Newspaper Association of America
Using the Newspaper to Teach the Five Freedoms of the First Amendment
Of all the amendments found in The Bill of Rights, the First Amendment contains some of the most important freedoms for American citizens. A unit plan on the First Amendment features interactive lesson plans designed to teach about those...
Curated OER
Art of Japan - Textiles - Kimonos
Students examine and discuss the role of the Kimono in Japanese culture. They create Kimono Paper Weavings, Kimono Scratch Art, and Kimono Clay Sculptures.
Advocates for Human Rights
Voices of Iraqi Refugees
The stated goal of this resource is to provide learners with basic facts about and build empathy for Iraqi refugees. To do so elementary classes develop a plan for how to welcome refugees to their classroom. Middle schoolers read...
Curated OER
Draw Like an Egyptian
Students craft their own Egyptian art. In this ancient Egyptian art lesson, students explore Egyptian art and create their own work following the 4 guidelines presented in the lesson.
Smithsonian Institution
Songs, Sounds and Stories from the Georgia Sea Islands
American music is the result of the influence of many cultures, including the traditions brought by the African slaves. Young scholars study the polyrhythms, the call-and-response format, and the vocal improvisations of the Gullah...
Curated OER
Art Through the Eyes of Youth
Students take a field trip to an art gallery reflecting on the paintings they like the most. Individually, they use magazines to find pictures related to their personality. In pairs, they make a mask to represent their ethnic group and...
Curated OER
Teach Peace Now
Help your learners discover empathy and understanding by investigating two sides of a situation. In this humanities instructional activity, pupils examine different pairs of shoes and hypothesize about who may have worn them. Discuss...
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Swimmy
Students explore the themes of the book Swimmy by Leo Lionni. In this literacy lesson, students dramatize a character from Swimmy and identify common themes such as cooperation and caring. Students create a new ending to the story.
Curated OER
Smoky Night
Second graders compare the neighborhoods they know to those of a different place and time. In this historical perspectives lesson, 2nd graders read Eve Bunting's Smoky Night and discuss the outcome of the story. Students also discuss...
Curated OER
Sole People
Young scholars create "sole people" using tempera paint, drawing paper, and shoe prints in this multi-level art lesson. The lesson can be combined with a brief history of the African-American inventor Jan Ernst Matzeliger, who created...
Curated OER
Face to Face with the Great Depression
Young scholars develop an analytical perspective of how historians record, preserve, and interpret data. In this US history lesson students read and interpret personal accounts of the Great Depression. They discuss how interpretation...
Curated OER
Introduction to Primary Sources
Students explore the usage of primary sources, what they are and how they originate. Artifacts are compared and contrasted as part of this historical inquiry as questions are formulated and conclusions drawn.
Curated OER
Identifying Bullies
Students investigate human behavior by defining bullies. In this psychology lesson, students read the book Just One Flick of a Finger, and discuss why bullies act out in front of other children. Students investigate actions that can be...
Curated OER
Grab a Winning Book to Read on March 3
Learners identify periods of history and read a news article about a librarian who wrote an award winning book. In this current events lesson, the teacher introduces the article with a class challenge and a vocabulary activity, then...
Curated OER
Make a Peace Windsock
Students explore "peace." In this character development instructional activity, students define "peace" and discuss instances that reflect examples of peace. Students create a windsock using symbols for peace. Directions for the windsock...
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Developing Kids with Character Through Service Learning
Students discover service learning and how it can help them build character. In this community lesson, students brainstorm ways they can assist their classmates with problems, and write about it in their journal. Students decide on a...
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Making Good Decisions
Students explore the consequences of their actions. In this personal choices lesson, students practice balancing different interests involved in compromise. This lesson includes downloadable materials and 2 extension activities.
Curated OER
Reading Primary Source Documents: Historical Content
Why do we read primary source documents? What can they give us that other writings cannot? Provide your learners with any of the primary sources attached here (there are seven), and have them complete the graphic organizer (which opens...
Curated OER
Holi-Days
Students research an event, celebration, or observance from a culture with which they are not familiar and present their information to the class in this cross-curricular look at festivals and celebrations. The lesson includes an option...
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Holiday Flier in Publisher
Students use Publisher in this lesson to make a holiday flier. In this technology lesson, students create a holiday flier. Students choose fonts, use clipart, use grammar and spelling check, and save to their work to a flash drive or...
Curated OER
Six Dynamic Designs for Arts Integrated Curriculum
Students create a recipe for a certain aspect of a culture. They create a culture that has never existed before. They analyze either dance, history, geography, history or the future of space exploration. They compare and contrast...
Curated OER
Teeshirt Printing
Students become responsible and involved citizens. In this t-shirt printing activity students design and create a teeshirt with a message about citizenship and responsibility. Natural objects are used as stamps.
Curated OER
Email Around the World
Students send and receive e-mail messages and find the location of each of the messages on a map. Students then write a description and trivia facts about their school to send to others.
Curated OER
Candy Heart Stories
Learners will write stories using the words that are found on candy conversation hearts. They show the proper use of quotation marks while writing the stories with modifications. Randomly, hearts will be selected to start a conversation...