Curated OER
Famous Leaders
Students explore the goals and visions they have set for themselves. They discuss realistic expectations for themselves and others. Students explore their own individual leadership styles by reading a biography of a leader they admire....
Curated OER
Literature: Yoshiko Uchida Unit
Sixth graders read the books, The Invisible Thread: An Autobiography by Yoshiko Uchida and Baseball Saved Us by Ken Mochizuki about Japanese Americans during World War II. They hold discussions, take quizzes, and write essays about the...
Curated OER
It's About Time
In collaborative teams, young scholars create individual autobiographical presentations that help them investigate their historical background. As they collaborate and create their projects they discuss and come to realize how current...
Reading Vine
Confucius: The Most Famous Teacher in China
Introduce young philosophers to the wisdom of China's most famous thinkers with a short bio. The reading comprehension passage includes an answer key.
Curated OER
Personal Experience Narratives
Help your middle schoolers identify personal experience narratives in their own lives through telling stories themselves and from family members or other adults. They study personal experience narratives in Swapping Stories and compare...
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Introduction to Traditional Oral Narratives
Students are introduced to the idea of traditional oral narratives and divide them into genres. They explore the genres of context, motifs and variants. Each student finds oral narratives in their own lives and practice retelling them in...
Folger Shakespeare Library
Julius Caesar Curriculum Guide
Julius Caesar need not be Greek to kids. The background information and suggestions for teachers, as well as the activities for learners, make this curriculum guide a must-have for your Shakespeare curriculum library.
Curated OER
Communities in Crisis Lesson 1: Primary Source? What is That?
Distinguish between primary and secondary source documents using the theme of philanthropy. Middle schoolers discuss Anne Frank: The Diary of Young Girl as a way to study the past using a primary source. Then they investigate how to...
Curated OER
Call It a Hunch
Give young scholars a chance to practice making inferences after reading the book Through My Eyes by Ruby Bridges. They confirm whether or not their conclusions are true, have a class discussion, and then independently complete an...
Curated OER
Guess Who's Coming to Our Classroom
Students use their research skills to determine the famous person given in clues. Using a character recently dicussed in their classroom, they discuss how they would create a costume for them. They write sentences to be used as dialogue...
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Childhood in Early 19th-Century America
Students interpret and analyze primary source documents and compare and contrast childhood today with that of the past.
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Jacob Lawrence's Freedom Trail
Young scholars read excerpts of autobiographies from Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman. After listening to excerpts of an oral reading of Frederick Douglass' book, they discuss the ways African Americans were treated on plantations....
Curated OER
I Search My Family Project
Students research their family's heritage. They follow a guide, document their family's history and put it together in report form.
Curated OER
I Have a Metaphor
Learners locate the literary devices used in Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. In this figurative language lesson plan, students first distinguish between similes, metaphors, analogies, personification, etc. Learners...
Curated OER
Using Memoirs to Open Doors to Research
Interesting memoirs can be a springboard into some very enjoyable research assignments.
Curated OER
Will the Real Ben Franklin Please Stand Up?
Students explore the life of Benjamin Franklin. In this American history lesson, students research primary and secondary documents regarding Franklin's life. Students should examine the point of view each of the accounts is written from...
Curated OER
Abolitionists in U.S. History
Learners read and discuss excerpts from the writings of Henry David Thoreau, Frederick Douglass and Sarah Parker Redmond. They compare and contrast the views of the three abolitionists concentrating on the experiences and reasons for...
Curated OER
Primary Source? What is That?
High schoolers examine the use of primary sources. They read and discuss excerpts from the "Diary of Anne Frank," write journal entries, identify examples of altruism from the book, write an essay, and complete a worksheet.
Curated OER
My Story, Our Stories (Rights and Freedoms)
Learners research the Canadian rights and freedoms and express one of their freedoms by sharing a story about their family
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History Book Review
Students, in American History,read books that take place during certain time periods. They read outside of class with time in class spent on sharing as the book projects are completed.
Curated OER
Biographical Research Paper
Students choose a subject for a biographical research paper. They use books, the Internet, encyclopedias and articles to gather information on a determined subject then follow a rubric to write a research paper.