Curated OER
Knights in Armor
Arm your social studies class with knowledge about the middle ages. After learners use the internet to view photographs of the Middle Ages, they research the various types of armor used by those who were fighting and how it was worn. To...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Hopi Poetry
The Hopi refer to corn as their children, demonstrating its importance to the Native American group. Class members consider the role of literal and figurative language by examining poetry from this indigenous group. The resource includes...
A&E Television
Thomas Jefferson: Teachers Guides
Thomas Jefferson remains one of the most fascinating figure in American history, both for his innovative contributions to the United States government and his remarkably contradictory personal life. A series of discussion questions and...
Breaking News English
More People to Stick to New Year's Resolutions
What makes a good New Year's resolution? Practice goal-setting and reading comprehension with a set of language arts activities. English learners work on cloze passages, synonym matches, interviewing exercises, and comprehension...
Curated OER
Art as Social Commentary
Students view artworks that make a statement about social conditions. They discuss the artworks, write about them and present their ideas to the class. They create socially conscious art pieces of their own.
Curated OER
Life Skill Communication
Students use digital camera to document the needs for daily living. In this life skills and visual arts lesson, students create class books that include photographs of everyday objects that they use in their home, school and personal...
Curated OER
Lyddie: An Instructional Unit Resource Guide
Katherine Paterson’s young adult novel Lyddie is the foundation of a differentiated instruction unit that not only explores the rise of industrialization and labor but women’s rights issues as well. After learners read the novel, they...
Curated OER
Rainforest (Elementary, Social Studies)
Explore the rainforest with your class. Learners study the meaning of the word endangered, choose an animal to study, gather data, and discuss why the animal is in danger of extinction. This is a motivating way to have your class discuss...
ReadWriteThink
Decoding the Dystopian Characteristics of Macintosh’s “1984” Commercial
Known as one of the most iconic advertisements of the 20th century, Macintosh's "1984" commercial has become more of a social statement. Present the ad to a new audience of viewers with a lesson focused on identifying dystopian...
Curated OER
"The 1,000,000 Pound Bank Note" by Mark Twain
Compare real events from Mark Twain's life to events in the story. Middle school readers identify point-of-view, its purpose, and its reliability by citing two examples. They describe the tone of the story using four examples and...
Visa
Savvy Spending: Sharpening Money Decisions
Do you really need that new laptop/phone/dress/jacket/etc.? Financial decisions require us to distinguish between our wants and our needs. Through discussion and the evaluation of scenarios on provided worksheets, this resource will...
Heritage Foundation
Slavery and the Constitution
It's hard to believe the abolition movement was once seen as scandalous. Help learners understand how the US Constitution changed everything. A variety of activities such as corresponding reading activities, group work ideas, and...
Curated OER
Indian Languages
Fifth graders explore the different types of Indian languages used today in the United States.
Curated OER
My Reading Words in My Social Studies Book?
Connect social studies and language arts using this resource. After studying root words, have learners locate five words from their social studies book that have a prefix, suffix, or root word. This puts a new twist on practicing basic...
Curated OER
Slang and Language Change
Slang, as an example of language change in action, is the focus of a short lesson that asks learners to contribute examples to a class list of terms that they use to separate themselves from other groups or adults. Consider expanding the...
Curated OER
Diversity Discussion Questions
Have a class discussion on diversity. With your class, explore the ideas of prejudice, fear, suspicion and individual rights. Discuss the benefits of uniqueness and how diversity contributes to strength and unity.
Curated OER
Telecommunications and the Whole Language Program
Young writers use technology and other media to research information on a chosen topic. They explore countries where keypals and e-mail friends are located. Using their writing skills, they correspond with their e-mail friend and...
Curated OER
Studying Mind Maps Created at Other Schools
Students explore Africa and mind maps created by students from other schools. They discuss Africa and the number of countries, diversity of language, cultures, races, religions, and lifestyles and in groups study a mind map from another...
Curated OER
The Rigors of Learning a New Language
Students read an autobiography of a peace corps volunteer studying Chinese. In this cultural acceptance lesson, students compare the dialects of Chinese with English dialects. Students discuss the differences in learning and teaching a...
Curated OER
Sleuthing A Writer's Skills
Learners read The Train Ride Home by Robin Solomon. In this literature response lesson, students will inspect the writing of Solomon to determine how she established a certain tone through her word choice and paragraph structure....
Missouri Department of Elementary
Happy, Sad, Scared and Mad: All Belong To Me
"What are feelings?" and "Why are feelings important to understand?" are the essential questions of a lesson that boosts self-awareness. Scholars discuss the four basic emotions—happy, sad, scared, and mad—in preparation for a creative...
Curated OER
An Inspiring Scene
In Guatemala, around AD 600-900, a vase was created. This vase is the inspiration for a lesson that incorporates expressive language skills, writing skills, and social studies. Children analyze the images on the vase and then choose one...
Idaho State Department of Education
Lessons for Social Studies Educators
Point of view, purpose, and tone: three concepts readers of primary and secondary source materials must take into account when examining documents. Class members view a PowerPoint presentation and use the SOAPS strategy to identify an...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Dueling Telegrams: 1963 Verbal Power Play Between Wallace and JFK
Information, inferences, and innuendos. Text and subtext. Class members examine telegrams exchanged between President John F. Kennedy and Alabama Governor George Wallace, studying both what is stated and what is implied by the diction...