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
"The Soil Around Us" Project
Young geographers collect samples of different kinds of soil to match to the soil terms in Barry Rudner's rhyming book Filet of Soil: dirt, mud, dust, soot, etc. They start a glossary for the project on index cards or large sheets of...
Curated OER
Community Building
Students explore the issues of urban and suburban sprawl. They work in small groups to create their own planned communities.
Curated OER
History of the Local Community
Young scholars research their local communities and identify the founding fathers of their city and county. In this communities lesson plan, students research using the library and internet. Young scholars also interview citizens who...
Curated OER
The Rise of Community Activism
Students examine the rise of citizen leaders and community organizing.
NOAA
Community Ecology and Sampling
Seamounts in the Coral and Tasman Seas are home to more than 850 different species. Groups explore hydrothermal vents, researching the organisms found there and their energy source. They also learn about seamounts, exploring their unique...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Lesson 8: WildCam Gorongosa Data Analysis
How do scientists analyze data to get a specific answer to a question? The final chapter in an eight-part series of activities centered around Gorongosa National Park encourages scholars to dig deeper into the scientific process. After...
Peace Corps
Community
What is a community? Find out with a lesson that sheds light onto the different types of communities—school, local, and global. Scholars read informational text detailing the life of a young girl from Cape Verde and take part in a...
Curated OER
Government and Community Resources
Students explore how to communicate using past tense and present perfect tense verbs. They discuss words related to postal activities and the procedures to follow when mailing letters and packages, registering mail, and buying money orders.
Curated OER
Persuasive Writers
Use the power of the pen to persuade others to get involved in community issues! Individuals reflect on personal service learning activities and the writing process. They compose essays regarding service to others. While designed for...
Missouri Department of Elementary
Color Your Destiny
Class groups bring feeling words alive by creating a poster that illustrates with images and colors, but not words, the feeling conjured by the word. The posters are then combined into a mural for the classroom wall.
National Endowment for the Humanities
American Utopia: The Architecture and History of the Suburb
Let's build a dream house! By examining promotional materials and photographs of early suburban developments, scholars consider what led to the development of this particular American dream. The resource includes case studies of three...
Museum of Tolerance
Improving My Community Through Social Action
Action is the heart of change. Encourage class members to not only identify critical social justice issues in their school or community but to take action as well. As individuals or as groups, they research a situation, develop a...
Florida Department of Environmental Protection
Build Your Own Aquifer
Ever wondered how an aquifer works? Introduce your class to the amazing way many people get water by exploring how underground aquifers work. Two fun hands-on activities are used to help kids understand what an aquifer is, how it works,...
National Park Service
Living & Non-Living Interactions
What better way to learn about ecosystems than by getting outside and observing them first hand? Accompanying a field trip to a local park or outdoor space, this series of collaborative activities engages children in learning about the...
Learning for Justice
Change Agents in Our Own Lives
Everyone has the power to change their own lives. Young historians learn how they can become agents for change in their own lives and the community. The lesson plan focuses on positive role models and what motivates individuals to...
ReadWriteThink
Defining Literacy in a Digital World
What skills are necessary to interact with different types of text? Twenty-first century learners live in a digital world and must develop a whole new set of skills to develop media literacy. Class members engage in a series of...
Teaching Tolerance
Mass Incarceration as a Form of Racialized Social Control
Mass incarceration: A result of a tough stance on crime or racial discrimination, you decide. Academics explore the history and reasons behind mass incarcerations in the United States and its impact on ethnic communities. The...
Indian Land Tenure Foundation
Create a Map
Do your students have a connection to their natural environment? Create neighborhood maps together with your little learners. The instructional activity starts as the class talks about where they live and what their homes look like. They...
Just Health Action
Whose Backyard? Toxic Waste Management Meeting and Environmental Injustice
Toxic waste is a global problem. What to do with environmental hazards and where to put toxic waste is a global concern. To better understand current issues around toxic waste management and how current practices can lead to...
Curated OER
Fill In The GAPP
Youngsters discover what recycling is and identify things that can be recycled. They use both video and Internet resources to aid them in their study. This is a well-designed lesson with excellent activities and a nicely-written letter...
Curated OER
From Crowded Classrooms To Broken Streetlights: Exploring Ways To Effect Change in Our Communities
Students discuss issues of concern to their communities and explore the variety of avenues available for concerned community members to address these issues and effect change.
Curated OER
Activity Plan Mixed Ages: Community Cooperation
Students learn how members of communities work together. In this early childhood lesson plan, students explore their neighborhood and discover the people and places that comprise it.
Curated OER
Print & Go ESL
Improve reading comprehension with a set of ESL worksheets. Kids read through various passages, note which facts are true or false, mark their opinion on two statements, and write a short reply based on a writing prompt.