PBS
Finding Story Ideas
Pitch your best news story to your news team, or the peers in your journalism class, with a lesson about finding, reporting, and presenting a story. After watching clips of different examples, as well as strategies for finding the best...
Candlewick Press
A Classroom Guide to Peter H. Reynolds's Creatrilogy
Help young readers find, identify, and use their voices with a set of empowering activities based on Peter H. Reynolds' trilogy of books. Sky Color, Ish, and The Dot focus on recognizing moods and treating each other kindly, and their...
Curated OER
Life in the Floating World: Ukiyo-e Prints And the Rise of the Merchant Class in Edo Period Japan
Students examine famous woodblock prints of artists such as Hiroshige and Hokusai as primary documents to help them gain insight on Japanese history. They relate the woodblock images to the social hierarchy of the period.
EngageNY
Summarizing Complex Ideas: Comparing the Original UDHR and the "Plain Language" Version
The eighth lesson plan in this series continues the focus on vocabulary and increasing young readers' awareness of academic language. Pairs of learners participate in a short vocabulary review activity called Interactive Words in which...
Curated OER
Transition Words in Writing
Transition words in writing are the focus of the language arts instructional activity presented here. In it, learners cut out the word-sort cards (embedded in the plan), and put them into four categories: time, examples, space, and...
Newspaper Association of America
Citizens Together: You and Your Newspaper
Not all news in a newspaper comes in the form of a traditional article; photographs, charts, and even editorial cartoons help spread important information, too. A civics-based unit describes the parts of the newspaper as tools for...
Curated OER
From The Great War To The Great Depression
Discover details about 1920's America. In this American history lesson, young scholars read From the Great War to the Great Depression. Students then research famous Americans from the time period and present their findings to their...
Curated OER
Tour Of South America
Students explore South America. In this geography lesson, students research landmarks of historical or national significance and use their findings to create slideshows.
Curated OER
Hoot: Concept/Vocabulary Analysis
Augment your unit on Carl Hiaasen's Hoot with a series of activities about the environment, civil disobedience, making an impact in the world, and growing up. A list of literary concepts and themes helps you to write your lessons to...
PBS
Journalism Ethics
As a journalist, would you publish everything you heard or saw? Discuss the ethics of journalism with a instructional activity from PBS. Young reporters imagine themselves to be the editor of their school's newspaper, and as they read...
Media Smarts
Selling Tobacco
Take a look at tobacco advertising techniques through the decades. Students analyze the differences in strategies, and write an essay on the advertising history of one brand of tobacco, how tobacco advertising has changed over time, or...
Film Foundation
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington: What Is a Movie?
Watching is not the same as seeing. Transform viewers from passive watchers to active students of film with this 34-page packet, filled with lessons and activities that use Mr. Smith Goes to Washington to examine the technology, the...
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
Yankee Doodle: How Has It Changed over Time?
Grab your feathers and your hat! And perhaps some macaroni! It's time to investigate the evolution of "Yankee Doodle Dandy." Groups do a close reading of sheet music covers, lyrics, and even YouTube videos to see how this political song...
Curated OER
Taming the Frontier
High schoolers examine paintings by Thomas Cole and Jasper Francis Cropsey as windows into American frontier life. They consider the pioneer's relationship with nature and the role of Native Americans in the pioneer's lives and settlements.
Curated OER
Body and Mind "Scapes"
Robert Harris' artwork is the focus of this interesting series. Each lesson examines his images of the land and the sea and leads into activities that center around geography and the environment. Pupils create pieces of music, and a...
Curated OER
Whitewater Canal State Historic Site
If you happen to live in Indiana, or a neighboring state, and are planning a field trip to the Whitewater Canal State Historic Site, then this lesson plan will suit your needs quite well. In it, suggestions for activities before, during,...
Curated OER
Europe Maps
A series of maps depicts pre-WWI to post-WWII Europe for your geographers. They use reference materials to help them correctly fill in the countries and the borders as they changed through time. A great resource for a history lesson, or...
Curated OER
The Art of Nonviolence: Martin Luther King, Jr., Gandhi, and Concepts of Nonviolence in Indian Art
Learners make connections between nonviolent ideals and art. In this visual arts lesson, students discuss the successes of the American Civil Rights Movement and discuss Gandhi's influence on the movement. Learners then examine images of...
Curated OER
Rock Art Around the World
Students analyze rock art. In this rock art lesson, students research cultures that created rock art, analyze their art pieces, and compose essays regarding their findings.
Curated OER
The Mummy's Tomb: An Ideal Hope Chest Lesson Plan
Students create replicas of Egyptian tombs. In this visual arts lesson, students study the beliefs of the ancient Egyptians regarding the afterlife. Students design small mummy tombs using shoe bows, modelling clay, and embellishments.
Curated OER
Bark Art
Students examine Aborigines, a group of people indigenous, or native, to Australia. They view examples of Aboriginal bark art and create pictures in the style of Aboriginal bark art.
Curated OER
Social and Cultural Issues in the Civil Rights Movement
Middle schoolers watch videos, listen to speeches and analyze the information that is presented about the civil rights movement. They examine visual art of the period.
Curated OER
Conflict, Tragedy and the Power of Art
Students investigate some the ways art has responded to conflict throughout history. Through teacher lecture and demonstration, students witness the historical background of a piece of artwork and how it reflects the conflict it...
Facing History and Ourselves
Emmett Till: Confronting the Murder
The 1955 murder of Emmett Till is often regarded as the catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement of the 20th century. Learn more about the brutal crime—and, as many believe, the miscarriage of justice—that began a national conversation...