Young historians study the Angel Island Immigration Station with activities examining primary and secondary source materials, maps, and websites. The unit begins with individuals creating a map of Angel Island, labeling sites on the...

Project-Based Learning Community Projects. Engage students in meaningful projects that impact their community!

Third graders will explore the way geography can impact people's access to books. They read informational texts and learn vocabulary related to physical geography. There is a final performance task at the end, and everything you need is...

This is the second of three units in this fourth grade module, and learners focus on the Haudenosaunee through informational text, note-taking, and drawing conclusions. Consider extending the unit through the text Eagle Song by Joseph...

Fourth grade teachers, you've found your starting line for ELA modules and units! Your class will begin a visual literacy exploration, where they will interpret main ideas from oral traditions and written texts. They interpret the texts...

Use these 16 lessons to help fourth graders comprehend informational text as they read about different roles colonial Americans played on settlements. The class specifically studies the "wheelwright" trade and then break into groups to...

Celebrate reading across the curriculum with a collection of lessons and worksheets that bring literature and informational text to life in math, science, social studies, and music. Each resource prompts interdisciplinary instruction...

A collection of reading and writing activities that help us to better understand the election and voting process of our American government.

Free to Use and Reuse: Presidential Portraits from Library of Congress.

As part of a study of the history of the Chumash on California's Channel Island chain, class members view the documentary Once Upon a Time, respond to discussion questions, and create a timeline for the different waves of migration....

As part of their study of the history of the Channel Islands, class members watch Dark Water, a documentary about a traditional Chumash ceremony. The documentary launches a series of lessons about this tribal nation that inhabited the...

How do scientists provide evidence to support the theories they put forth? What clues do they put together to create these theories? After watching West of the West's documentary Island Rotation, class...

The Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island documents the story of Juana Maria, who spent 18 years alone on the most remote island of the Channel Islands chain. After watching West of the West's documentary and reading two print resources,...

The excavation of a cache of artifacts, believed to have been buried by Juana Maria, a Nicoleno Native American who lived alone on San Nicolas Island for over 18 years, is the focus of a unit that shows how archaeologists uncover...

The tale of the restoration of California's Channel Islands begins with a video that details the devastation of Santa Cruz Island by introducing species that are not native to the region. Additionally, the video discusses the controversy...

The Last Roundup explores the issues raised by the transitioning of Santa Rosa Island from a privately owned to a National Park. The documentary is short, poignant, and weaves together vintage family photos and videos with interviews...

West of the West's Arlington Springs Man series documents the history of the archeological digs on Santa Rosa Island and the discovery of human and mammoth bones that challenge the once-popular theories of human migration to the...

Scavenger hunts provide students with an opportunity to develop their internet skills while they learn about famous African Americans. Included are four scavenger hunts, one each for grades 1-4, 5-6, 7-8, and 9-12. Researchers search the...

There are upstanders, bystanders, and whistle-blowers when it comes to dealing with dilemmas. The four lessons in this unit module ask young scholars to think about injustice and how to resolve difficult situations. Learners research...

For Native Americans, the connection between themselves and the land on which they live runs deep and is apparent throughout their different cultures. During a series of three lessons, young scholars explore the culture of the Hopi...

Personal interest, strengths, talents, and abilities can be used to make a difference. Young learners consider how they can share their talents with others through volunteering, what they can do to take care of the natural environment,...

Expand a celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday as well as Black History Month with a collection of eight worksheets that include biographical questions about Dr. Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks, word searches and word...

Benjamin Franklin, statesman, inventor, President is the subject of a collection targeting young historians. The interdisciplinary lesson plans were originally designed to accompany the 2018 international traveling exhibition, “Benjamin...

The California missions were established by the Franciscans with the hope of converting Native Americans to Catholicism. The three lessons in this collection present fourth graders with primary source documents, paintings, and drawings...