Curated OER
The Statue of Liberty: The Meaning and Use of a National Symbol
Engage your class in a series of activities, each related to the use or analysis of symbols used to convey patriotic or national concepts. They identify different national symbols and explain their meanings, discussing the importance of...
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Japanese Internment--How Point of View Influences Attitude
How does background and experience influence one's point of view? Dwight Okita's famous poem about the Japanese internment is the text used to explore this essential question. Class members study primary documents to gain the necessary...
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Give Me Liberty or Give Me Freedom
Welcome to America, the land of liberty and freedom. Examine the ways in which the terms liberty and freedom have been used in the United States. After researching and analyzing quotations from the past and present, students create an...
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How To Make a Mummy
In this How To Make a Mummy worksheet, students make an instruction manual for an embalmer in ancient Egypt. Student complete this by arranging 8 pages in the correct order and adding illustrations. The worksheet also includes 2...
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Athenian Newspaper Report
In this Athenian Newspaper Report worksheet, students read about the facts, events, and quotes that took place during a battle between Greece and Persia. Students write a newspaper report based on this information.
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What We Eat, Where We Sleep: Documenting Daily Life to Tell Stories
This is not just a New York Time article to read, this is a set of amazing activity ideas all related to the slide shows "Breaking Bread Everywhere" and "Where Children Sleep." Your class can view each show, read about what they mean...
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Film Festival: Documentaries for Hispanic Heritage Month
In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, the New York Times provides links to five short documentary films depicting Hispanic themes and culture. Learners can click on each embedded link to view the films, then answer each set of related...
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Beyond Demographics
Students study the Dominican Republic through watching and discussing a video about the country and its people. They explain life in the Dominican Republic and describe the emerging picture of the Dominican Republic as viewed through...
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Lesson: Mathias Poledna: Crystal Palace
Film analysis takes critical thinking, connections, and context. Upper graders look at the film installation, Crystal Palace in terms of the film makers choices, presentation, and perspective of truth. After an analytical discussion of...
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Where Do You Stand?
Scholars assess a government's ability to intervene in personal health decisions. They research basic facts about euthanasia and describe their opinions about new legislation passed in the United States Congress about an individual's...
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Making a Case
Start the day by sharing opinions about human rights. Then, read "A Defiant Hussein Pleads Not Guilty to Mass Execution" with your middle and high school class. Your pupils research the specific charges in the case against Saddam...
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The Civil War: A Nation Divided
Discuss the differences between the North and the South and how those differences led to the Civil War. Middle schoolers examine and analyze a famous speech or writing by President Lincoln in order to better understand the speaker's...
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Creating Scrolls Based on the Illustrated Tale of Genji
Now these are learning activities full of fun, art, and cultural exploration. Kids consider the art of storytelling through comic book images. They then look at the Tale of Genji as it was written in the 11th century. They discuss...
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Who Could Have Been Who
Can word choice affect a candidate's likeability? Use a New York Times lesson to explore how a presidential candidate's likeability factor can fluctuate in public opinion polls. Young readers choose a presidential election from their...
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A Positive Spin
Study word choice and connotation in advertising. Readers examine campaign ads, both negative and positive, from the 2006 mid-term election before discussing an article and analyze a campaign of any candidate they choose. Finally, they...
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The Great Lakes
In this Great Lakes worksheet, students observe the Great Lakes location on a partial U.S. map, write their names in the acronym HOMES, list them in order from largest to smallest, and identify states that border them. Students write...
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Jefferson vs. Franklin: Revolutionary Philosophers
Middle schoolers cite connections among Franklin's Albany Plan of 1754, his Plan of Confederation of 1775 and the U.S. Constitution and/or the Declaration of Independence. In an essay, they give examples of the philosophical and...
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The Campaign of 1840: William Henry Harrison and Tyler, Too
Students list some issues important during the campaign of 1840. They compare and contrast the careers of Martin Van Buren and William Henry Harrison before they became president and explain why the Whigs wanted to find a candidate in...
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Hammurabi's Code: What Does It Tell Us About Old Babylonia?
Students examine life in Babylonia during the time of King Hammurabi. They read and discuss excerpts of the Code of Hammurabi, participate in a simulation of advisors to the king, complete an online interactive activity, answer...
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Facing the Ghosts of Our Past
A reading of a New York Times review of the movie Beloved launches research into how the Civil War affected the lives of people living during this period. Creative thinkers select a person from an included list of historical figures and...
NPR
Civil Rights of Japanese-American Internees
Prompted by a viewing of Emiko and Chizu Omori’s Rabbit in the Moon, a documentary about the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, high schoolers examine a series of documents, including the Bill of Rights and the UN’s...
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The Two Sides of the Declaration of Independence
Budding historians read six documents related to grievances that led to the writing of the Declaration of Independence. They then craft an essay in which they discuss the perspective of both the colonists and the king. This DBQ could be...
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First World War Assessment
Here is a really neat assessment, perfect for middle schoolers who have just learned about WWI. The assessment covers the causes and effects of WWI, causes of WWII, the Treaty of Versailles, trench warfare, and key players of the war in...
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Consequences of the Sedition Act
Students research and discuss the consequences of the Sedition Act. They illustrate the difficulty of balancing security needs and personal freedom using an example from John Adams's presidency.