Digital History
The Slave Trade
When studying the slave trade in early American and world history, use this document to expose your learners to the abhorrent conditions that existed on slave ships. Read through two first-person accounts of the enslavement process,...
DePaul University
Settlement
Early settlers in the American Midwest experienced constant struggle. This reading passage describes for young learners the hardships of homesteaders as they journeyed west and sought to start a new life. When finished, students identify...
Curated OER
Career Education for Early Elementary Grades
It's never too early to connect children with the real world meaning of their work. A series of four one-hour sessions, plus a field trip, make up this unit on college and career readiness for first and second graders. After viewing a...
Curated OER
Mouse Mess
Scholars practice rhyming and phonemic awareness using trade books and poetry. They will listen to the book Mouse Mess several times throughout the week, identifying rhyming words, and matching words that begin with the same sound. Then...
Curated OER
Questioning...and Early English Colony
Students create questions about the Early English Colonies in pairs and trade their questions with other students and answer them. In this Early English Colonies lesson plan, students either answer the question or use it as a discussion...
Curated OER
Louisiana History-Unit 4: Early People of Louisiana and a Meeting of Different Worlds
The Poverty Point Culture of Louisiana is described in detail within four slides of this six-slide PowerPoint. Four detailed paragraphs help describe the economic legacy that existed in Louisiana. A table, map, and photo are included to...
Curated OER
Production and Trade
Students discuss production and trade. In this business lesson, students read the book Ox-Cart Man and identify the traits of entrepreneurs. Students discuss ways a person can improve their job performance.
Curated OER
RELIGION AND THE ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE
Students examine the political and religious factors that influenced English, Spanish, French, and Dutch colonization of the Americas, and the economic characteristics of the early Spanish and Portuguese empires in the Americas.
Curated OER
Fair Trade
Students study the story of Philip Knight and Nike as they examine the issue of free trade. They role play characters from Thailand as they examine workers issues.
Curated OER
The Age of Exploration
Young scholars apply computer skills to gain further insight into early exploration. They analyze the role of each explorer and evaluate their importance. Students comprehend the Chronology of Discovery and Trade of early explorers. ...
Curated OER
Ancient Greece
Sixth graders examine the research that archaeologists have done on a Late Bronze Age shipwreck in order to work out the extent of trade in the Eastern Mediterranean during this period, with emphasis on the involvement of the Mycenaeans...
Curated OER
Explorers Unit
Fifth graders complete a unit on early explorers. They develop a timeline, sing a Viking song, watch a video, compile a checklist of supplies needed for an expedition, participate in a scavenger hunt, write a letter from Christopher...
Curated OER
Should the Ming End the Treasure Voyages?
During the first century of Chinese Ming dynasty (1368-1644), the government sent out a total of seven voyages into the Indian Ocean. Young historians will discuss, explain, role play, and compare the decisions made by rulers during the...
Southern Poverty Law Center
Teaching Hard History: A Framework for Teaching American Slavery
Pupils investigate American slavery from colonial times through the Civil War. They incorporate primary sources, video clips, and firsthand accounts to understand how the slavery issue gripped the nation. Essays, presentations, and...
Curated OER
Buying, Selling, and Trading in Antebellum South Carolina
Students research the role of general stores in the development of communities. In this South Carolina history lesson, students study the economic development of early U.S. communities. Students write essays and create advertisements...
Curated OER
Sticks, Stones, Sinews and Stuff: How Early People Used the Environment to Meet Basic Needs
Students create an artifact. In this early survival lesson, students use found objects to create an artifact that could have been used to help early people meet their basic needs.
Curated OER
Early Medieval Europe
Students engage in a host of activities during an examination of early Medieval Europe. They draw coats of arms, make collages of architectural designs, and create posters of knights, serfs, and castles. Students role-play as sons of...
Curated OER
Early Attempts at Flight
Students investigate the early history of flight. In this aviation history lesson, students are split into six groups to research the development of the ornithopter, hot air balloon and the glider. Each group records information on the...
Curated OER
Bartering, an Early Form of Interdependence
Young scholars explore the the benefits and problems associated with a barter system in the Colonies and trace its relationship to the development of interdependence that this system creates. An experience of bartering is created in this...
Curated OER
Tools of the Trade
Young scholars construct functional replicas of oceanographic tools and demonstrate and explain their use.
Curated OER
Captain John Smith's Shallop
Young explorers, all aboard the shallop to discover how early European explorers would navigate the American coastline to find resources, map terrain, and trade with Native American tribes.
Curated OER
Trade Barriers
Students write an editorial piece which takes a position supporting or opposing the free trade policy during the 1790s. After identifying barriers to trade in the 1790s they analyze how their position on the free trade would fit into...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
The First Communities
These documents list essential questions and foundational concepts associated with early civilizations and farming communities in the agricultural revolution. Use this as a starting point for developing specific lessons and activities...
Curated OER
Writing Exercise: The Encounter and Columbian Exchange
Examine the effects and interrelationships that came about because of the Columbian Exchange. Learners answer three short essay questions to improve their expository writing skills and understanding of early globalization.