Curated OER
Mount Everest History Lesson
Students explore Mount Everest. In this exploration lesson, students read "The Top of the World: Climbing Mount Everest," by Steve Jenkins. Students then respond to discussion questions and participate in a map skills activity.
Curated OER
Living Through Fire
Pupils investigate the poverty found in Haiti. In this current events instructional activity, students research the noted Web sites to study Haiti's geography, history, and civil war.
Curated OER
Combating Corrosion
Study corrosion on bronze statues with a hands-on instructional activity. As pupils place a penny in water with salt, they observe the changes in the penny throughout a period of a week. They then analyze the pre-conservation and the...
Anti-Defamation League
Student Dress Codes: What's Fair?
The controversy over school dress codes continues. The debate involves questions like, why is there a policy? Who sets the policy? Who enforces the policy? What is a fair policy? Tweens and teens have an opportunity to engage in the...
Curated OER
Study History through Journal Keeping
Journal writing can be a fun way to bring history to life. Upper graders read a series of journals from the time of the westward expansion, specifically the pioneer journey along the Oregon Trail. They compose an ongoing journal from the...
Curated OER
The African Slave Trade: From West Africa to South Carolina and Beyond
Eighth graders explore the African slave trade. They identify the principal figures practicing the African slave trades at three locations. Students draw the physical routes of the slave trade on a map and they list the reasons for the...
University of Chicago
Ancient Egyptians and Death
What archaeological evidence remains of ancient Egyptian burial and mortuary practices, and what can this information tell us about ancient Egyptian society?
Curated OER
Letters From Santa
Seventh graders practice the use of word processing software and writing skills. They read letters to Santa from a second grade class and compose an answer that is grammatically correct. Afterward, they cut and paste, save the file to be...
Curated OER
Youth voters and election turnout
Students investigate why 18- to 24- year-olds have a low turnout at the polls. Students develop a plan to encourage young Americans to vote, or write a persuasive essay telling why they should vote.
Curated OER
Perspectives on September 11,2001
Fifth graders will learn about various perspectives around events. They will need to take on the perspectives of various key people during the September 11 attack. Then they will write in their journals about the incident. They read...
Curated OER
Preserving Our Barns
Students examine the different points of view when it comes to preserving barns. Using the internet, they work together to identify the risk involved in renovations and a barn in their local town that needs to be renovated. They create...
Curated OER
The Drafts of the Declaration of Independence
Seventh graders compare drafts of the Declaration of Independence. In this primary source analysis lesson, 7th graders access copies of Thomas Jefferson's original draft of the document and compare it the final document that gave birth...
Curated OER
No Place Like Home
Students analyze photographs of high plains sod homes and read accompanying narratives. They then choose one photograph and, using the copy and paste features and simple drawing tools available in Microsoft Word, students identify...
Curated OER
Ancient River Civilizations Jigsaw PowerPoint
Ninth graders use captions to determine an artifact's function and to list the features of a civilization. They classify artifacts according to the 8 Features of Civilization and for each Feature of Civilization they locate one artifact...
James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation
A Deliberate, Palpable and Dangerous Exercise of Other Powers: James Madison & Homeland Security
This resource uses primary source documents to explore the First Amendment. After reviewing key events of the 1790s, government or US history classes explore Madison's letter to Jefferson regarding the Alien and Sedition Acts. They then...
World Globes & Maps
United States Map- Intermediate Directions
Students identify the four intermediate directions. For this map skills lesson plan, students use post-it notes to label the four intermediate directions on a map. Students locate various states using intermediate directions.
Curated OER
Contemporary Civic-life Issue Research Based Essay
Seventh graders write a five paragraph persuasive essay on a contemporary civic-life issue.
Curated OER
The Tennessee River: The Tie That Binds
Seventh graders examine the Tennessee River to see why it is still a major transportation artery in lieu of the age of modern transportation such as interstate highways, air cargo, and elaborate railway systems.
Curated OER
Who Was Contraband?
Students examine the role of African-Americans in the Civil War. Using primary sources, they analyze the material and formulate their own opinions about the past. They write journal entries to share their opinions on photographs from the...
Curated OER
Design Your Own Building
Students explore the use of design principles in the real world. They evaluate how problems can be solved using design principles. In groups, students design the floor plan for a building of their choice.
Curated OER
Create a 60s Mural
Students conduct Internet research on the 1960s and use what they have learned to create a mural.
Curated OER
Children's Organization for Civil Rights
Pupils analyze a speech from Constance Baker Motley, examine student Organization for Civil Rights' documents, and then create their own plan of action for what the C.O.C.R. might be like if it existed today.
Curated OER
The Lives of the People: To Understand the People is to Understand the Times
Students examine the time period of the Great Depression. Using primary source documents, they read excerpts of interviews done by author Studs Terkel for one of his books. They practice interviewing their partner in front of the class...