US Institute of Peace
Observing Conflict
Identifying conflict is important, but how do you handle conflict when it comes? Students use a plot mountain to graph two role-play scenarios about interpersonal conflicts.
US Institute of Peace
What Does It Take to be a Peacebuilder?
In a world of conflict, choose to be a peacebuilder. Young scholars research a chosen peacebuilder from the past or present before creating a billboard project with that person's name, accomplishments, and prominent quotes.
US Institute of Peace
What Does Peace Mean?
Let peace begin with your class! After brainstorming definitions and interpretations of the word peace, class members draw their version of peace and pass it to a neighbor, who adds to the drawing. Several rounds later, students get...
US Institute of Peace
Understanding the Levels of Conflict
Conflicts can quickly get out of hand—which is why it's important to understand the four different levels of conflict. An important lesson plan lays out the definitions of personal, local, national, and international conflict before...
US Institute of Peace
What Does Conflict Mean?
Is conflict always bad? Learners begin a unit on conflict resolution with an exercise that defines conflict, reviews common words associated with conflict, and encourages partners to brainstorm conflicts that may have positive results.
Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation
Why Did Some Colonial Virginians Seek Independence?
To understand the reasonings of those colonials who sought independence from England, young historians are divided into content groups that examine documents related to either the Boston Tea Party, the Yorktown Tea Party, Tea Overboard,...
Southern Poverty Law Center
Evaluating Reliable Sources
A lesson plan instills the importance of locating reliable sources. Scholars are challenged to locate digital sources, analyze their reliability, search for any bias, and identify frequently found problems that make a source unusable.
Advocates for Human Rights
The Rights of Migrants in the United States Lesson Plan: Traveling Suitcases
Two activities bridge English language arts and social studies to take an inside look into immigration. Scholars interview a family member or someone they know who immigrated here. A crafted suitcase features information obtained in the...
Core Knowledge Foundation
Chaos within the Living World? NOT!
What are the five kingdoms? Fifth graders engage in a series of investigations and research activities focused on the methods of classification used by scientists, as well as the language they use to describe the similarities and...
Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation
Colonial Tobacco Economy
Tobacco as money? Middle schoolers investigate how eighteenth-century Virginia farmers used tobacco as a cash crop to buy tools, livestock, and household goods. They also examine the connection between tobacco production and the slave...
Goethe-Institut
Well-Known Tale: The Pied Piper of Hamelin
"The Pied Piper of Hamelin" is the focus of a instructional activity designed to shed light on the importance of keeping promises. As a class, scholars take part in a discussion on the topic of honesty and consequences. Independent...
Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation
How Do We Know about Colonial Life?
Young history sleuths examine an inventory of the belongings of a Virginia colonist and use deductive reasoning to determine what the document reveals about colonial life. They then use a Venn diagram to compare the inventory with a...
Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation
Tea Overboard
While less well known than the event in Boston, the Yorktown Tea Party was equally decisive in turning community sentiment against Great Britain. To gain an understanding of why the colonists objected to the Tea Act, young historians...
Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation
Life of a Private Lesson Plan
In order to understand the challenges the Continental Army faced during the American Revolution, class members analyze primary source materials including a soldier's journal and an officer's letter, and watch a short reenactment video.
Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation
Making a Patriot Inquiry: Are Independence, Freedom, and Liberty the Same Thing?
As part of a study of the American Revolution, class members engage in an inquiry-based lesson that has them watch a scene from the play Slave Spy, examine multiple primary source documents, and then discuss the similarities and...
BBC
The Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky
Over the course of six lessons, scholars try their hand at composing and dancing after a thorough examination of the famous ballet, The Nutcracker, by Tchaikovsky. Participants watch and discuss the performance of two dances, create and...
National Council of Teachers of English
Writing Acrostic Poems with Thematically Related Texts in the Content Areas
Scholars scour thematically aligned texts to gather a bank of words they can use in an original acrostic poem.
Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation
How Did Relations between Britain and the Colonies Change after the French and Indian War?
What does the French and Indian War have to do with the American Revolution? Following the war, Britain issued the Proclamation of 1763 in an attempt to limit the colonists' western expansion. To understand how the proclamation, the...
Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation
Why Did Some Colonial Virginians Continue to Support the King?
Not all colonials supported the American Revolution. A resource from the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown ask young historians to investigate the reasons why some colonial Virginians were loyalist and continued to support King...
Bringing History Home
Ellis Island Simulation
Young historians step into the shoes of immigrants coming to Ellis Island. A simulation creates an experience in which participants visit several rooms, go through an interview process, and receive a stamp in their passport—either making...
Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation
What Was Everyday Life like in Colonial Virginia?
What was everyday life like in Colonial Virginia? To find the answer cooperative groups work collaboratively to read an informational handout and complete a graphic organizer. The speaker of the group then shares their new-found...
Advocates for Human Rights
The Right to a Clean Environment: Right to a Clean Environment Role-Play
A lesson challenges scholars to think critically about the world in which they live. Learners begin by role-playing a character, answering questions, and taking part in a whole-class discussion. They then brainstorm ways they can help...
Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation
What Was Everyday Life like in Colonial Virginia?
After reflecting on jobs people perform in the present day, scholars discuss what they believe jobs would have been like in Colonial Virginia during the American Revolution. Small groups then perform a jigsaw using informational packets....
Arbor Day Foundation
Trees are Terrific...Inside and Out!
Trees are the star of a three-step unit celebrating Arbor Day. Step one takes an in-depth look into the structure of a tree, the process of photosynthesis, and the benefits of the leafy giants. Step two challenges scholars to create a...