Curated OER
Nina Bonita: Culture and Beauty
Learners 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...
Curated OER
The Oregon Trail
Students discuss migration and reasons people came across the Oregon trail. Students create a time line of important events along the Oregon trail. A Historical Time Line is included for student use. Students work in small groups to...
Curated OER
Home: The Ties That Bind
Students read two novels, The Human Comedy and A Separate Peace and an autobiographical memoir, Farewell to Manzanar. They focus on the difficulties faced by the teenage protagonists in order to set up a connection between adolescence...
Curated OER
Thornton Wilder's Our Town: The Reader as Writer
Students read a play and create their own play using Thornton Wilder's Our Townas a resource. For this play lesson, students analyze how theatrical elements contribute to a play's meanings and effects. Students recognize differences...
Curated OER
Tale of Two Speeches
Students view and read portions of John F. Kennedy's Cuban Missile Crisis speech from October 22, 1962. Later in the year, students recall what they remember about the speech and use a Venn Diagram to compare it to Patrick Henry's...
Curated OER
Mountain Magic: Identifying the Basic Physical Characteristics of Mountains
Students read about and identify on maps the physical characteristics of mountains. For this mountains lesson plan, students also write about the characteristics using personification.
Curated OER
The Sound of Music and Passage to Freedom
Seventh graders examine music examples to investigate a conflict in history about Hitler's invasions during WWII. In this music analysis lesson plan, 7th graders discuss vocabulary and the history for the Holocaust and Hitler's...
Curated OER
JIP: His Story
Students are provided with a three-column chart about a fictional character named Jip: looks, personality, and situation. After chapter 1 and chapter 2, students make notes on the charts and share that information with one other. They...
Curated OER
Journaling and Diaries
Students create a record of their own journal and demonstrate the use of a journal/diary. They explore the purposes and benefits of journaling for themselves personally as well as for us in today's world (emotionally and historically).
Curated OER
To Live
Students explore Chinese life during the Cultural Revolution. They read and discuss a brief historical essay on 20th century China as well as viewing a fictionalized film account of the time period titled, "To Live". They write a...
Curated OER
Slavery and the Legal Status of Free Blacks
Students examine the status of free blacks in Illinois and slavery in the U.S. They read and analyze primary source documents, answer and discuss questions, participate in a group discussion, and present the group's findings to the class.
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"Let Me Sing A Carefree Song Once More:" Poetry of Hidden Children
Students read various poems dealing with hidden children during the Holocaust. Using the texts, they discuss the poems meaning with their classmates. They present their information to the class taking turns on who is speaking. They...
Curated OER
Famous Peacemakers ~ Creating a Declaration of Peace
Young scholars read about famous peacemakers and identify their characteristics. They reseach a peacemaker they are interested in. They create a Declaration of Peace to share with the community.
Curated OER
The Patchwork Path
Fourth graders investigate slavery by reading a book with their classmates. In this abolitionist movement lesson plan, 4th graders read the story The Patchwork Path, and discuss the creation of the Underground Railroad. Students create...
Curated OER
The Bus Ride Teacher's Guide
Students examine and respond to the text, The Bus Ride. For this African-American literature lesson, students explore pre-reading questions that focus on fairness of laws. Students read the text based on Rosa Parks and answer 11...
Curated OER
If These Walls Could Talk: Seeing a Culture Through Human Features
Learners read Talking Walls and discuss the walls presented and their importance to the culture. In this geography lesson plan, students locate and label each country/continent discussed in the book on a world map. Learners take a walk...
Curated OER
I Am What I Think I Am!
Students study conative and cognitive strengths through characters in literature. In this conative and cognitive strength lesson, students read about a favorite character or historical person. They make a chart of the difficulties the...
Curated OER
Foods and Languages of the World
Students review Mexico's location and language and learn to pronouns 10 new Spanish food words. Students listen as the book, Corn is Maize is read, touching and passing around an ear of Indian corn. Students discuss the contribution of...
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Through My Eyes
Fifth graders read the book Through My Eyes by Ruby Bridges. In this segregation lesson, 5th graders read Ruby's story to find out what happened in her life. They write their own narrative about what 'first' they would most like to...
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Nomadic and Sedentary Tribes in Kansas
Seventh graders compare and contrast sedentary and nomadic tribe life. In this Native American culture lesson, 7th graders research primary documents about the Osage and Kiowa tribes. Students create a series of illustrations to be...
National First Ladies' Library
The Space Race
Students investigate the historical events that have surrounded The Space Race. They conduct research using a variety of resources and focus upon the progress between Russia and The United States. Students describe the events that led up...
Curated OER
Activity One -- Fundamentally Speaking
In this science activity, students examine how the universe is bound with the atomic particles and focus upon the findings of two historical scientists.
Curated OER
Viking History
Pupils learn about the history of the Vikings by watching videos, reading books, and writing journal entries pretending they were Vikings. In this Vikings lesson plan, students also make a long ship out of a milk carton.
Curated OER
Back to the Past
What was the Untied States like in 1938? What were the concerns of Americans in the post World War I era? What were their fears? What were their sources of news and entertainment? To understand the reaction to Orson Welles' radio...