Curated OER
Social Studies: Maryland and Its Culture
Students discuss the history and culture of Baltimore, Maryland. they discover the importance of the city's port along with the state bird and song. Background sources include "The Prairie Dog That Met the President" and "Journey of...
Curated OER
Art for the Common Good: Junkanoo!
Young scholars explore characteristics of effective group work. In this multi-cultural social studies lesson, students work in teams to design and construct a headdress similar to what would be worn during the Bahamian festival of...
Curated OER
Language Arts Lessons Coupled with Technology Training
Students can benefit when teachers infuse technology training into language arts lesson plans.
Curated OER
Aztec and Mayan Mythology
Here's a fresh take on a mythology unit. Use the myths of the Mayan and Aztec peoples of Mesoamerica instead of the more traditional Greek and Roman stories. This abstract suggests possible approaches and resources that can be...
Curated OER
Masks of Africa
Students explain the purpose of masks to various cultures in Africa. They recognize the conceptual patterns used to create African masks and illustrate their understanding by creating their own masks
Curated OER
3-D Multicultural Ornaments
Pupils create and color three-dimensional ornaments reflecting December's many cultural celebrations. They decide which symbol they wish to create as an ornament, draw or trace the outline of the symbol, and follow directions as they...
Curated OER
Bridge to Terabithia: Visualizing to Optimize Comprehension
Good readers visualize. And in our image-rich culture it is imperative that children are provided with opportunities to practice this important skill. A selection from Shel Silverstein’s Where the Sidewalk Ends and Bridge to Terabithia,...
Curated OER
Buffalo-Hide Parfleche
Students research historic and contemporary information about the cultures of Native American Plains Indians such as Sioux or Blackfoot. They investigate patterns used on parfleches or rawhide. They choose a pattern to duplicate. They...
Curated OER
City Architecture at Night
Students research the social, economic, and architectural characteristics that distinguish different cultures and civilizations in two different cities of the world. They prepare a comparative pictorial and written report on the two...
Curated OER
Crackled Batik Book Covers
Students measure a cover for a book and design a beautiful and practical book cover. They follow the directions to design a book cover, coloring one side of the paper with Crayola products using traditional batik patterns from various...
Curated OER
Enough to Make Your Head Spin
Students investigate the world of nonverbal communication by analyzing body language around the world. In this cultural communication lesson plan, students research the Bulgarian language and how we could easily misinterpret their...
Curated OER
A South African Storm
Learners explore racial prejudice in South Africa through the reading of "A South African Storm" by Allison Howard. In this cultural and geography lesson, students discuss ethnicity and prejudices and cite examples from the letter....
Curated OER
Identifying Different Perspectives - Camilo's Drums
Explore differing points of view with your upper elementary and middle schoolers. Learners watch a video segment called "Ancestors Talk through Drums" and determine what perspectives are presented. Then, using the included worksheet,...
Hildegard Center for the Arts
Mardi Gras Masks
Laissez les bons temps rouler! Create your own festive Mardi Gras masks with a lesson that provides background information on the celebration and instructions about constructing the masks.
Curated OER
Twenty-Five Great Ideas for Teaching Current Events
Teaching current events can be an amazingly-rewarding part of your teaching week. This resource presents twenty-five ways to incorporate current events into your curriculum. It offers some outstanding ideas, such as providing your...
Curated OER
Lesson: One of These Things is Not Like the Other
Kids kick of the lesson by comparing and contrasting the focus painting to other similar paintings of Native American women. They then compare their own personal portraits (photographs) in a similar way. They use the differences in each...
Curated OER
Lesson: Heroes: Then and Now
What is the difference between Hercules and Spiderman? Both are heroes, right? Kids identify the characteristics that make a hero, and analyze the differences between heroes of long ago and today. They write creative stories describing a...
University of Chicago
Using Artifacts for Clues About Identity
Learn about the ancient Near East through a close examination of ancient artifacts. Lead your class into analysis by first observing an artifact as a class. Pupils can then work in pairs to analyze the other artifacts and compile a list...
Curated OER
ELA Unit Planning Template Style One
Work with your department or on your own to create organized unit plans that connect to all parts of the Common Core standards. The three-page template includes space to summarize the unit, list standards for each category of the ELA...
Institute for Humane Education
I've Been Branded!
How many pairs of Nikes® or Apple® products are in the average American home? What makes someone buy one particular type of laundry detergent over another? Scholars grapple with these questions as they develop a list of brands they use...
Teach-nology
Author’s Purpose: Inform
Why does an author write an informative article? Learners examine passages of a short reading on Spain and determine what the author wanted to inform the reader about.
ESL Library
Intermediate Kwanzaa
As part of a study of holiday traditions, language learners read about the creation of Kwanzaa, the seven-day festival created by Dr. Maulana Karenga to celebrate traditional African values.
NFL
Super Bowl: History and Anthology
The educational opportunities are overwhelming with this (almost) complete anthology and history of every Super Bowl since 1968. Excite your football enthusiasts with information that can be used to create cross-curricular...
EngageNY
End of Unit Assessment: Finding Evidence of Laurence Yep’s Perspective on Being Chinese in Dragonwings and Determining Connotative Language
There's a fine line between reality and fiction. As an end-of-unit assessment, scholars complete worksheets to analyze how Laurence Yep's perspective on being Chinese factors into his novel Dragonwings. Next, pupils engage in a...