Students investigate Native American culture by researching the Internet.  In this U.S. History lesson, students read online field reports about exploration and the history of Native Americans in the United States.  Students...

Third graders use primary sources to study U.S. history and government. In this primary sources lesson, 3rd graders practice gathering information from "eye witness" accounts of history.

Students investigate Thanksgiving by reading a children's book.  In this holiday lesson, students read Arthur's Thanksgiving by Marc Brown and create a turkey fact book after reading an electronic encyclopedia.  Students bring...

Students discover racism and slavery by completing a role playing activity. In this U.S. history lesson, students analyze documents from the Civil War era and describe the Fugitive Slave Law. Students view a video on YouTube about the...

Students demonstrate basic procedures for archeological excavations. They explore an archeological site, students using various archeological methods and techniques to determine some of the aspects of past life and culture.

Students analyze how studying garbage relates to methods of archaeology. They examine garbage to determine things about their culture and relate that to prehistoric peoples.

Learners make defensible inferences based on observation of perceived evidence. They use observation and inference to recognize the validity of alternative approaches or solutions.

Students review photos of billboards from Nebraska highways. Using these billboards as examples, students design a billboard promoting a city in Nebraska.

Seventh graders discuss continuity and change, identify various plant materials, and compare and contrast ways in which early people used plants in Texas in prehistoric times with ways that modern man in Texas uses plants today.

Students examine the life of John Pynchon and his role in the Connecticut River Valley's development.

Students simulate the quarters aboard a ship. They write a letter to Joanna Colcord or Alice Drinkwater that shows an understanding of the experience of being aboard ship, and asks further historical questions about the experience.

Students make inferences about what activities occur at different places in school. They form a hypothesis as to how space is used. They simulate how archeaologists explore past people by designing and conducting a research project.

Students demonstrate the importance of intact information to achieve accuracy. They compare and constrast their timelines with the chronological information contained in a stratified archaeological site.

Seventh graders examine the process of constructing a site plan map at archaeological sites. They discuss the process of mapping techniques and calculation of percentages, create a plan site map of a cellar at Jamestown, and calculate...

Students are introduced to the process of stratification. Using the internet, they read about the Richard Beene archeological site near San Antonio. Using a map, they color code the different layers present at this site and answer...

Students locate monuments in their neighborhoods and sketch them. They are shown slides of two modern monuments, the Vietnam Memorial and the Holocaust Monument in Edgewood Park. They read the article in National Geographic, Vol. 167,...

Students examine the contents of a 17th century women's kitchen. Using probate records, they compare them with a historian's record of the same event. They complete an inventory of a kitchen of a women in their own lives.

Students use print and electronic resources to gather information about Mexico. They present a mini-museum to share with students, parents, and other interested classes around the district. They present their information in a video...

Students write personal facts on a photograph of themselves to create a Primary Source. They then define Primary Source and list examples as a class of places where they could find primary sources. They also discuss the importance of...

Learners become immersed in a compelling anecdote of the civil rights movement through the experience of constructing dramatic scripts. An added goal is to equip students, through this "hands-on" experience, to critique dramatic...

Students analyze why the Colonial Revival came as a response to cultural changes caused by technological development, industrial growth, and changing populations in Deerfield and the Connecticut River Valley.

Students create a portrait that describes their culture.

Fourth graders become familiar with the early explorers of our state. In addition, they conceptualize life during the 1800's in relation to their own personal histories and knowledge of 19th century events.