National Endowment for the Humanities
Faulkner's As I Lay Dying: Images of Faulkner and the South
Learners research one aspect of the life of Faulkner and the culture of the South. In this As I Lay Dying instructional activity, learners explore a webpage on Faulkner and write a summary. Learners analyze the images and consider the...
Curated OER
Getting to Know You
Students complete an getting to know each other activity. In this personal names lesson, students play a name game, read a book about names, and then discuss why names are important. Students design a name card on oak tag rectangles and...
Curated OER
Pieces of the World
Students locate Australia in relation to rest of world, read poem Pieces of the World by Mervyn James, explore kinds of journeys that Australians have made, and examine their effects - the emotions, the realities and the practicalities.
Curated OER
American Transcendentalism and Buddhism:
Students study American transcendentalism through readings of Emerson and Thoreau. They make cognitive connections to the similarities to Buddhism in these writings. The connection of the literary movement is explained in the art of the...
Curated OER
Murals, Memories, and Making Art
Fourth grade reading students study art works by famous artists. They use various tools for learning about the artist, and they present their information by writing and speaking about the artist. They also create artwork in the style of...
Curated OER
Children's Literature and African American Culture
Third graders examine various stories and poems and identify characteristics that make each individual unique. After analyzing the readings, they create their own personality poems to accompany self-portrait drawings. The poems and...
Curated OER
Defining American Culture Photographic Parallels
High schoolers assess the diversity of the photographs taken by a Czech photographer, that illustrate how existed in 1920's Texas. Then students compare and contrast these photographs with more current photographs of Texans and evaluate...
Teaching Tolerance
Introducing 'The New Jim Crow'
When Jim Crow Laws ended, the intent behind them did not. Academics read "The New Jim Crow Laws" and an interview from the author to understand how racism has not ended, but rather changed over time. The lesson explains how prejudices in...
Curated OER
The Last Great Race
Third graders identify and discover why the Iditarod race is done each year. They explore the historical significance of the Iditarod. Students also use web sites to research related topics, i.e. diseases (diptheria), geography of...
Curated OER
Looking Through Lenses
Students explore the various societal and cultural "lenses" which color their perspectives and life experiences by reading the short story "What Means Switch" by Gish Jen. They discuss how the cultural ideas and beliefs affect the...
Curated OER
Finding My Hat
Sixth graders explore the Korean culture through the book, Finding My Hat. They read and discuss the book in literature circles and write in response journals after each chapter. Comparing the main character to themselves, they note the...
University of Wisconsin
Teaching Things Fall Apart in Wisconsin: A Resource Guide for Educators
“There is no story that is not true, . . .” And uncovering the truths in Things Fall Apart is the focus of a 68-page resource packet designed to provide instructors with a wealth of materials that enhance understanding of Chinua Achebe’s...
Curated OER
Mark Twain: Straddling the Civil War
Mark Twain's life, politics, writing, and role as a mirror of pre- and post-Civil War American culture are the focus 11th and 12th graders in this section from an expansive author study. A critical writing assignment comparing Twain to...
Curated OER
Introduction to World Religions: Islam
Sixth graders explore religion by viewing a presentation in class. In this global culture instructional activity, 6th graders define the Islam religion and the stories that accompany it. Students read the story "Muhammad" by Demi and...
Curated OER
New Year's Celebrations
Explore New Year's celebrations around the world. In this cultural diversity and history lesson, students research various New Year's celebrations from different countries using the "Taking it Global" website. Students prepare a visual...
Curated OER
Literature and Art Through Our Eyes: African-American Artists
Examine the contributions of African-Americans in the worlds of art and literature. Over the course of a few days, young scholars will read and analyze a poem, a short story, and a piece of art. They complete a range of...
Curated OER
Book: Latino Economics in the United States: Job Diversity
Students, after reading Chapter 1 in the book, "Latino Economics in the United States: Job Diversity," write an essay that compares the cultural as well as the historical factors (experiences with jobs, discrimination, education, etc.)...
Curated OER
Who's Who In America? Multicultural Achievers A to Z Past & Present
Students are introduced to important people who have made contributions to society from different cultural groups. As a class, they develop a definition for diversity and work together to make a comparison chart to discover how people...
Curated OER
Las Christmas: Favorite Latino Authors Share Their Holiday Memories
Eighth graders read Las Christmas and discuss their own cultural traditions. In this holiday traditions lesson, 8th graders write their personal story about a tradition or holiday memory. Students complete all stages of writing in...
Curated OER
Folktales around the World (Middle, Reading/Writing)
Students analyze, synthesize, and use the elements of various US cultural folk tales to describe the elements of fiction in general and in folk tales specifically.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Walt Whitman to Langston Hughes: Poems for a Democracy
Explore the idea of democratic poetry. Upper graders read Walt Whitman, examining daguerreotypes, and compare Whitman to Langston Hughes. They describe aspects of Whitman's I Hear America Singing to Langston Hughes' Let America Be...
Curated OER
Say Hi to Haibun Fun
What is a haibun? With this interesting lesson, writers will experience the Japanese writing form haibun, identify elements important to Japanese writing styles, analyze a haibun, and compose their own. Different from the typical journal...
Curated OER
Seeing the World in New Ways
Students examine the Muslim culture in Morocco. In this global studies lesson, students read Three Lessons by Craig Storti. Students compare the culture of Morocco to their own as they write stories pertaining to lessons they have...
Curated OER
Discovering Yourself
Students explore Aboriginal storytelling. In this literature lesson, students read Knots on a Counting Rope and then create a story line as they discuss the attributes of Aboriginal culture. Students retell the story in their own words.