Museum of Tolerance
Immigration Journeys
Through the journey of four stories of immigration, scholars complete graphic organizers and apply knowledge to create a visual representation of their findings on a large poster. Third and fourth readers write a letter to their family...
Curated OER
Stories in Quilts
Have your class analyze the narrative art in quilts. They identify elements in this domestic art and the stories they tell. They define a story quilt, view an example, and analyze the work of Harriet Power. This is a great lesson to...
Museum of Tolerance
Music Evokes Memories and Emotions
Dim the lights, take a deep breath, and press play to explore the emotions and memories that music elicits. Class members begin using relaxation techniques designed to create a positive listening experience. As music plays, learners...
Curated OER
Games around the World
There are three little words every teacher is just dying to hear; investigate, discuss, and play. Kids love those words too, and they'll love finding out what types of things children did for fun long ago. As homework, they interview...
Macmillan Education
Cultural Awareness
The importance of cultural awareness, of becoming aware of our own and other cultures, and the benefits of gaining a deeper understanding of the differences between cultures, is the focus of this resource. Working individually, in pairs,...
Curated OER
What Portraits Reveal
Students examine how portraits can tell us more about people of the past than just what they looked like. They compare three portraits of U.S. Presidents, analyze portraits of Americans from the Revolutionary War, and write a report on...
Our White House
The Our White House Inauguration Celebration Kit for Kids!
Get the youngest American citizens involved in the presidential election and inauguration with a set of social studies activities. Focusing on the history of presidential inauguration ceremonies, learners draft their own poems, design...
Curated OER
Tobacco in North Carolina
Fourth graders examine the depiction of North Carolina tobacco farms in several photographs. They work in small groups to prepare an argument for a class debate and create promotional signs to advertise their point of view about tobacco...
Curated OER
Class Memorial
What is a memorial and what should it look like? Learners will choose what they believe is important to remember about September 11 and how it should be displayed. They work in groups and brainstorm details about the memorial and present...
Civil War Trust
Civil War Personalities Lesson Plan
Caring, trustworthiness, and responsibility—these are only a few character traits in focus of a lesson based on stories from the Civil War era. Class members explore several influential lives while reading biographies that highlight...
Curated OER
If You Were a Pioneer on the Oregon Trail
Young scholars examine what it was like to travel west on the Oregon Trail. They develop a list of questions about the trip, explore various websites, and create a story about the experiences of a 19th century family travelling on the...
Curated OER
Note Taking By Crayon
Skim a brief biography of Amelia Earhart with your class, and then assign groups of researchers one of four topics listed: Amelia's family life, important airplane flights during Amelia's life, turning points in Amelia's life, and...
Curated OER
We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution
Robert Coles’ The Story of Ruby Bridges forms the basis of this powerful cross-curricular study of civic education and civic responsibility. Class members consider how the book presents authority, responsibility, justice, and privacy.....
Curated OER
Different Points of View
Considering an examination of point of view? Use visual arts to engage learners in of this element of art and literature. Class members select a portrait from the Renaissance Connection and, guided by a series of brainstorming...
Curated OER
Spirituals
Students review factors that contributed to the development of the spiritual, which reflects the influence of African religious and Christian traditions, and slavery. Students collect spirituals/songs of their heritage from family...
Curated OER
What Death Brings to Life - English Component
Learners are introduced to the characteristics of ancient Indian, Chinese and Aztec cultures. They consider what was valued by these cultures and compare the cultures' values to their own. They write an essay on their reflections.
Curated OER
Treaties
Students talk about making promises. In this family life lesson, students listen to the story A Promise is a Promise by Robert Munsch and talk about what a promise is. This is part of a unit on how families take care of each other.
Curated OER
Who Needs It?
Fourth graders explain the needs and wants of an Abenaki family or group and/or of a family or group in the first half of the 19th century and compare them to the needs and wants of Students' family or household today.
Curated OER
Birthplace of John F. Kennedy: Home of the Boy Who Would Be President
Learners explore the upbringing of John Kennedy and how it effected his culture, character and personality. They investigate their own family traditions, values, and interests.
Curated OER
Ethnic Folklore in Your Classroom: Traditions, Tales, and Treasures from Tijuana to Timbuktu
Students create their own festival. In this folk life lesson plan, students research their folklore history by interviewing their parents and grandparents, organizing the data found, and presenting that material to the class. Students...
Curated OER
Farm Life During the Great Depression
Fifth graders examine the plight of farmers during the Great Depression. In this Nebraska history lesson, 5th graders discuss the era prior to reading the novel Out of the Dust by Karen Heese.
Curated OER
Andy Warhol and Silkscreen Pop Art
Students explore art history by researching famous paintings on-line. In this Andy Warhol lesson, students discuss who Warhol was, his impact on popular art and methods of painting. Students examine his use of silk screen printing and...
Curated OER
Montauk Historic Site
Young scholars study the contributions of the Larrabee family. In this Iowa history lesson, students listen to a lecture regarding William Larrabee's governorship and the building of Montauk home.
Curated OER
The Mystery of the Shoe Box
Sixth graders do the work of historians. In this world history lesson, 6th graders examine the artifacts and handouts in mystery boxes that their teachers prepare. Students collaborate to solve the mystery of their assigned boxes as they...