Media Smarts
Bias
See how bias operates firsthand. Half of the class reads one article while the other half reads another article on the same event. The obvious differences emerge when the two sides talk about their observations though. Several handouts...
Curated OER
The Good, the Bad, and the Goofy
Upper elementary learners read about jobs on a cattle drive and the lives of cowboy during U.S. Westward Expansion. They create a "Help Wanted" poster for one of the jobs. After reading primary source accounts of cowboys, they write...
Curated OER
First Meeting of the Indians and the Europeans
Your class hears a Native American Indian point of view of Europeans' arrival in Louisiana. They assess how cultural perspectives (especially an insider's view) and native language can shape a story. Each pupil identifies the...
Curated OER
Read All About it
Learners create and publish a newspaper that reflects and explains pioneer and medieval societies. They become newspaper writers for a specific time period. They adopt a holistic approach to exploring community life in medieval and...
Curated OER
Geography of Mesopotamia
Students write a letter. In this irrigation lesson, students review how humans and the environment can interact with each other, learn new vocabulary words having to do with Mesopotamia, learn about irrigation and view maps of...
Curated OER
For the Record
Young scholars read a New York Times article in order to examine the importance of cultural artifacts. They create essays from the point of view of one cultural artifact to demonstrate the knowledge they gained by doing research.
Curated OER
Alexander Hamilton and the Roots of Federalism
Explore the origin of political parties in the United States. Learners work in groups to read and analyze copies of the "Report on Manufactures" written by Alexander Hamilton. Then, they complete a worksheet comparing the Federalists to...
PBS
Writing a Historical Poem
Students conduct field research of a historical site in order to discover a more complete understanding of a time period. They choose one particular historical figure and write a short poem about the site from the historical person's...
Curated OER
In Search of Ethnic Identity in Selected Narratives: New Reading, New Meaning
Students read texts reflecting multiple cultural perspectives.
Curated OER
Civil War Perspectives
Fifth graders have a debate and defend one of the three different perspectives of the Civil War. In this Civil War lesson plan, 5th graders defend either the North, the South, or the Neutral perspectives.
Curated OER
Comparing Kwakiutl, Cheyenne and Navajo tribes
Third graders study the difference between the Kwakiutl, Cheyenne and Navajo tribes. They identify the people, resources, lifestyle and beliefs of the Kwakiutl, Cheyenne, and Navajo Indians. Afterward, they present their projects on each...
Curated OER
Is Mr. Wolf Really A Bad Guy?
Is the wolf from "The Three Little Pigs" really big and bad, or is he just misunderstood? To analyze the effect of point of view, middle schoolers read Jon Scieszka's The True Story of the Three Little Pigs and evaluate the information...
Curated OER
Journal of Time: A Historical Perspective
Analyze the setting behind the Great Depression in California with Pam Munoz Ryan's Esperanza Rising. Middle schoolers assess the protagonist during her coming-of-age moments, while migrant workers manage the hardships of the era. Each...
Digital Wish
2D Project: Deep Space
Using a digital camera, Photoshop, and a desktop paint program, learners will explore perspective techniques. They apply perspective techniques to develop depth illusions within a scene. The instructional activity employs both...
Curated OER
Take Off
Young scholars draw perspectives from different points of view. After discussing the way objects look up close and from a distance, they choose a perspecitve to draw from, land or air. Students draw their landscape using paint and markers.
Curated OER
Unsent Letter: Canyons
As your class reads Gary Paulsen's Canyons, challenge them to assume the perspective of a character to write a letter. The plan suggests learners pair off, one person assuming the voice of Coyote Runs, and the other assuming the voice of...
Curated OER
Direct Express
Although the game cards are not posted at this time, you could easily create some to put this plan into action. Simply write a few starting lines from different speeches on each index card, and have learners guess if the speaker's intent...
Teachers.net
Point of View
Work with your class on point of view by reading "The Three Little Pigs." Learners demonstrate an understanding that the point of view is determined by the author and that different points of view exist. They then read a different short...
Curated OER
Explore Point of View Through Aerial Photography
Read the story Amelia the Pigeon and discuss perspective. Since Amelia is a pigeon with a bird's eye view, use aerial photography to enhance your learners' understanding. Have fun connecting art and literature while talking about...
Curated OER
The Treaty Trail: Examining an Artist's Perspective
Elementary school leanrners examine artwork from the time period of the United States and Native American treaties. They discuss the causes and effects of the treaties being signed. They also examine how cultural perspective influences art.
Curated OER
Identifying Author’s Purpose and Viewpoint in Nonfiction Text
Why do people write books? Pupils discover how to identify the author's viewpoint. They read non-fiction passages their instructor selects (the plan has the class look at nonfiction children's picture books), and then identify the...
Curated OER
Where Are You Coming From?
Pupils examine and discuss author's purpose and the influence of an author's perspective in his or her writing. In groups, they read scenarios and respond to them from the perspective of a designated character. Materials are attached.
Curated OER
Point of View
A picture is used to begin considering point of view. Then, have kids role play included scenes which all involve some type of conflict where the character's have very different perspective. Discussions ensue each role play, with kids...
Curated OER
From A Different Perspective
Emerging writers create a response to their reading. They read Notes from the Trail and discuss whose perspective the journal entry is written from. Then, they write a response to the journal entry in first person perspective as if they...