Curated OER
Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart: Teaching Through the Novel
Young scholars are introduced to Chinua Achebe's first novel and to his views on the role of the writer in his or her society. It can be used alone or in conjunction with the related lesson Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart.
Curated OER
Free-Writing Exercise
Use the suggested question "What does it mean to be a citizen?" to prompt your writers. After they free-write for five minutes, have them trade papers with another classmate. For the next five minutes, class members respond to the new...
Curated OER
Vocabulary Building - Declaration of Independence
Young scholars read the first part of the Declaration of Independence and mark the words they don't know. First, they try to guess what the words mean by looking at the them in context, and then they look up the words in a dictionary.
Curated OER
Middle Ages Diary
Students research life in the Middle Ages. They write a historical fiction diary based on a character they create. Students use the six steps to process writing to complete their diary. They orally present their diaries to the class.
Curated OER
The City I Live In
Research information about your city and state. Pupils investigate details such as the name of the city mayor, local establishments, and entertainment. For the state, they name the capital, governor, state flower, and flag. There are...
Curated OER
Leadership: Leading Off
Students explore leadership skills. In this leadership lesson, students examine leadership styles as they reflect on controversies and celebrations in American baseball. Students discuss the attributes of positive and ethical leaders.
Curated OER
Caribbean Adventures: Research and Desktop Publishing
If you want an interesting way to teach about the Caribbean that incorporates technology, this might be your answer. Class members conduct a WebQuest to gather information about Caribbean islands and create a travel brochure using...
Curated OER
A New Society Project
Ninth graders examine the social and political movements of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era. In this American history lesson, 9th graders work in groups to form their own society and laws. Students make a diagram of their town and...
Curated OER
Critical Analysis Leads to Global Action
Students discover the interconnectedness of the world. In this global studies instructional activity, students identify challenges the world faces and craft solutions to the problems they identified. Students present their findings in a...
Curated OER
Tibet and the U.S.
High schoolers study the Tibetan situation. For this global issues lesson, students listen to a lecture regarding Tibet, its location, and its ties to China. High schoolers then create political cartoons or write letters to their...
Curated OER
The Age of Exploration
Learners study the Age of Exploration. In this Exploration lesson, students prepare for a test on the lesson by discovering details about the explorers of the age as they view a PowerPoint presentation.
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Slave Trade Memorial
Learners develop a memorial to the slave who endured the Middle Passage. In this slavery memorial lesson, student culminate a unit of study about slavery by creating a memorial for Africans who traveled the Middle Passage to slavery....
Curated OER
Social Studies: Bombing of Hiroshima
Students read a first person account of the bombing of Hiroshima written by a Japanese physician. By reading Michihiko Hachiya's journal, they discover the fatalities caused by the bomb itself and later by radiation poisoning. To...
US Department of Education
A Close Reading of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address
Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address provides the text for a series of close reading exercises that model for instructors how carefully crafted guiding questions can help readers think critically about what they read, thus developing...
Mary Pope Osborne, Classroom Adventures Program
Mummies in the Morning Egyptian pyramids, hieroglyphics
Visit the Magic Treehouse and take your class on a trip through time with a reading of the children's book Mummies in the Morning. Using the story to spark an investigation into Egyptian culture, this literature unit engages...
Curated OER
Farewell to Manzanar
Examine human resilience across two texts with a detailed unit. Over the course of a week, learners will conduct a close reading of excerpts from Unbroken and Farewell to Manzanar. The resource includes clear procedures for reading and...
Curated OER
Education, Design & Empowerment: Part One
Students consider the connection between poverty and education. In this language arts and social studies lesson plan, students research primary and secondary sources in order to explore the relationship between education and poverty.
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We Are a Fact Family! Integration Is the Key!
Students practice addition and subtraction. In this fact families unit, students practice finding sums and differences for fact families. This unit includes ten lessons with science and social studies integration.
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Chinese Immigration
Students identify artifacts from Chinese immigrants that are common to other immigrant groups, describe how American society discriminated against the Chinese, describe contribution of Chinese immigrants to American society, discuss two...
Curated OER
Japan Communication
The Japanese communicate in very different ways than people in the US. Using three essential questions as a guide, learners look at different scenarios (included) and compare customs seen here and there. All the materials you need are...
Curated OER
Do You Have a Blog?
Ask learners about their personal writing habits, such as whether they keep a journal or a blog, or if they'd ever want to. Though this is not a fully developed lesson, you can use this article and question to provoke discussion and...
Curated OER
Shasta Dam: How High is Too High?
Research water use in California, environmental protection laws, and the proposition to raise Shasta Dam by 200 feet. Researchers use their findings to build an argument which will be presented at a mock decision panel. Groups then...
School Improvement in Maryland
United States Foreign Policy
Policies of United States government which promote or fail to promote relationships with other countries—national defense, arms control, security of other nations, trade, human rights, economic sanctions, foreign aid, etc.—come under...
Curated OER
Personalities of the Renaissance
Have the class interpret historical evidence presented in primary and secondary resources. They examine sources regarding architecture, art, exploration, government, literature, religion, and technology of the era. Then they use their...