Curated OER
International Folklore
Folklore is composed of stories that convey cultural heritage and traditions. Many types of tales are listed as well as what they portray in various contexts and situations. Give your learners a brief description or definition of...
Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian In Your Classroom: The Music in Poetry
Take poetry off the page and put it into terms of movement, physical space and, finally, music with this series of three lessons from the Smithsonian Institution. This resource introduces students to two poetic forms that originated as...
Curated OER
Aesop and Ananse: Animal Fables and Trickster Tales
Learners complete compare and contrast activities dealing with fables and trickster tales to determine how each uses animals to portray human characteristics, specifically strengths and weaknesses, as well as pass wisdom from one...
Curated OER
The New England Fishing Industry:Sea Changes in a Community
Explore New England's economic and cultural past and possible issues New Englanders will face in the future. Middle and high schoolers research the fishing industry and the need for regulation. They analyze the topography of New England...
Curated OER
Emily Dickinson
The expanded timeline of Emily Dickinson's life is displayed on these slides. A plethora of information is presented covering main events, Dickinson's limited relationships, and her poetry. The majority of the slides contain the text of...
Curated OER
Don't Stop the Weaving
The importance of oral tradition is evident throughout time and across space. Introduce your learners to some interesting stories and then test their knowledge with these questions. Ten multiple-choice questions focus on characters and...
Curated OER
The Grapes of Wrath: Scrapbooks and Artifacts
Students complete research to enhance their reading of "The Grapes of Wrath". Using the text, they identify and locate cultural artifacts and discuss their symbolic connotations. As a class, they create a museum exhibit of the various...
Curated OER
Early Jazz
Learners gain an understanding of early jazz. They study Dixieland and the Roaring Twenties. They examine the American historical significance and cultural implications of early jazz.
Curated OER
India: Where Remarkable Differences Are Ordinary
Students research India and Indian culture. In this Indian research lesson plan, students research and report on the lives of Indian children. The report will be in the form of a mock interview between a journalist and an Indian child....
Curated OER
Writing Lyrics
Students examine the themes and structure of a bluegrass song and identify the common themes in bluegrass music. They practice songwriting by rewriting the lyrics of "Oh! Susanna" as a bluegrass tune.
Curated OER
Rockin’ the World: Rock and Roll and Social Protest in 20th Century America
Students explore protest songs. In this interdisciplinary lesson, students examine issues-based music by summarizing lyrics and revealing inferences, generalizations, conclusions, and points of view found in the songs.
Curated OER
The Turn of the Nineteenth Century: Lifestyles and Cultures
Student reflect on the differences between the life of children in the early
nineteenth century and their lives in the present. They demonstrate these differences by creating a drawing of "then and now." In addition, they create a...
Curated OER
Langston Hughes and the Blues
Learners explore the connections between Langson Hughes and blues music. For this African American culture lesson, students compare and contrast blues music with poetry and short stories by Langston Hughes.
Curated OER
Gaining Ground
Pupils explore African-American art by researching, preparing and presenting reports on particular artists. They analyze what they have learned through the lens of modernism.
Curated OER
Turtle Legends
Students listen to the legend, Thirteen Moons on Turtle's Back. They create a new moon for the calendar based on this natural part of everyday life in the seasons. They illustrate it under the story using water color paints.
Curated OER
Legends
Students are introduced to the topic of legends. Using the text of Irving's novels, they gather information on different cultures. They practice using new vocabulary and their listening skills. They retell the stories in chronlogical order.
Curated OER
Vocab-u-lous! Build a Fabulous Vocab
In this vocabulary worksheet, students select the best word choice to complete the sentence. All words correspond to the theme of Labor Day.
Curated OER
A South African Storm
Students explore racial prejudice in South Africa through the reading of "A South African Storm" by Allison Howard. In this cultural and geography lesson, students discuss ethnicity and prejudices and cite examples from the letter....
Curated OER
Cinco De Mayo: ELD Reading and Language-Building
A brief passage about the Mexican holiday Cinco de Mayo is accompanied by an array of language activities for ELD: cloze exercise, phrase matching, word jumble, multiple choice, sequencing, interview, group presentation, fluency writing,...
Curated OER
Business and Advertising
Historical and humorous examples pepper this through presentation, which addresses logical infelicities and humor in business, advertising, and even politics. Though designed for a business and advertising class, this lecture could also...
Curated OER
Off Times of Slaves on the Sea Islands
Sixth graders explore the aspect of slave life on the Sea Islands. They explore the Gullah language, folk tales, music and games during the "off" times of slaves. Students read and interpret Gullah folk tales. They recognize music in the...
Curated OER
Folklore in Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God
Students read Zora Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God and explore her life history as well as novel analysis activities. In this novel analysis instructional activity, students identify elements in the novel and its overall literary...
Curated OER
Songs
Second graders study four American songs that they will sing during the month of February. They discuss the origins and meanings of the songs.
Curated OER
"Families and Schools of the Past"
First graders listen to and discuss historical fiction and bigraphies from the early American time period. They role-play, draw, write stories and dress up to re-create events from these historical characters.