Curated OER
Variations of Pain
Students listen to the song :King of Pain" by the Police. They identify different instrumentation and different rhythmic accompaniments to the opening vocal phrase and explore the text in-depth, discussing the various poetic images of...
Curated OER
America's Wars, 1898-1945
Learners examine the wars the United States was involved in between 1898 and 1945. In groups, they determine the causes and effects of each war and how each war changed the way the United States handled their foreign affairs. As a class,...
Curated OER
Songs of the Civil War
Students investigate music of the Civil War era and explore how music can be used to arouse and express emotion. They identify a rhythmical musical pattern and match lyrics to it.
Curated OER
Immigration Project
Students visit Ellis Island Immigration Museum (as a field trip or a virtual visit) and pretend to be Italian immigrants to the United States. They write a journal entry detailing their first week in the United States. They interview an...
Bethel School District
Health Triangle Self Assessment
Measure health as a triangle, with each side representing different aspects of health: physical, emotional/mental, and social. High schoolers complete a self-assessment of their health in all three areas before scoring their progress and...
Curated OER
Teaching With Documents Lesson Plan: "A Date Which Will Live in Infamy"
Your class examines F.D.R.'s speech for examples of repetition, alliteration, emotionally charged words, etc. They listen to the speech and interview a person who heard it delivered. They finish by writing an article about the experience.
Missouri Department of Elementary
What Color is Your Apple?
Build your classroom community with an activity that uses apples to examine oneself and their classmates. Participants draw four large apples on blank paper then exchange them within a small group. Group members write a character trait...
Advocates for Human Rights
Undocumented Immigrants
Stay or go? As part of a study of immigration and human rights, class members listen to the stories of several immigrants and must decide if the story was their own if they would stay in the United States as an undocumented immigrant or...
Curated OER
Immigration Illumination Project Curriculum Materials
Gain an understanding of the complex topic of immigration with a collection of resources. Class members engage in a series of activities designed to give them insight into the factors that influence immigration policies and the effects...
Global Oneness Project
The Nature of Happiness
The U.S. Constitution states that the pursuit of happiness is an inalienable right. The United Nations' Global Happiness Index ranks countries according to the happiness of its citizens. As part of a discussion of the nature of...
Curated OER
Emotion in Art & Poetry
Fourth graders are introduced to famous works of art and begin to discuss the artist's work. Use art to explain and reflect their own emotions. The write about feelings in a work of art and make connections between art and other...
Curated OER
Emotion or Reason?
Students use persuasive devices to construct oral or written arguments. In this arguments activity, students discuss the types of persuasive devices used in arguments and form groups to select a topic to research. Students create a...
Overcoming Obstacles
Introducing Conflict Resolution
Conflicts come, and conflicts go, but it's how to resolve those conflicts that learners need to know. After identifying the states of conflict in a news article and engaging in a role-play activity, class members reflect on recurring...
Overcoming Obstacles
Playing by the Rules
The takeaway from the "Playing by the Rules" lesson plan is that it is each person's responsibility to learn the rules in a given situation and that they must accept the consequences if they choose not to follow the stated rules. Class...
PBS
Who Are Latinos?
What does it mean to be Latino? With an eye-opening lesson plan, pupils discover what it means to be Latino in the United States. They participate in classroom discussions, use graphic organizers, and watch a short video to help them...
Facing History and Ourselves
Many Voices, One National Identity
To conclude the unit on "Exploring Identity in the United States," pupils consider whether it is possible to combine many voices into one national identity. After creating an identity chart that lists words, phrases, and images that they...
K12 Reader
Elegy for Lincoln: Walt Whitman’s Poem
Walt Whitman's "O Captain! My Captain!" is one of the most famous and emotional tributes to Abraham Lincoln. Guide readers through the evocative elegy with a reading comprehension worksheet, complete with the poem's text and a photograph...
Teaching Tolerance
Using Photographs to Teach Social Justice | Confronting Unjust Laws
The right to peacefully assembly to protest injustice is a key element of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Class members are asked to analyze two photographs of people confronting what they consider to be unjust...
Just Health Action
Equity Impact Review: Green Stormwater Infrastructure in Seattle
Using an Equity Impact Review (EIR) tool, developed by Washington state's King County to "identify, evaluate, and communicate issues of equity when making a decision," class members design a GSI program for two Seattle neighborhoods.
Health Smart Virginia
Cyber Tattoo
Sophomores use a website evaluation tool to determine if their selected websites are valid and reliable. They read about and list three behaviors about taking and sending photos of minors that qualify as Class 1 misdemeanors in their...
Facing History and Ourselves
Identity and Names
Would a rose smell as sweet, as Juliet Capulet asserts, if called by any other name? The importance of names and the connection between names and identity are examined in a lesson that explores identity in the United States. After...
Facing History and Ourselves
Identity and Labels
Scholars look at the connections between identity and labels, assumptions, and stereotypes, in a lesson that examines identity in the United States. To set the stage for a discussion of these connections, class members analyze a cartoon,...
Curated OER
Breathing and Holding Your Breath
Five questions are presented and answered as a means of delivering information on the respiratory system. Using red and blue game chips, physiology learners model the movement of blood through the lungs. Groups of learners time how long...
Curated OER
Immigrating to America
Coming to America as an immigrant can be an emotional and difficult process. This lesson has learners explore what it means to be an immigrant, listen to real life accounts, and visit an online museum. This is a wonderful discussion...