library media lesson plan, 4th graders use resources from the library to locate facts about Ellis Island and Angel Island. Students construct a Venn diagram to compare and...
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Making and Breaking the Grid
High schoolers examine the grid in terms of a method of organization in our society as well as graphic design. In this "Making and Breaking the Grid" lesson, students design solutions to common problems and draw conclusions about...
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Constitution and the Bill of Rights
Fourth graders explore the information of the index of the Constitution. In this Constitution and Bill of Rights lesson, 4th graders complete a worksheet by locating keywords in the index. Students understand the importance of using an...
Cave Creek Unified School District
Crusades and Culture in the Middle Ages
The Crusades sounds like a glamorous time period in the Middle Ages full of glory—but was it? Scholars find and review the truth of the Crusades' influence on the world through the resource. The study guides, separated individually by...
Curated OER
The Zabbaleen, Cairo's Garbage Workers
Here is a fascinating human geography study of the Zabbaleen. They are a sub-class of people who work as garbage collectors in Cairo, Egypt. I can't say enough good things about this resource in my limited space here. It is fabulous! If...
Curated OER
Second Sun
Explore the elements of newspaper from the view of the front page. Young analysts create a front page of a newspaper geared toward teen readers. They use their inference skills to determine why some front pages are more eye-catching than...
Curated OER
A Test of Faith
Secondary schoolers investigate the debate surrounding the current sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church with this New York Times lesson. Through discussions and written reflection, they explore their own thoughts and opinions on...
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Rainforest (Elementary, Social Studies)
Explore the rainforest with your class. Learners study the meaning of the word endangered, choose an animal to study, gather data, and discuss why the animal is in danger of extinction. This is a motivating way to have your class discuss...
Curated OER
Ambassadors of Art
Have your class create their own art exhibit. Learners study the exchange of artwork between the Louvre in Paris and two American art museums, and create an introductory exhibit featuring European and American art from the Renaissance...