Curated OER
Nellie Bly's Newspaper Club: Introducing the Science of Writing
Students evaluate a video about Nellie Bly, a famous reporter from the 19th century. They consider what makes a high-interest news article, write an essay in pairs and present it a literary tea.
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Writing American Diaries
Young scholars examine the concept of historical perspective in writing. They read the diary of Sally Wister, a young Patriot from Philadelphia during the Revolutionary Era. Additionally, they must include different points of view in...
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Discovering Angel Island: The Story Behind the Poems
Poems carved into the wooden walls of the Asian immigrant prisons on Angel Island provide upper elementary graders an opportunity to study not only the story behind the poems but to also focus on the figurative language employed by the...
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Getting into Shape
Students identify 3-D geometric shapes through different pieces of artwork. They examine and identify segments and angles. Students act out shapes and create a piece of artwork. Additional cross curriculum activities are listed.
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From the Mouths of Space Scientists: An Introduction to Space and Weather
After researching the Greenland Space Science Symposium, curious thinkers create a PowerPoint or video presentation. They use the information they gathered to construct their presentation.
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Cartoons: How Have Society's Views of Women Changed Over Time?
Learners explore women's rights by viewing cartoon images. In this women's history instructional activity, students view several images depicting women in a certain way while discussing the meaning of the imagery among their classmates....
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Pioneering Children on the Move
Students inquire about life for pioneer children. For this pioneer period lesson, students analyze photographs of children, make information foldables, and create a covered wagon that was typical of the ones of the past. Students will...
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Geometry of Democracy
Students explore the architecture of New England by identifying geometric shapes. In this architectural lesson, students examine photographs of classic building architecture and use a transparency to trace geometric shapes they...
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Life on the Trails
Fourth graders explore U.S. Geography by completing a worksheet. In this west coast geography lesson, 4th graders discuss the Santa Fe and Oregon-California trails and the people who traveled them in the 1800's. Students define...
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Cursive Writing Lessons
While cursive writing lessons may seem to be outdated, they are still an important part of the class curriculum.
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Riding a Stagecoach in the 19th Century
Students research the differences between traveling on a stagecoach and wagon trail in the 19th century. In this historical activity, students discover the uses of stagecoaches and wagon trails in the 19th century, then decide which one...
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Planning an Escape
Students plan their escape as though they were an 18th century slave. In this slavery history instructional activity, students use the Internet to research runaway slaves, then create a plan for escape in the form of a short story or...
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One Room Schoolhouse
Students study pictures and artifacts of the one-room schoolhouse. For this compare and contrast lesson,students list similarities and differences in schools of today and one-room schoolhouses. Then students use this analysis to write a...
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The Treaty Trail: U.S. - Clothing That Talks: Meaning and Material Culture
Learners investigate the cultures of Native Americans and Euro-Americans through their clothing. In this photograph analysis instructional activity, students observe historic photographs and analyze the style of clothes people wore and...
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Land, Liberty and the Struggle for the American Dream
Students investigate equality by reading a historical fiction book in class. In this civil rights lesson, students read the story Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry with their classmates and define the Jim Crow Laws that kept blacks...
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Landmarks of the Underground Railroad
Students explore Civil Rights by reading several books in class. In this Underground Railroad instructional activity, students discuss The Story of Henry Box Brown and identify the location and functionality of the Underground Railroad....
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Thanks Be To You
Learners research U.S. history by completing a worksheet activity in class. In this historical figure lesson, students identify the contributions and risks taken by the former African-American leader Martin Luther King Jr. Learners read...
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World War II: Internment in Hawaii
Learners examine world history by writing an essay in class. In this World War II lesson, students identify the attack on Pearl Harbor, the response from the U.S and the effect it had on Japanese-Americans. Learners define Japanese...
Denver Art Museum
My Animal Symbol
Here is an art lesson plan that combines visual arts and language arts into one very nice package. In it, youngsters study a fascinating painting called Painting of Bear and Sun Dances. They begin to understand the importance of...
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African Americans in the Maritime Trades
Learners explore Civil Rights by analyzing U.S. history. In this African American workforce lesson, students discuss the history of African Americans in Baltimore and the need for steady work that formed. Learners define vocabulary terms...
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Town Meeting with Class
Students discover civic responsibility and the purpose of town meetings. In this U.S. Government lesson, students investigate how the government is involved with almost every decision made in a city, no matter how big or small....
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Triumphant Spirit
Students watch a video which allows them to listen to a woman tell her tale as a young girl in Germany. Upon viewing this video and completing the reading assignment, students write about a person with a triumphant spirit.
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What is Suffrage? Understanding the Right to Vote
Students discover one of the restrictions forced on women of the early 1900s. In this civil rights lesson, students investigate suffrage and why women were not allowed to vote in the early twentieth century. Students create a mock...
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Women's Votes, Women's Voices
Young scholars investigate Women's Suffrage by analyzing images from the past. For this equal rights lesson, students read biographical work about Emma Smith DeVoe, an activist who fought for women's rights. Young scholars view a comic...