Curated OER
What Makes My Community Special
Students create a symbol to represent their classroom community. In this community lesson plan, students discuss what their classroom community is like and create symbols in groups to present to the rest of the class.
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City, County, Community
Students explore issues and situations that make for a city and its local environments. In this local government instructional activity, students design maps, define issues and create brochures that illustrate their understandings of...
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Xeriscaping In Your Community
Fourth graders participate in a service-learning project. They design landscaping that maximizes water use and utilizes indigenous plant species. Afterward, they advertise and present their xeriscape garden at a school function such as...
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America: The Land We Live In: Landmarks
Young scholars explore the concept of landmarks. In this landmark lesson plan, students brainstorm different landmarks around their community and nationally. Young scholars then identify the patterns in Georgia O'Keeffe's paintings or...
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What Is A Community?
Students engage in a lesson which introduces the definition of a community and challenges them to explore the characteristics of their own community. This lesson uses the true story of Humphrey the Lost Whale as an illustration of how...
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UN's Millennium Goals
Whose responsibility is it to improve schools in developing countries? How does quality education affect my neighborhood? Questions of responsibility, whether global or local, form the heart of this lesson. Using the UN’s Millennium...
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Our Town
Students discover what makes a community run smoothly by reading signs and visiting various places in their community. In this social studies lesson, small groups of students take photographs of community signs and places and then ask...
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The Gift of Community
Students explore the diversity offered in communities. For this Teaching Tolerance lesson, students read The Gift and then interview people within their school community regarding the gifts they receive in their community.
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Families and Neighborhoods
Students investigate the characteristics of a neighborhood. In this communities lesson plan, students read the book Franklin's Neighborhood and list people and places in their community. Students create a neighborhood mural.
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The Community Forest
Fourth graders plant a tree. In this sustainable forestry lesson, 4th graders define community forest and brainstorm a location to plant a new tree on the school grounds. Students learn how to plant a tree and discuss choosing an...
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Our Changing Community
Students investigate how communities grow and change. In this communities lesson, students discuss how their community has changed and construct a model of a community.
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Community Words
Students participate in a community walk. In this communities lesson, students use a digital camera to take photos during a community walk. Students take photos of store signs and street signs. Students design a poster with their pictures.
Library of Congress
Investigating the Building Blocks of Our Community’s Past, Present, and Future
As Ken Jennings said, "There's just something hypnotic about maps." Certainly, the longer you look at them the more you can learn. In this project-based learning lesson, individuals study both historic and present-day maps of their area...
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Historic Cemeteries: "History Written in Stone"
Students explore the history of their community through researching grave markers. They visit a local cemetary, partcipate in a cemetary scavenger hunt, conduct a survey for various graves, and write an essay describing their cemetary...
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Presidential Places Quilt
Young scholars design historical quilts. In this presidential history lesson, students research past presidents and landmarks named for them. Young scholars create quilt squares to represent the landmarks and piece all of them together...
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Celebrate Kwanzaa in the United States
Explore the components of the African American celebration of Kwanzaa in the United States. Complete with learning objectives, a materials and preparation list, and eight days of lesson plans, the resource incorporates the principles of...
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History Did Happen in My Back Yard!
Eighth graders interpret historical evidence presented in primary resources. In this Louisiana history lesson, 8th graders research their parish history using the LOUISiana Digital Library resources. Students create multimedia...
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Audio Media Creation and Exploration
Students research historical people and events in their community and crate audio files that are shared in the form of locative media. In this audio media lesson plan, students give presentations in front of the class.
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Following in Their Footsteps
Students explore the concept of philanthropy. In this service learning lesson, students reflect upon the lesson of tikkun olam as they read "First They Came for the Jews." Students plan and execute a tikkun olam project of their choosing...
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Community Brochures
Third graders discuss what a community means to them. In this community lesson, 3rd graders make a brochure about their community or what they feel a community is. Students illustrate their community.
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Sense of Place
Students identify the major folk regions of Louisiana and the relationship between folklife, geography, and ecology. They give deeper thought to what makes their own community unique, what their sense of place actually is. Students...
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Around Town
Students explore their community. In this picture taking lesson, students visit different places in the community. Students take pictures at each place they visit. Students use adjectives to describe the pictures they took and write them...
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I Live in Kansas!
Student research and apply information about communities in Kansas. In this Kansas lesson, 3rd graders study ten communities in the state, complete a booklet, and compare the communities to their own. They use the information to design a...
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Cathedral in the Sea
Young scholars construct a model giant kelp and kelp forest inhabitants based on field-guide photographs. Students also place animal cutouts in appropriate positions on or near the plant.