Teaching Tolerance
In Our Own Words: A Story Book with a Purpose
Academics turn into storytellers in an engaging activity on activism. The activity focuses on promoting social change in local communities with stories. Young historians plan a storybook to target a specific audience and social issue and...
Curated OER
Teaching Elementary School Social Studies
Students identify possible social studies themes that can come from the video, "Voyage of Discovery". They list the five themes of geography. They develop elementary-level interdisciplinary unit plans for social study content. They...
Curated OER
Incorporating Literature into Social Studies Teaching and Learning
Students engage in a study of incorporating literature into the Social Studies classroom. They review a variety of literature sources and then create a bulletin board with the information. Then students practice using the Reader's...
Curated OER
Becoming a Professional Social Studies Leader
Students engage in a lesson that is concerned with the development of skills needed for the teaching of Social Studies. They conduct research using a variety of resources. The information is used to solidify the importance of...
Curated OER
Social Studies: International Food Fair
Students identify activities that promote social studies education and enjoy an international food tasting session. On food item sheets, they write the origins of the various food items. On a laminated world map, each cook circles the...
Missouri Department of Elementary
Celebrate Your Culture
After a class discussion about celebrations and customs, class members draw pictures depicting special events from their family cultures. Next, they draw pictures of an event from a different culture and share their work with classmates.
Center for History and New Media
Slavery and Free Negroes, 1800 to 1860
What was life like for enslaved and free black people before the American Civil War? Explore the building tension between states and the freedom of individuals with a thorough social studies instructional activity. Learners of all ages...
Civil War Trust
The Common Civil War Soldier
Imagine you are a soldier in the Civil War. What are you wearing? What do you need to carry with you? Examine the life of a person during the Civil War, from drummer boys to powder monkeys to musket-toting soldiers. Elementary learners...
BBC
The Role of a Monarch (key stage 2 and 3)
What makes a good monarch? Elementary and middle schoolers examine popular symbols of the British monarchy before designing a television advertisement about the qualities needed in a monarch. Next, they write poems using metaphors and...
Curated OER
Government is News: Studying the Constitution
Sixth graders explore the United States Constitution. In this social studies instructional activity, learners discover how a bill is made into law, study the election process, and identify specific elements of the Bill of Rights.
Curated OER
Independent Studies Movies
History comes alive as groups work cooperatively to create short iMovies about a specific historical period of their choice. Ideal for late elementary grades, the lesson includes a video demonstration and a short materials list.
Judicial Branch of California
Defining Civic Duty and Participation
A lesson, geared toward older elementary scholars, combines art with social studies to explain the purpose of civic duty and how to encourage others in the community to participate. Academics create advertising campaigns to promote civic...
Curated OER
Native Americans and Natural Resources
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...
Missouri Department of Elementary
Friendship Line Dancing
Develop social awareness with a instructional activity that challenges scholars to properly communicate with their peers. Standing in two lines, participants practice introducing themselves, asking how their partner is feeling, asks if...
Curated OER
Layer Cake Archaeology
Excavating cake? Why not! Kids spoon into some layers and artifacts during this tasty hands-on activity. The cake, a simulated archaeological dig, is the object of observation and discussion.
Missouri Department of Elementary
Life … Bring It On!
To conclude the study of coping skills, class members create a collage that identifies and celebrates their strengths that support their ability to make good decisions.
Curated OER
Transparent Shoebox Dig
Take this simulated archaeological dig one layer at a time with your young pupils to encourage observation, critical thinking, and careful attention. Using a transparent box full of layers of sand and artifacts, pupils examine the...
Missouri Department of Elementary
How We Are Alike And Different
Scholars develop social awareness by exploring the concept of similarities and differences. Learners examine two beverages and use a Venn diagram to identify similarities and differences. They tally each item to identify if they are more...
Missouri Department of Elementary
Managing Conflicts
Conflicts happen. Learning how to manage conflicts in mature and positive ways is an important part of social-emotion growth. The lesson offers insight into behaviors that exacerbate conflicts as well as suggestions for how to resolve...
Missouri Department of Elementary
Juggling New Opportunities
Life is like trying to juggle three tennis balls! That's the big idea in a lesson that asks freshmen to consider that sometimes juggling the areas of their lives (social/emotion, academic, and career) runs smoothly and sometimes not so...
Curated OER
Teaching Elementary School Social Studies
Students explore numerous instructional materials that may be used in an elementary social studies classroom. After analyzing each type of material, they discuss and make informed decisions concerning the quality and use of the material....
Curated OER
Social Studies - State Riddle Lesson Plan
Students make distinctions between the states, their cities, and capitals, and create riddles for classmates to solve.
Curated OER
I Am Freedom Bound!
Upper elementary and middle school learners engage in this awesome lesson plan on the Civil War. In it, they watch streamed video, perform Internet research, engage in hands-on activities, and use their geography skills to locate...
Curated OER
Trailers Become Schools After Hurricane Katrina
Students share their thoughts about natural disasters, then read a news article about how life at an elementary school was changed after Hurricane Katrina. In this current events instructional activity, the teacher introduces the article...