Curated OER
Monarch Butterflies
First graders identify monarch butterflies and study their life cycles. They order the stages of the life cycle and create a monarch butterfly of construction paper. This well-designed instructional activity should be easy to implement...
August House
The Clever Monkey Rides Again
Use a West African folktale to practice several different skills in your first grade classroom. Learners read The Clever Monkey Rides Again and focus on rhyming words, reading comprehension, measurement, art, movement, and word order.
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"The Drum"
Second graders read and discuss the folktale "The Drum" from India. They also answer story comprehension questions, complete an adjectives and verb worksheet, and label a map of India. Students sequence events from the story and make...
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Pearl Harbor
Young scholars identify the location of Pearl Harbor and Hawaiian Islands on a map. In this map skills lesson, students use latitude and longitude coordinates to locate various places of importance of the Pearl Harbor attack.
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Barrels and Buckets: Access to Water - What Would It Be Like to Live in Africa?
Students compare water access in the United States with that of Africa. In this water access lesson, students located Ghana and Kenya on a globe before reading Peace Corps Volunteer accounts of the difficulty of accessing clean water....
Curated OER
All Things Chinese-- Building a Classroom Museum
Learners explore China. In this introduction to Chinese culture lesson plan, students bring in items or pictures from home that represent Chinese culture. Learners create a "Chinese museum" by putting these labeled items on display,...
Orange County Water Atlas
Location, Location, Location…
Young geographers discover not only how to read and recognize coordinates on a map, but also gain a deeper understanding of latitude and longitude and how climate changes can vary significantly across latitudes.
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Endangered Ecosystems
Reading comprehension and note-taking skills are practiced as young ecologists embark on this journey. Explorers visit a website where they will read about three ecosystems that are in danger. They use interactive programs to build a...
August House
Go to Sleep, Gecko
Use this multidisciplinary lesson to delve into these subjects: English language arts, math, science, drama, and character education. After reading, discussing, and making interpretations about Go To Sleep, Gecko!: A Balinese Folktale by...
National WWII Museum
“My Dear Little Boys…” Interpreting a letter home from the war
Letters have long been prized by historians as primary sources for what they reveal not only about events but also about the emotional responses of the writers to these events. "My Dear Little Boys," a letter written by Leonard Isacks on...
Curated OER
Old World and New World - Why Contact Took So Long
Students use a globe to determine why contact between the old world and the new world took a long time. In this map skills lesson, students analyze routes between regions to determine why it took so long for the old world and the new...
Curated OER
Chart Making for Navigators
Students discuss the importance and function of nautical maps for sailors. They, in groups, take soundings of a simulated bay in a shoebox and develop a nautical chart that enable them to navigate the shoebox safely.
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Exploring an Atlas
Students explore global geography by participating in an atlas activity. In this countries of the world lesson plan, students collaborate in small groups and analyze an atlas while researching continents, countries and demographics....
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Native American History
Fourth graders use a previous and current map of the state of Michigan to compare cities and roads. They look for names that come from the Native American culture. They participate in a class discussion to compare findings.
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Where In the World Are You?
Fourth graders fill in blank copies of the United States Map and then the World Map.
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Civil War Naval Strategy
Learners apply critical thinking skills to war strategy. In this Civil War map instructional activity, students use their knowledge of latitude and longitude as well as scale to respond to questions regarding Civil War battle strategies.
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The Ogre Bully
Second graders read the story The Ogre Bully and complete language arts activities connected to the story. In this language arts lesson plan, 2nd graders complete activities including discussion, reading, writing, sequencing, analyzing,...
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Congressional Travel
Students determine the distances traveled by the members of the legislative branch of the US Government. In this travel distance lesson, students locate Washington, DC on a globe using the longitude and latitude of the city. They...
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Nina Bonita: Culture and Beauty
Students read Nina Bonita by Ana Maria Machado. In this reading comprehension/ geography lesson, students recall various parts of the story and create a map of where the rabbit traveled throughout the story. They participate in group...
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Rosie's Walk
Students use maps and globes to locate and describe locations, directions and scale. Using the maps, they identify man made or natural features of different environments. They practice using geographical terms to describe a specific...
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Thematic Unit on Cats
Students discover in which climates the cats of the world live in. They review the different climates of the world and use maps and globes to help them locate continents.
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Water
Students complete activities to examine the properties of water. In this water science lesson, students read a book about water's forms and study a map or globe of the Earth to investigate water. Students discuss living things that need...
Curated OER
Anansi Goes to Lunch
Second graders read the story Anansi Goes to Lunch and complete language arts activities connected to the story. In this language arts lesson plan, 2nd graders complete activities including discussion, reading, writing, drawing, and role...
Curated OER
Cardinal Directions
Students draw items on a map in specific places to show their knowledge of cardinal directions. In this simple map skills lesson plan, students draw a cloud, a tree, a house, and a lake to show North, South, East, and West.