Curated OER
Mom, Where Do TV's Come From?
Students explore the history of television using the lifetime achievements of Milton Berle as a springboard for studying social and technological advances in American entertainment. They, in groups, examine the role of television through...
Curated OER
Current Events Research
Students look for news stories on the Web that highlight some of the prominent issues in modern American history they outlined in Lesson One. They see the connection between historical issues and current events.
Curated OER
Introduce Others to a Woman Who Changed the World
Students research an important woman and share her story with others. The report can serve as a public service announcement to be read over the school public address system, or a short, informative speech delivered in one of your classes.
Curated OER
Record Memories of Earlier Times
Students identify ways in which the women's rights movement influenced a woman they know, and then document the important events in her life. Each student interviews an oldere woman. They compile their interviews into a class book.
Curated OER
Picturing a Story: Photo Essay About a Community, Event, or Issue
Students research Dorothea Lange's documentary projects and create their own photo essay about a subject. In this photo essay lesson, students analyze examples of social-documentary photographs of Lange. Students define a social...
Curated OER
Journalism in the Halls
Learners examine the Lane Tech murals on the Web or at the school. They conduct interviews with students and professionals as a method of researching the subjects of these murals. They write an article for a special "mural" edition of...
Curated OER
Discovering Your Family
Students research their family dynamics and create a project for the lesson. In this family dynamics lesson, students discuss the importance of family and create a family tree. Students prepare essays on four of their family stories and...
Curated OER
Land Use and Lawmaking in California
Students read writings by Ralph Waldo Emerson to analyze transcendentalism and analyze photographic essays depicting environmental issues. In this art and history lesson, students read excerpts of Nature by Emerson to identify...
Curated OER
Tracing the Idea of Civil Disobedience through Thoreau, Gandhi, and King
Students analyze civil disobedience through history studying Thoreau, Gandhi, and Dr. King. In this civil disobedience lesson, students read and analyze excerpts from Thoreau, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King. Students demonstrate their...
Curated OER
How Do They Know That
Young scholars explore methods for reconstructing the past. In this forest succession lesson, students examine forest succession and how to read the land in order to predict patterns of change. Young scholars will visit a historical...
Curated OER
Geography: Intro to Canada
Students investigate the geography of Canada by analyzing a map of the country. In this North American geography lesson, students identify the 13 provinces of Canada and their locations by examining a Canadian map. Students may use...
Curated OER
Research Lesson on the Dust Bowl
Eleventh graders connect art (photographs) to the historical period and conjecture about conditions during this era in American history, sharing ideas in class discussion. Each student completes a project on a period depicted in one of...
J. Paul Getty Trust
Writing the Artist's Statement
Learners read and write an artist's statement. In this artist's statement lesson plan, learners read Dorothea Lange's artist statement before writing one of their own about their photography. They examine their own photography and use...
Curated OER
Investigating the Harlem Renaissance
The work of Langston Hughes opens the door to research into the origin and legacy of the Harlem Renaissance and how the literature of the period can be viewed as a commentary on race relations in America. In addition, groups are assigned...
Curated OER
Alicia Keys, Songs in A Minor
Need a musical lesson for your drama or performing arts class? VH1 has put together a really neat lesson, in which learners use biographical information about Alicia Keys to write and perform a one-act musical related to her life. This...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Cultural Change
High schoolers research the passage of the 19th Amendment as an illustration of the mutual influence between political ideas and cultural attitudes. They also read the Seneca Falls Declaration and explore the cultural shifts it both...
Curated OER
Lesson: Nikhil Chopra: Performing Memory
Film imitates life; that's what they say. Using performance theory to tie the lesson together, learners attempt to understand memory and daily rituals as seen in art, film, and life. They read two chapters from the book, watch the...
Curated OER
Leaders, Laborers, and Other Perspectives of World War II
How did the women in France feel about their country’s involvement in World War II? Class groups are assigned a country involved in WWII, and individuals within the group adopt the point of view of leaders, laborers, businessmen, women,...
Curated OER
Latin America and United States Policy Today
Students compare the situation of Latin American immigrants with the situation of immigrants from other areas of the world. They use media to obtain information on topics of academic interest, personal interest, and intellectual interest.
Curated OER
Writing a Newspaper-Style Article
Help your secondary reader/writers assess texts by studying press releases from Statistics Canada and drafting articles based on them. They then compare the press release, their own articles, and actual news stories they find online. I'd...
Defining US
Integration of Education and American Society
How did the struggle for Civil Rights during the 1950s transform American society and politics? Why are American schools integrated today? Class members explore these essential questions by examining a series of primary and secondary...
Curated OER
The Effects of Slavery
The emotional and spiritual oppression of slavery in the African-American experience is the focus of this instructional activity. Middle schoolers analyze various texts by Frederick Douglass and Maya Angelou related to freedom and...
Curated OER
Formal versus Informal Language
Engage in an activity that focuses on the concepts of formal and informal language use. Middle and high schoolers compare and contrast each style by using a Venn diagram that includes some examples. They read and hear a passage of lyrics...
Curated OER
Stir Up a Character Analysis Recipe
What ingredients make up a character? A cup of honesty, a dash of humor, a pinch of cynicism? Based on real cookbooks they review in class, learners at any grade level three and up write recipes to describe characters familiar to your...