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Creating an Abolitionist Newspaper
Fourth graders develop an understanding of the lives of slaves and their quest for freedom. They develop an understanding of the people who fought against slavery and the efforts that were made by them to create a better life for all...
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Create a Hero Trophy
Students research and read about the lives of some famous American heroes. They examine the qualities that make or made these people heroes and how the time period they lived in influenced their images as heroes.
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Anti-Slavery and Reform-Related Sources
Fifth graders use primary sources to explore events witnessed by ordinary people. In this primary documents lesson, 5th graders answer critical thinking questions based on their documents. Students recognize the...
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Night of the Notables
Learners read several biographies of famous Americans and discuss the characteristics of a biography. Students collect biographical information on another person in the class and write a biography. Learners research and create a...
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Province and Territories Poster
Students create a poster of a Canadian province or territory. In this Canadian geography lesson, students research a Canadian province or territory and create a poster to present the information explored in class.
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Heroes Here and There
Middle schoolers explore the concept of philanthropic heroes. For this everyday heroes lesson, students compare and contrast media and famous heroes with everyday heroes. Middle schoolers discuss heroes in small groups and then come...
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The Civil Rights Movement
Students learn about the civil rights movement and create a timeline to understand events in chronological order. In this history instructional activity, students work in groups to choose one activist from the Civil Right era to...
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Mongolian Museum
Students act as curator of a Mongolian museum and create a brochure detailing a new exhibit of artifacts. The brochure include a floor plan of the exhibit and a description that be used in the museum tour.
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The City of New Haven
Learners examine the geography, politics and history of their local town of New Haven, Connecticut. Using the internet, they explore the neighbors of New Haven and write directions from their house to school. In groups, they research...
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Fossils Footprints Across Time
Students examine fossils to understand how they are formed and how they give information about geological history. In this fossil activity, students research and write about fossils and make models of different fossil types.The PDF...
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Under the Spell of Spiders
Students examine spiders. In these spider lessons, students will view spider images and live spiders to determine physical characteristics, habits, and habitats. Students will examine fantasy and folklore about spiders to create and...
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Create a Classroom Exhibit: Rocks and Minerals
Students bring in rocks and minerals from home. They observe them and describe them carefully, completing a worksheet. Finally, a classroom exhibit is created.
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Rocks and Minerals
Students bring rocks and minerals from home to investigate in the classroom. In this rocks and minerals lesson plan, students observe all the rocks and minerals brought into the class and answer 7 questions about the features of the...
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The Westward Movement
Students study the westward movement through examining stamps. In this westward movement lesson plan, students draw conclusions, determine cause and effect relationships and examine the westward movement of the United States by...
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Create a "Hero" Trophy
Students identify American heroes. In this research skills lesson, students discuss the characteristics of heroes and examine society's definition of heroes. Students research selected American heroes of the 20th century and create...
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Mineral Scavenger Hunt
Students complete a scavenger hunt worksheet as they find examples in their classroom, at home, etc., of minerals. Excellent worksheet!
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How Size Shapes Animals
Students investigate how size affects large and small animals differently. For this animal lesson plan, students determine how size affects different animals by constructing their own animal out of marshmallows. Once students create...
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Going...going...gone? Tropical Rainforests-How They Work, What They Do for Us, What's Being Done to Them...
Sixth graders explore the Tropical Rainforest and come to understand what it is and how it affects the ecosystem. In this rainforests lesson, 6th graders write about the Tropical Rainforest, imagine they are in the Tropical Rainforest,...
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Do You Really Know What Wealth Is?
Young scholars examine what it means to have wealth-a concept that turns out to be philosophical as well as economic-and examine the importance of music. They examine the concepts of wealth in Mali and in the United States and consider...
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Using Effective, Evocative Writing as a Model
Students analyze the author's style to learn techniques for strengthening their own writing. They re-read "Music in the Fields" and highlight images that create vivid pictures in their minds-places where Young "shows, not tells" and...
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Celebrate Abe Lincoln: A Primary Timeline Activity
Learners explore the qualities possessed by Abraham Lincoln. In this Abraham Lincoln lesson, students create a timeline of events that shows why Abraham Lincoln could overcome obstacles to be come President. Learners create a book and...
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Christopher Columbus
Youngsters who are just beginning to learn about the age of exploration do a study of Christopher Columbus. They each select four pictures from the voyage of 1492 and write a caption below each one stating what is happening. The class...
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Virtual State Tour
Students research one of the fifty states in depth and create a virtual tour that showcases their research. They create a quiz to accompany their tour and then present their tour and quiz to the class.
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Official Statements
Students research the viewpoints of famous Americans, and then write commencement speeches reflecting these viewpoints to be delivered to high school graduates of today.