Curated OER
Days of '49: "I've Been Toiling Hard for the Last Two And a Half Years"
Students trace the stages of gold mining in California. They discuss the life of a gold miner and how the discovery of gold influenced towns and cities in California during the 1949 Gold Rush.
Curated OER
Westward Expansion and the War with Mexico
Students evaluate primary sources to develop their own opinions about Westward Expansion. In this Manifest Destiny instructional activity, students examine and respond to questions about Gast's painting titled American Progress Students...
Curated OER
New Movements For Social Justice: The Latino Struggle for Equal Rights
Students examine myths and stereotypes about Hispanic immigrant groups. They appreciate and share the strengths of their diversity and view films that challenge ideas about education and cultural values. They explore the Latino Rights...
Curated OER
John Brown, Then and Now
Eleventh graders study one of the selected images of John Brown and read an excerpt online that describes his role in the Civil War. They identify significant information about John Brown. They think about how this applies to current...
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The Mayan Empire
Students study vocabulary associated with the Mayan Empire; its art, daily life, inventions, and religious beliefs. They examine why the Mayan culture is considered to be one of the most advanced of the ancient civilizations by...
Curated OER
Savvy in Sacramento
Students take a field trip to the state capital, Sacramento. Using the Internet, they explain the physical and human geographic features of the area and discuss interactions between the people of California between the time of explorers...
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Learning Landscapes
Fifth graders analyze a landscape depicting Yosemite during the time of the Wild West. They compare their perceptions of the West from film and television to this representation. They observe the use of scale and color to depict size and...
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Is the Media Part of the Story?
Students discuss the role of the media in public opinion. They use the internet to research when the media has had an impact on war. They write an essay about their research and any conclusions they have made.
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Lorenzo de Zavala Online: Empresario, Statesman and Texas Revolutionary
Seventh graders study Lorenzo de Zavala's role in the Texas Revolution as politician and statesman. They determine his contributions to the establishment of a government as Texas fought for its independence. While completing research,...
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Coming to California
Fourth graders read excerpts from Juan Bautista de Anza's diaries. They analyze the impact of primary sources. They write journal entries for characters in stories they have read during the year.
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African Masks
Fourth graders create three-dimensional paper African masks. They analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of Africa. they discover that masks were worn for various ceremonies.
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John Brown, Then and Now
Eleventh graders identify some of the ways that the raid at Harper's Ferry influenced the Civil War. They articulate the different ways that people though about John Brown in the 1800's and how his persona may or may not have changed...
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Lone Stars and Gun Smoke
Seventh graders assess the significance of the Texas Ranger Frontier Battalion Company 'D' in maintaining law and order along the Texas-Mexico border. They study the importance of Ranger actions and utilize primary sources and maps to...
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Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month!
Students use information from the U.S. Bureau of the Census to create a bar graph, a picture graph, or a circle graph showing the country of origin of U.S. Hispanics.
Curated OER
A Child's Journey through Medicine
Students experience a variety of activities that relate to human physiology and their functions. They create graphs and charts after testing their heart rates and blood pressure They conduct a survey of the student body and create ...
Curated OER
A Child's Journey Through Medicine
Fifth graders identify the symptoms of asthma. In this biology lesson, 5th graders draw and label models of heart and lungs. They conduct a survey on asthma and construct graphs based on result.
Curated OER
From Corn To Tortillas
Students investigate the food known as the tortilla. They research the growth cycle of the corn plant and how tortillas are made from it. The importance of the tortilla according to the Hispanic culture is explained to the students. The...
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The Chicano Movement in California - Culture, Causes, and Community
Students explore the culture and community of the Chicano movement in California using prints that emerged from the Chicano movement. The historical, binational, and bicultural components are examined in this three lessons unit.
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Westward Ho
Middle schoolers examine primary sources regarding Western migration. For this Manifest Destiny lesson, students determine why the pioneers moved west and what the trip was like as they examine sources and write journals based on their...
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Planning a Railroad
Students use a topographical map to plan a route from Doknner Summit to Truckee, then compare it to the route selected by Theodore Judah.
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American Political Thought: Minority Influence
Sixth graders brainstorm the reasons why people would want to leave their homeland to live in the United States. In groups, they research the political representation of the Board in New Haven, Connecticut. They also write a paper on...
Stanford University
Stanford History Education Group: Mexican Labor in the 1920s [Pdf]
[Free Registration/Login Required] Review historical documents of Mexican-Americans in the 1920's. Learners will address what it was like to be a Mexican in America during this time considering working conditions, home life, etc.
Countries and Their Cultures
Countries and Their Cultures: Multicultural America: Mexican Americans
Provides an overview of the traditional culture and lifestyle of Mexican Americans. (Note: Content is not the most current.)