17th Century Influential Leaders Lesson Plans

Students study the history and culture of 17th century Japan by examining samurai. They review the format of haiku poetry and examine renga poetry. They examine Kamishibai, the Japanese storytelling form and apply it five facts they discover.

Students explore the artistic value of propaganda. In this visual arts lesson, students analyze antique artistic pieces for their political agenda perpetuation. Students discuss propaganda techniques of the past to today prior to designing propaganda posters for current political leaders.

Students explore South African history from pre-colonial times to today. They create a timeline of important events in South African history and reflect on connections between this timeline and the existence of tribal traditions in the country.

Students first explore the power of the visual image to convey a message by examining the portrait of George Washington on American dollar bills. They next use, 'Prolific Chinese Painter Is Anonymous No More,' to explore a famous portrait of Mao.

Students study African history and the life of one of its most successful warriors, Queen Jinga. They write a diary as if they were Queen Jinga and examine other important women in history from around the world.

Fifth graders investigate what a covenant was and how they relate to contemporary government ideals. In this comparing covenant lesson, 5th graders examine primary source documents that are examples of covenants from 18th century New England. They read and make concept webs of the covenants before writing an original covenant.

Students examine the geography, politics and history of their local town of New Haven, Connecticut. Using the internet, they explore the neighbors of New Haven and write directions from their house to school. In groups, they research recent information about the city from the cities website and share what they have gathered. To end the lesson plan, they build a model of the city and its physical characteristics.

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 represents. Students create their own piece of artwork to illustrate what September 11, 2001 meant in terms of US history.

Learners explore the Aztec culture and the Conquistadors. In this Aztec instructional activity, students investigate the language and culture of the Aztec civilization. Over several days and lessons, learners expand their study to explore the impact of Conquistadors on this ancient civilization.

Fifth graders closely examine the effects of slavery on American society giving special emphasis to the issue of social injustice, the life of Harriet Tubman, the underground railroad and the achievements of Abraham Lincoln during this month long unit. Students conduct research, write fictional accounts of historical events, recreate an underground railroad at their school and participate in role playing activities.