EngageNY
Reading and Taking Notes on Colonial Trades
In the tenth instructional activity of this unit, young scholars learn to categorize information as they continue researching their colonial trade. During guided practice, the teacher models how to read informational text slowly while...
EngageNY
Researching and Note-Taking: Becoming an Expert on a Colonial Trade
Fourth graders work in small groups to become experts on different colonial trades in the eighth instructional activity of this unit. Working toward the long-term goal of writing a piece of historical fiction, young scholars read...
EngageNY
Researching and Note-Taking: Building Expertise about a Colonial Trade
Building on the previous activity in this unit on colonial trade, the ninth activity has young experts continuing their research and writing summaries of the information they find. To begin, children participate in guided practice where...
EngageNY
Listening Closely and Taking Notes: Colonial Trade Podcast About the Wheelwright
Voices from the past. Young scholars listen to a podcast interview with a historical re-enactor as they continue their research in the eleventh instructional activity of this unit on colonial trade. Applying their close reading skills,...
EngageNY
Listening Closely and Taking Notes in Expert Groups: Colonial Trade Podcast
The twelfth instructional activity of this unit builds on the skills developed in the previous instructional activity, as fourth graders continue their quest to become experts on colonial trade by listening to interviews with historical...
Curated OER
Pizza Biography
A biography writing lesson plan with a tasty twist! Kids create a "visual biography" in which each pizza slice represents a paragraph, and toppings represent supporting details. They learn research techniques, note-taking skills, and how...
Curated OER
Be An Effective Note-Taker
Guide your middle schoolers through the process of taking notes with this presentation. With tips and suggestions in the first half, the slideshow could be a good way to begin a research unit in your classroom. The second half of the...
Curated OER
Note Taking: Research on the Middle Ages
Young scholars explore the Middle Ages. In this research skills lesson, students research selected Internet sources regarding the Middle Ages and use the provided graphic organizers to take notes regarding the information they find.
EngageNY
Taking Notes Using a Graphic Organizer: Inferring About Work and Play in Colonial America
What was life like in colonial America? Follow this lesson and your pupils will find out what people in colonial times did for work and for fun. Ask learners to compare and contrast the two texts and explain what the reading helped them...
EngageNY
Taking Notes Using a Graphic Organizer: Inferring About the Importance of Religion in Colonial America
Improve class understanding of colonial times by reading an informational text and filling out the accompanying graphic organizer. Class members work with a partner to read, take notes, make inferences, and synthesize information.The...
C-SPAN
Choice Board - Conversations with Suffragists
Celebrate 100 years of women's suffrage by planning a re-enactment of famous women discussing their fight. After learners view a series of interviews with famous women played by actors, including Susan B. Anthony, Sojourner Truth, and...
The New York Times
The One-Question Interview
Generate interest in current events, the theme of a new unit, or a research project. Individuals select a question from the list generated by the class, conduct one-on-one interviews, analyze the responses, draw conclusions based on...
The New York Times
Collateral Damage? Researching a Connection Between Video Games and Violence
Hook your class into an exploration of and discussion about violence in video games with a cute animal clip and a video game trailer. After a quick discussion about how media can affect mood, class members read a related article and...
Curated OER
Revive Reviews With Student-Created Study Guides
Students work cooperatively in small groups to practice note-taking and outlining skills which are applied as student create unit Study Guides for their classmates. They demonstrate critical thinking skills as they decide the most...
Curated OER
How To Write a Social Studies Outline
One of the keys to success in school is organization. This resource leads learners through the process of creating an outline for a chapter from a social studies text. In addition, they review facts they have learned in their class...
PBS
The Sixties: Notes from the Ho Chi Minh Trail
Young historians research the rationales for fighting the Vietnam War, and the controversies surrounding it. They watch film clips, examine photographs, and read Lyndon B. Johnson's message to Congress to gather information for a...
Curated OER
Using Primary Sources to Study the Holocaust
Engage your middle schoolers with Pastor Martin Niemoller's famous poem that begins, "First they came for the communists." Now that you have their attention, send learners to the various work stations you created to have them explore...
Curated OER
Library Media Center Research Learning Unit for 6th, 7th, & 8th Grades
Middle schoolers focus on the process of and skills necessary for researching a topic. They study the topic of immigration while practicing note taking skills, organizing information and writing conventions.
Curated OER
Lesson Two: Use Various Sources to Locate Names of People Who Embody Various Attributes
Sixth graders research a person who has made a difference. In this research activity, 6th graders create a list of people that they would be interested in researching. They choose one and gather information about that person to put on a...
Curated OER
Reading About Children from Other Places in the World: Structured Research Project
Students read about children in Ghana, Sri Lanka and Haiti. They compare these children to themselves in a structured lesson that focuses on note taking and research skills. Students work in groups to write a short essay about the...
C-SPAN
Women's Suffrage and the 19th Amendment
The right to vote was hard-won after decades of organizing by women and their allies. Using a series of video clips featuring women's historians, class members consider the efforts behind the Nineteenth Amendment. Possible extension...
EngageNY
End of Unit 2 Assessment: Working with Two Texts - Reading, Listening, Summarizing, and Synthesizing
As a summative assessment for this unit on colonial trade, fourth graders listen to and read informational texts in order to demonstrate their ability to take notes, write summaries, and draw connections. Young scholars first listen as...
Curated OER
Cattle Drive Research
Young scholars research the live of cowboys in 18th Century America. In this cattle drive lesson, students locate a variety of online resources and take notes. Young scholars compile notes and write a brief report.
Curated OER
What Can You Find in the Cabinet?
Looking in the cabinet can be fascinating! Examine the various departments of the Executive Cabinet in this group research project, which jigsaws so each small group has a different department and presents to the class. Groups create...