+
Unit Plan
Core Knowledge Foundation

Unit 2: Early American Civilizations

For Teachers 5th Standards
Fifth graders explore early American civilizations in a four-week ELA unit. Every lesson offers an opportunity to read and discuss a selected passage followed by word work that covers vocabulary, grammar, and morphology. Learners write...
+
Unit Plan
1
1
Core Knowledge Foundation

Early American Civilizations Tell It Again!™ Read-Aloud Anthology

For Teachers 1st Standards
Bridge subjects ancient history and English language arts together with a unit all about the Maya, Aztec, and Inca civilizations. Eleven lessons begin with a read-aloud followed by a whole-class discussion in preparation for practice by...
+
Unit Plan
New York City Department of Education

Geography and Early Peoples of the Western Hemisphere

For Teachers 5th - 7th Standards
Young historians discover the early people of the western hemisphere. The unit explores how the land changed, how it was used and homes of early Americans such as Incas, Mayans, Inuits, Aztecs, and Pueblos. Individuals also examine these...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Globe Skills Lesson 1 Some Early American Cultures

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Young scholars apply their knowledge of geography. In this geography skills lesson, students read brief selections regarding early Americans. Young scholars respond to the questions included in the self-guided map skills lesson.
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Native Americans and Natural Resources

For Teachers 4th - 5th Standards
North American Indian civilizations had already been in place for over 10,000 years before the arrival of European settlers. Introduce your young historians to Indian tribes that lived in the Chesapeake region in the early seventeenth...
+
Unit Plan
Partnership for Educating Colorado Students

Mayan Mathematics and Architecture

For Teachers 4th - 8th Standards
Take young scholars on a trip through history with this unit on the mathematics and architecture of the Mayan civilization. Starting with a introduction to their base twenty number system and the symbols they used, this eight-lesson unit...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Early Humans

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders work together in groups to examine the earliest civilizations. After reading two stories, they compare and contrast the facts with those stories with other ones they have read. They discuss the different hypothesis on...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Native American Living Museum

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders complete a unit of lessons on Native Americans. They analyze Native American cultures, create a Native American artifact for a Living Museum, and develop a tour of the museum using a digital camera and a Powerpoint...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Colonial America: Causes Of The American Revolution

For Teachers 7th - 10th
Pupils examine the causes of the American Revolution. In this colonial America lesson, students read handouts regarding the sequence of events that led to the commencement of the war. Pupils complete the provided worksheets and...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mesoamerica

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students demonstrate knowledge of early Middle American civilizations. They study Mesoamerican i religions, governments, and achievements. They identify geographies of North and South America.
+
Unit Plan
Curated OER

Meso-America

For Teachers 5th
Students will identify and locate Central and South America and their countries and features, as well as Meso-American civilizations. Students will compare civilizations and discuss voyages of relevant explorers.
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Foundations of American Government

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders explore the origins of American government.
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Poverty Point Earthworks: Louisiana's Ancient Inhabitants

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students research the prehistoric earthworks site at Poverty Point, Louisiana. They compare the Louisiana artifacts and structure to the remains and knowledge of other ancient cultures. They present their research to the class.
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Early Explorers

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders examine how the environment and climate affected Pre-Colombian settlements. In this civilization lesson, 5th graders view pictures of different Native American tribes in different places and discuss how different groups...
+
eBook
Core Knowledge Foundation

Volume 1 - A History of the United States: Precolonial to the 1800s

For Students 7th - 8th Standards
Volume One of the 299-page Core Knowledge History of the United States covers events from the Precolonial Period to the 1800s.
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Corn in Ancient America

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers explore the importance of corn to the survival of early civilizations of the Americas. Through research and discussion activities, they read and describe how corn was used as food and currency in early civilizations. ...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Music in West Africa

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explore power and the symbols of power in West African music. They discuss the music of West Africa and compare it to African American music of today. In addition, they investigate musical instruments of Africa, identify the...
+
Lesson Plan
1
1
Channel Islands Film

Cache: Lesson Plan 2 - Grades 4-6

For Teachers 4th - 6th Standards
Class members will dig this activity that has them trying their hand at recovering artifacts. Groups are assigned a section of a sandbox, carefully uncover the artifacts in their section, and then develop theories about who might have...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

American Civilization - The Ice Age

For Teachers 1st
First graders discuss the Ice Age land bridge over the Bering Straits and how it affected the population of the Americas. They construct a clay model of the land bridge and research common animals of the time.
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

ARTIFACT to ART to GLYPHS

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students study the development of early Latin American civilizations in unit one. The second part of the unit is based on early image-making attempts from the Cro-Magnon to the Peruvian Incas. Students create their own weavings using a...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Talking Rocks

For Teachers K - 4th
Artists imitate the symbols used by tribes of the Southwest or use their own word pictures that communicate something about themselves. This lesson is a perfect blend of visual art and social studies. Students create a beautiful piece of...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ghana Artifacts

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students study to artifacts from Ghana and discuss how these aid in understanding the civilization.
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

American Literature: An Oblique Introduction

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders research journals and periodicals of different accounts of Columbus and Latin America. They examine indigenous civilizations and design their own curriculum based on the information they have gathered.
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Imperialism in China

For Teachers 10th - 12th
If you are completing a unit on the European impact on China, this short lesson plan may be useful. It requires an excerpt from Chinese Civilization: A sourcebook, by Ebrey, that gives Liang Qichaos's account of his visit to America....