Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Discovering Your Heritage

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students interview a family member about their heritage. They listen to and record part of their family's oral history. Students also create and label a family tree going back a minimum of two generations and compare and contrast...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Family Tree Community Project

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders answer questions such as: Where does my family come from? What was it like for my ancestors to grow up as America developed? What differences in society were present then? What was similar to today? students conduct...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Family Heritage

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students research their family heritage by interviewing family members. Using their responses, they record them in an organized fashion and develop a presentation. Using the Internet, they locate an artistic representation of their...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Interview the Elders

For Teachers K - 12th
Students prepare a list of questions about the past and present in regards to dealing with waste and the natural resources. They conduct interviews with tribal Elders and record their statements.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Why do people mover where they do?

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Learners read factual stories of migration to Hawaii, analyze and explain push and pull factors, interview parents about their cultural heritage, identify countried of origin of their ancestors, graph migration patterns on an world map,...
Unit Plan
Smithsonian Institution

Barn Again! Celebrating an American Icon

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
How do barns serve as a window to a community's past? Here are a series of lessons on the symbolism and historical context of barns throughout American history. Topics include community-building, in-depth primary and secondary...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Young Author Books: I Am a Leaf on My Family Tree

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders create family tree books. They discuss culture and brainstorm interview questions for family members. They write stories, poems, and captions for family photos. They interview family members and assemble the interviews...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Once Upon a Time

For Teachers 10th - 11th
High school pupils research online to complete a family tree and explore their ancestry. They view a sketch of a family tree, and brainstorm questions to ask their parents about their heritage. They also diagram their own family tree. In...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Record and Preserve Your Family Stories

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students research and create a presentation about their own culture and personal history. They interview family members to increase their awareness of family events and documents. They create a family tree at a web based resource.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Listening to History

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers consider the insight to the past that oral histories can provide. They, in groups, analyze oral histories, prepare to interview a family member on their recollections of a historical event and then write a historical...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Nous Nous Souvenons: French-Canadians

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed
Students research the French-Canadian influence in northern New York. They interview families of French-Canadian descent, research immigration history, visit a French restaurant, write narratives about their experiences interviewing...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Celebrating the Individuals in Our Community

For Teachers 4th - 12th
Students research, write and publish a biography on a community member. They interview the community member, collect and scan photos, produce and edit text and use software to puslish an online book.
Unit Plan
Curated OER

Every Building Tells a Story

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Examine images from past that depict buildings and towns from their own communities, and compare images with photographs taken at present locations, interview local architect and compare role of 19th Century architect to 21st Century...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Creating an Oral History--Who Tells the Story?

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Explore the difficulties in compiling an oral history with this lesson. Young researchers conduct interviews and consider how point of view changes various accounts of a single incidence, resulting in conflicting information. They view a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Virtual Ellis Island Museum Unit: Oral Histories

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Students conduct oral histories of family members to explore their cultural and ethnic heritage after developing a set of research questions.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Stereotypes and Tonto

For Teachers 9th - 11th
Students identify stereotypes, especially those applied to American Indians.  In this teaching tolerance lesson, students read an essay entitled " I Hated Tonto (Still Do)" and discuss the negative impact that stereotypes may have...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Social Studies: Where I Come From

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Learners research the countries of their origins and examine life there today. They write family travel logs by interviewing family members about their heritages, and they visit the Xpeditions Website for online resources about their...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Keys to Our House-The White House

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students explore what it means to be an American citizen. Students investigate the history of the White House from a variety of perspectives: as a symbol, a public and private place, and changing needs.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Oral Histories

For Teachers 6th - 12th
One of a series of lessons from Ellis Island. In this lesson plan, students use research from a previous lesson plan to conduct oral history interviews of family members to learn about their cultural and ethnic heritage.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Governance - Grade 8

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders participate in talking circles. In this self-governance lesson, 8th graders examine human rights from the perspective of Native Americans. Students discuss the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms as well as "Interview:...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Exploring Folk Traditions and Folk Beliefs

For Teachers 9th
Ninth graders work together to brainstorm an idea to focus on the similiarties and differences between various cultures. Individually, they interview family members using questions they created based on their topic. They use their...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Asian-American History for Grades 6-8

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students use web technology to access American history and the Asian-American experience. They evaluate journals as historical artifacts, especially the concept of firsthand account vs. history text. Students discuss Asian American...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Exploring Countries and Cultures

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders choose a country associated with a family member and research its location, government, language, economy, history, holidays, foods, sports, and famous people. They write to inform using this data and draw a map identifying...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Exploring Community Through Local History: Oral Stories, Landmarks and Traditions

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Young scholars explore the history of their local community. In this local history lesson, students analyze primary documents to develop an understanding of the local culture and traditions of their local community.