MENSA Education & Research Foundation
It’s Greek to Me: Greek Mythology
It's no myth: this packet on Greek mythology is an excellent addition to your social studies curriculum. With writing activities, such as short answer responses and biopoems, and reading activities, which include creation stories and...
Heritage Foundation
How to Read the Constitution
Even lawyers can find the US Constitution to be very wordy! Help learners create a foundation for understanding the Constitution with several analysis essays. Multiple activities complement the reading and allow for active and meaningful...
Teaching Tolerance
Using Photographs to Teach Social Justice | Legal Action: The Supreme Court
A social justice lesson focuses on the Supreme Court case Loving v. Virginia which struck down laws that prohibited marriages between African Americans and white Americans. The lesson begins with class members examining a photograph of...
Core Knowledge Foundation
Native Americans Tell It Again!™ Read-Aloud Anthology
A 154-page anthology explores the life, culture, and history of Native Americans. Eight lessons follow the routine of introducing the reading, conducting the reading, discussing it, doing word work, then taking part in an extension...
Santillana USA
Celebra Kwanzaa
¡Celebramos Kwanzaa! Celebrate Kwanzaa through the fictional story Celebra Kwanzaa con Botitas y sus gatitos to delightfully explain the seven principles of Kwanzaa. Dual language learners participate in reading and vocabulary activities...
Curated OER
Create Your Own Country Project
Young scholars demonstrate their knowledge of geography with this fun, collaborative social studies project. Working in small groups, students develop their very own countries, writing descriptions of their physical location, social...
Center for Civic Education
What Basic Ideas About Government Are Included in the Preamble to the Constitution?
Young historians explore the meaning of the Preamble to the US Constitution in this upper-elementary social studies lesson. Working with partners or in small groups, children discuss the purpose of government before reading and analyzing...
Walden Woods Project
19th Century Lessons for 21st Century Lives
The words of Henry David Thoreau on Civil Disobedience seem particularly relevant today, as are his writings and those of other transcendental thinkers who ask what it mean to live deliberately and what are the responsibilities of...
National Geographic
Exploring Modern Human Migrations
Using maps, images, websites, and handouts, learners work to understand the nature of human migrations. They compare and contrast human migration from the past to the present, identify causes for migration, and trace migration routes on...
Deliberating in a Democracy
Cyberbullying—Alternate Lesson Plan
Should schools be permitted to punish young scholars for off-campus cyberbullying? After reading a passage that details statistics about cyberbullying and Supreme Court rulings about schools' ability to limit student speech, class...
Humanities Texas
Primary Source Worksheet: John T. McCutcheon, “A Wise Economist Asks a Question”
No joke! Kids learn how to read political cartoons using McCutcheon's drawing as a starting point and then progressing to other images found online.
Heritage Foundation
The Amendment Process and the Bill of Rights
Did you know that lawmakers have proposed more than 5,000 bills to amend the US Constitution in Congress? Your class learns intriguing facts about the process of choosing amendments. A variety of activities including before and after...
Curated OER
Global Environmental Issues: Air and Water Pollution
Thinking about designing a project for your social studies or environmental science classes? Use an overview of a project that prompts class groups to research an environmental issue.
National Woman's History Museum
Defying British Rule: Women's Contributions to The American Revolution
Primary and secondary sources are the focus of a lesson that showcases the important role women played during the American Revolution. Pairs review sources and discuss their findings. A close-reading of an informational text leads the...
Thoughtful Learning
Seeing Emotions in Body Language
Scholars test their skills of reading body language with a collaborative learning experience that focuses on showing and identifying emotions. Pairs take turns acting out an emotion, one uses body language while the other guesses what...
Environmental Education in Wisconsin
Biome Travel Guide
In a perfect marriage of social studies and science, groups work together to research and create a travel guide presentation to share with the class. Not only do kids learn about the climate and geography of a biome, but also the...
Madison Public Schools
Journalism
Whether you are teaching a newspaper unit in language arts, covering the First Amendment and censorship in social studies, or focusing on writing ethics in journalism, a unit based on the foundations of journalism would be an excellent...
Missouri Department of Elementary
Goldilocks Revisited
After a read-aloud of the story Goldielocks and the Three Bears, scholars gather into small groups to answer a series of questions. Peers examine the idea of smart decisions and identify three feelings of characters alongside three...
Scholastic
Voyage on the Mayflower for Grades 3-5
Following an online activity, scholars complete a Grafitti Wall in which small groups write words and phrases on chart paper pertaining to Pilgrims, the Mayflower, and Thanksgiving. Pupils perform a close reading then answer a series of...
Crafting Freedom
Man in the Middle: Thomas Day and the Free Black Experience
How did free and enslaved blacks work to craft freedom for themselves and their families before the Civil War? Young historians read about the life of Thomas Day, a free black man who also owned slaves and had abolitionist ties in...
Teaching Tolerance
Film Festival
Everybody's a critic—even your pupils! Using the included resources as a guide, screen films related to social justice and ask film enthusiasts to critique them. Publish the reviews for your school community or develop a film festival...
Stanford University
Ruby Bridges
A two-part lesson features Civil Rights hero, Ruby Bridges. Part one focuses on the heroic actions of Ruby Bridges then challenges scholars to complete a Venn diagram in order to compare themselves to her. Part two begins with a...
Civil War Trust
Civil War Personalities Lesson Plan
Caring, trustworthiness, and responsibility—these are only a few character traits in focus of a lesson based on stories from the Civil War era. Class members explore several influential lives while reading biographies that highlight...
100 People Foundation
100 People: Global Issues Through Our Lens
If the world were 100 people...17 would not have access to safe drinking water, 18 would not be able to read or write, and 52 would not have a primary education. Using the theme of "100 people," this resource explores other major issues...