K20 LEARN
Whose Manifest Destiny? Westward Expansion
Your land is my land! Young historians investigate the concept of Manifest Destiny used by the United States government to justify western expansion. Jigsaw groups read primary source documents to gain an understanding of the movement...
Digital Public Library of America
Women and the Blues
A 12-piece primary source packet sets the tone for a study of the role women played in the origins, development, and impact of blues music. Legends like Bessie Smith, Gertrude "Ma" Rainey, Mamie Smith, and Ida Cox are featured, as are...
Museum of the American Revolution
Historical Analysis: Objects Tell Stories
Dig this! Young archeologists discover what objects teach us about the past. The activity uses an image of a Revolutionary War artifact to help historians practice analyzing the past. Scholars study the object and complete a worksheet to...
National Park Service
Remembering Pearl Harbor: The USS Arizona Memorial
Young historians use primary source materials to investigate the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor and the sinking of the USS Arizona. After reading background articles and studying maps and images of the attack, class members consider whether...
Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary
Franklin’s Philadelphia: Another Point of View
The impressive story of Benjamin Franklin, including his rise from a printer’s apprentice to a statesman, color upper-level scholars’ understanding of the possibilities of life in colonial Philadelphia. But not everyone had the...
What So Proudly We Hail
The Meaning of America: Freedom and Religion
The United States of America was founded on firm ideals of both the pursuit of happiness and a spirit of reverence. Through a close reading of Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The May-Pole of Merry Mount," you can examine what some consider was a...
Curated OER
Northwest Indian Masks
Students explore the cultural importance of Native American masks. In this indigenous cultures lesson, students are first introduced to the tribal groups of the Northwest and how they used masks for medicine, religion, and entertainment....
Curated OER
American Colonial Life in the Late 1700s: Distant Cousins
Students research how early colonists lived. They investigate late 17th century colonist's lives from Massachusetts and Delaware. Using their research, students write historical fiction in the form of friendly letters between the two...
Curated OER
On Being Hindu....and American
Seventh graders explore the religion of Hinduism. In this Religion lesson, 7th graders illustrate how people from one country adapt to a new country. Students predict the future status of Hinduism in the United States.
Curated OER
We the People (Cultural Research)
Fourth graders conduct cultural research, collect oral histories using tape recorders and cameras, and share their ancestral heritage with classmates through family heirlooms and ethnic foods.
Curated OER
Cultural Representation of Skeletons and Bones
Eighth graders study cultures and beliefs about the final life cycle. In this culture lesson students complete several activities on the origins of Halloween.
Curated OER
Culture in Art
Learners explore how cultural aspects of their lives are depicted in society. They view a video on Frida Kahlo and identify the cultural elements that she referenced in her work.
Curated OER
Art and Culture
Students compare and contrast the ways in which human figures are portrayed in rock art made by ancient Native American artists and in the drawings and paintings of historic European and American artists. They use images to identify...
Curated OER
Holidays
Students compare the holidays celebrated in the Middle Ages to those celebrated in American culture today. In this cultural tradition instructional activity, students read Internet-linked articles about holidays of the Middle Ages....
Curated OER
Painting With Rocks
Third graders discover that the only inorganic resource available to early cultures for cosmetics was rock and soil. They watch a demonstration showing that rubbing rock on your hand gently doesn't mark the skin very well, but rubbing...
Curated OER
The American Flag
Third graders study the American flag and its importance. In this American flag lesson, 3rd graders practice the Pledge of Allegiance, discuss and learn the meaning of the American flag stripes, stars, and colors, and sing 'America the...
Curated OER
Wagons West: Native Americans
Students examine interactions between Native Americans and settlers. In this Westward Expansion lesson, students analyze select passages from Plains Indians by Dana Newmann and The World of Native Americans by Marion Wood. Students...
Curated OER
Native American Gender Roles in Maryland
Students compare conditions of women in America and other lands (including colonists), and discover that women's status in their community was directly related to social hierarchy, religious culture, and natural environment in which they...
Curated OER
Native Americans
Students, in groups, research various Native American tribes. They wirte a report about the tribe which includes information about their food and ceremonies, among other things. They create a diorama and a poster that shows how they...
Curated OER
Native Americans - Searching for Knowledge and Understanding
Students examine lives of Native Americans in order to become familiar with contributions to and influences on American society particularly, but not exclusively, in the Western region of the United States. Students focus on cultural...
Curated OER
Mexican-Americans: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
Students examine how the Mexican-American culture developed in Los Angeles. They explore the past, present and future of Mexican-Americans in LA and present their findings in a PowerPoint presentation.
Curated OER
Social Studies: How Did Native Americans Live?
Fifth graders examine Edward Curtis' photographs and Robert Griffing's paintings to analyze Native American culture. They present research information on specific tribes, using the photos and paintings to uncover information about the...
Curated OER
Cultural Universals Scavenger Hunt
Students search the web for three NON-WESTERN pictoral examples of each cultural universal. Students copy the photos onto a disc and arrange them using Microsoft Word or PowerPoint. Students title each universal and add a caption.
Curated OER
Korean Culture
Sixth graders complete a research project for the sixth grade Big Book that is to be shared with the 5th graders. Students should take their time because the project represents them and the whole class.