Activity
PBS

Writing a Historical Poem

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Students conduct field research of a historical site in order to discover a more complete understanding of a time period. They choose one particular historical figure and write a short poem about the site from the historical person's...
Lesson Plan
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The History of African-American Children: A Guide for Teaching Black History at the Elementary School Level

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
How do you introduce the topic of slavery to your youngest learners? The Sneetches, by Dr. Suess, is a great introduction to the idea of being different. Read the story to your class, and discuss desegregation in...
Lesson Plan
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Why A Bill of Rights?

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Examine conflicting viewpoints in this lesson, in which middle schoolers write their own proposal for including a Bill of Rights in the Constitution. As a class, they discover how the Bill of Rights was not a planned document to be...
Lesson Plan
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Games Children Play

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Help your middle schoolers recognize the similarities and differences between the games they play and those played by pioneer children. Using the Internet, they research a game of their choice and discover how it has evolved over time....
Lesson Plan
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Creating Compassionate Communities

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Have you ever lost someone? Middle and high school learners journal about a time they experienced the loss of someone through death, divorce, moving, or another type of change. They share their responses and discuss an article relating...
Lesson Plan
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Sports Heroes and Private Action for the Common Good

For Teachers 8th - 12th Standards
Young readers explore philanthropy and its effects on the public good. They discuss athletes and their examples as philanthropists. They research a sports hero and play "The Match Game" to determine what they know about other sports...
Lesson Plan
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Ancient Egypt

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Pupils complete a series of activities to discover life in ancient Egypt. They create want ads for pyramid workers, design vocabulary flash cards and dictionaries, and research famous Egyptians. They also research the "Curse of the...
Lesson Plan
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Was the Stamp Act Fair?

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Elementary and middle schoolers examine and evaluate different perspectives concerning events leading to the American Revolution. In this case, they hone in on the Stamp Act. They research controversial bills, laws, or events of the time...
Lesson Plan
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About Life: The Photographs of Dorothea Lange Going to the Promised Land

For Teachers 8th - 12th Standards
To better understand the migrant experience during the Great Depression, pupils analyze two primary resources: photographs by Dorothea Lange and a U.S. Map that shows the Dust Bowl. They compare and contrast Lange's images to Steinbeck's...
Worksheet
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The Birth of the Ancient Games: The Olympics

For Students 8th - 10th
This exercise includes a lengthy article on the history of the Olympics as well as a map of Ancient Greece. The last page includes 15 reading comprehension questions about the passage. A fairly thorough look at this topic - geared toward...
Lesson Plan
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Understanding Other People's Decisions

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students analyze people's choices from different points of view. They read different scenarios and explain how they would react personally in that situation. Then they analyze what they would do in another character's position and...
Lesson Plan
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Gandhi Speech Writing

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Explore non-violent protest in this social values and world history lesson. After viewing the movie Gandhi, and discussing important events in Gandhi's life, young orators write a speech defending Gandhi's position on the value of...
Lesson Plan
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Nutrition and the Media: Cereal Box Consumerism

For Teachers 2nd - 5th
How many treats do you buy each week? Learners investigate diets and how the media tricks consumers into purchasing unhealthy snacks. They will investigate the designs and logos affiliated with cereal boxes and identify specific phrases...
Lesson Plan
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Alexander Hamilton and the Roots of Federalism

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Explore the origin of political parties in the United States. Learners work in groups to read and analyze copies of the "Report on Manufactures" written by Alexander Hamilton. Then, they complete a worksheet comparing the Federalists to...
Lesson Plan
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Playing Vocabulary Basketball

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Learners view a slide show featuring famous athletes and educational institutions that have played a part in the history of basketball. They participate in a game in which a basketball is tossed from person to person as facts and...
Lesson Plan
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Applying KWL Guides to Sources with Elementary Students

For Teachers 2nd - 7th
What is a KWL chart? Here is a well thought-out lesson that has learners use KWL charts to gain historical perspective. Your class examines primary sources about historical events and identifies what they know, want to know, and,...
Lesson Plan
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Inferring Vocabulary Meaning

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Explore the meaning of unknown words! Read All I See with your class, having them complete the inference chart provided while reading. They select unknown words, guess their meanings, and identify what other words or pictures helped them...
Lesson Plan
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Comparing and Contrasting

For Teachers K - 1st Standards
Introduce your class to the concept of comparing and contrasting with this lesson. After modeling a Venn diagram, help your learners find the similarities and differences between two pictures. They can then work on their own Venn...
Lesson Plan
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The Best Main Idea

For Teachers K - 4th Standards
What is the main idea? Interest your young readers with this fun introductory lesson plan! After selecting several items from a paper bag, the teacher leads learners to determine the big idea for those items. This concept is then applied...
Lesson Plan
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Things That Make Britain Great

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Take a trip to Great Britain with this fun reading activity! Young learners read an article about many famous attributes of Britain - 101 of them, to be exact - and finish several comprehension and grammar activities about what they have...
Worksheet
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Antarctic Exploration

For Students 7th - 9th
In December of 2011, the New York Times released an article describing new investigations of old Antarctic explorations. Your class will read the article then answer 12 related comprehension questions.
Worksheet
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Winning "The Voice": Cloze Exercise

For Students 8th - 11th
This New York Times Learning Network exercise provides a cloze exercise along with a word bank that readers can use to complete the passage about the television show, "The Voice" and Jermaine Paul, a recent winner. Another option is...
Worksheet
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The U.S. War in Iraq Officially Ends

For Students 9th - 11th
Examine issues and events surrounding US withdrawal of troops from the Iraq War. After reading this New York Times article learners respond to each of the nine who, what, when, where, and why questions. 
Worksheet
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Cruise Ship Capsizes

For Students 6th - 8th
The newspaper offers many different types of stories about a variety of topics. Today, your class can read about the cruise ship Costa Concordia that capsized in 2012. They'll read the New York Times article, then answer each of the 10...

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