National History Day
Helping Life and Aiding Death: Science, Technology, and Engineering at Work during World War I
Science, engineering, and United States history? Pupils research collections of artifacts from the Smithsonian to learn about historical scientific innovations. At the end of the lesson, they write an essay to discuss technology's...
Fluence Learning
Writing Informative Text: Did Shakespeare Write Shakespeare?
William Shakespeare penned some of the richest and most fascinating works of literature—or did he? Middle schoolers read three brief informative passages and conduct additional research to evaluate the claim that Shakespeare did not...
National First Ladies' Library
Latin: The Language of Ancient Rome
Middle schoolers gain understanding about where some of today's words originated by reviewing a list of Latin words and their meanings. They work in small groups to create dictionary pages which will then be compiled into a large...
Curated OER
Introducing Topographic Maps: Guiding Students from Concrete Models to Graphic Representations
Students interpret topographic maps and infer human activity as it is influenced by the landscape.
Ford's Theatre
How Perspective Shapes Understanding of History
The Boston Massacre may be an iconic event in American history, but perhaps the British soldiers had another point of view. Using primary sources, including reports from Boston newspapers and secondary sources from the British...
Thomas Jefferson Foundation
Personal Morals vs. Political Moves
Was Thomas Jefferson a hypocrite? That is the question facing class members as they examine excerpts from documents that relate to Jefferson's beliefs about slaves and slavery.
Smithsonian Institution
Comparing Confederate and Union Soldiers
The Civil War, a war that divided a nation. Comparing and contrasting the Confederate and Union soldiers is not always an easy task, but the eighth of 15 resources makes it easy to teach the concepts. Exercises include watching videos in...
Curated OER
Political Cartoons
Students examine a variety of historical cartoons. They recognize a political cartoon and identify the main idea, symbolism, exaggeration and caricature in political cartoons. Students analyze a political cartoon by Benjamin Franklin.
Mobile Education Store
ConversationBuilder
Some students struggle in social situations or when it comes to conversing with peers. Conversation is key in developing relationships and in building strong social skills. This app can be used to help children with social anxiety, ASD,...
Humanities Texas
Primary Source Worksheet: Tip O'Neill, "Epilogue: What I Believe" from Man of the House
The epilogue to former Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill's memoir provides readers with an opportunity to practice their informational text reading comprehension skills.
Annenberg Foundation
America's History in the Making: Using Digital Technologies
How can digital technology of today link us to the events of the past? Scholars use technology to uncover the vast number of historical resources available in lesson 12 of a 22-part America's History in the Making series. Using databases...
Smithsonian Institution
Ceramica de los Ancestros
Scholars join a field expedition team to unearth a plethora of treasures from Central America. Artifacts listed in alphabetical order come with an informational blurb and a picture designed for participants to color. Activity pages...
World Globes & Maps
United States Map- Intermediate Directions
Students identify the four intermediate directions. For this map skills lesson, students use post-it notes to label the four intermediate directions on a map. Students locate various states using intermediate directions.
Curated OER
Trade in the Ancient Mediterranean
Students begin the lesson by locating cities and other points of interest in the ancient world. In groups, they use the internet to research the types of ships used during this time period and discuss the reasons why trade was used. ...
Curated OER
Election Vocabulary Brainstorm
Learners participate in numerous activities pertaining to elections. They study election vocabulary and generate questions about campaigns and elections. They paraphrase articles and generate a class vocabulary list.
Illinois State Board of Education
Common Core Teaching and Learning Strategies
Here's a resource that deserves a place in your curriculum library, whether or not your school has adopted the Common Core. Designed for middle and high school language arts classes, the packet is packed with teaching tips, materials,...
Curated OER
Desegregating the Kentucky Public School System
Students watch a video which chronicles the struggle to desegregate Kentucky's schools. They write a paper on a given aspect of what they saw in the video.
Curated OER
Conflict Transformation
Students analyze the usefulness of conflict. In this conflict resolution lesson plan, students will examine several real life conflict scenarios. Students will analyze these conflicts in terms of there costs and benefits to determine...
Curated OER
Comparative religious Teachings
Ninth graders examine the goods and culture that was traded along the Silk Road. For this World History lesson, 9th graders compare and contrast the belief systems of the Silk Roads. Students analyze a primary text of sacred and...
Curated OER
Teaching Rhythm and Pitch Reading
Students practice correct rhythms and pitches during this short lesson for the middle school instrumental class. Objectives vary depending on music used for the lesson. Students assessed through group playing in class.
Curated OER
Westward Ho-- With Multiple intelligences
Young scholars acquire knowledge and literacy (through multiple intelligences) in social studies, language arts, science and math as we study the Oregon Trail. This type of lesson is strong in its attempt to be accessible to all learners.
Curated OER
Telling Our Own Stories
Explore online profiles and social media with your middle and high school classes. Use blogs to inspire your class to craft a well-written, thoughtful response to a prompt you give. A few example prompts are given.
Curated OER
Which Court Would You Use?
Students study court system and the various levels of courts in their state. In groups, they create their own brief scenario for each court they have studied. As a follow-up activity, they match given scenarios to the correct court, as...
Curated OER
Rice Plantation
Eighth graders study the importance of rice as a cash crop and the crop's dependency on slave labor during the settlement of coastal South Carolina. They explain the importance of the rice plantations to South Carolina's colonial economy.