Curated OER
Great Cities of the Middle East
Students explore the cities of Cairo, Istanbul, Jerusalem, Mecca and Tehran. In this Middle East lesson plan, students complete a map, research one of the five the cities and prepare a presentation that includes details about the...
Facing History and Ourselves
What Aspects of Our Identities Do We Show to Others?
Sixth graders consider how they present their personal identities. In this character education lesson plan, 6th graders define themselves as they create masks that represent their personalities. Students share their masks and discuss...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Lesson 2: Chief Executives Compared: The Federalist Papers
Fix the Articles of Confederation or develop a new constitution? That was the question facing the Founding Fathers. Several of those in favor of a new constitution published a series of essays, collected in the Federalist...
Curated OER
Japanese American Internment
Learners create a presentation based on the primary sources they have researched about the Japanese Americans that were held in internment camps during World War II. For this Japanese Americans lesson plan, students read different points...
Curated OER
Texas in the Mirror
Students research their own and others' perceptions about Texas and become familiar with various symbols from other cultures. In this Texas in the Mirror lesson plan, students write a web page with a picture of a Texan symbol. Students...
Curated OER
A Day in the Life: Studying Ancient Rome
Class members use their knowledge of Ancient Rome to write articles for an online newspaper. Using WebBlender, learners craft articles that feature Roman politics, culture, and leisure activities.
Curated OER
How to Create a Virtual Mediterranean Cruise
Young scholars determine the ports they visit and develop a plan to study each region’s history and culture.
Curated OER
Pendemonium: The Italian Job
Discover how to use prefixes and suffixes to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words. The group views a jovial video on the topic, and then they create a chart of prefix and suffix meanings to identify the meanings of words in a social...
Missouri Department of Elementary
Getting Caught in the Web
When it comes to teamwork, it's best not to drop the ball. Pupils stand in a circle, tossing around a ball of yarn to one another to create a web. Next, they use teamwork skills to keep a soccer ball from falling off the web before...
Arizona Cooperative Extension
Geocaching
Using GPS units, small groups participate in a scavenger hunt to find an object that you have hidden. They use coordinates for stopping points along a pre-planned path to get to the final cache. This is a terrific activity to include in...
Missouri Department of Elementary
So Much to Do, So Little Time: How Do I Tie All of the Loose Ends Together?
How do people manage to get everything done when there are so few hours in a day? Scholars explore the question as they participate in small group discussions about time management. They construct a daily schedule and complete a...
Curated OER
Holidays in Lands Far Away - Boxing Day
A lesson on the holiday known as Boxing Day is here for you. In it, middle schoolers read a passage about the history of the holiday, then complete some reading comprehension worksheets embedded in the plan to reinforce what they have...
BBC
Conflict - Part Two
Middle schoolers engage in a discussion about bullying. They list the many forms bullying can take, and how much of a problem bullying is at their own school. Then, learners plan their own campaign to eliminate bullying at their school....
Missouri Department of Elementary
The Hope to Cope: Coping Skills
Making decisions can be stressful, even for sixth graders. And even students this young have developed coping skills, some positive and some negative, to help them deal with stress. Class members are asked to identify several of their...
Edgate
Native Americans of the Lewis and Clark Trail
As part of a study of the Corps of Discovery expedition, class groups research the different Native American tribes Lewis and Clark encountered on their journey and share their findings with the class.
Civil War Trust
Civil War Reader's Theater
Encourage class members to add expression and put themselves back in time during the Civil War with a reader's theater activity. The scripts include dialogue on what it was like for the Union and Confederate sides during this time.
PBS
Walt Whitman: Journalist and Poet
Can you love something so much you want to change it? Young patriots investigate Walt Whitman's love of America—and his suggestions to improve it—using primary sources as well as video evidence. Scholars research American issues of the...
PBS
Amelia Earhart: Aviator, Record-Breaker, and Activist
Fly through the gender barrier! Scholars investigate the impact Amelia Earhart had on American aviation and society. After watching a brief biographical video, learners take a look at primary documents to gain insight into her intriguing...
Judicial Learning Center
Your Day in Court: Criminal Justice
When a person goes on trial for a crime, what options does a court have to render justice? Who are the key players in the legal system? Interested legal scholars answer the inquiries and more using an Internet-based activity, chart, and...
National Endowment for the Humanities
The Tyranny of the Majority
In American democracy, majority rules but what prevents the voices of the few from being crushed? Using excerpts from Alexis de Tocqueville's writings, young historians explore cases where minority rights were trampled upon. Extension...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Hosting a Diplomatic Reception
The toasts are written, the table is set: it's time to party! Young scholars use a role-playing activity to go toast to toast. After researching and writing toasts for their allied countries during the modern Age of Empires, individuals...
Curated OER
Learning About A Country While Chatting Online
Students take a "virtual trip" to Switzerland. This lesson plan gives suggestions about how to arrange and then organize such an online chat trip so that it be as beneficial as possible.
Curated OER
The Original's Sins
Are history textbooks plagiarized? The New York Times article, “Schoolbooks Are Given F’s in Originality,” looks at this question and forms the basis for a lesson plan on textbooks and plagiarism. The very detailed plan includes resource...
Curated OER
A Picture Book of Helen Keller
Students advocate for people with disabilities. In this Helen Keller lesson, students listen to the story A Picture Book of Helen Keller by David A Adler. Students discuss how Helen Keller learned to communicate and became an advocate...