Curated OER
The Great Chicago Fire: The O'Leary Hearing
Young scholars dramatized the O'Leary hearing regarding the Chicago fire using the transcript from the original hearings as a script.
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Lesson Plan on World War II: Illinois Role-The 33rd Infantry Division
Students complete several creative writing assignments regarding the 33rd Infantry Division of Illinois, which was active during World War II. They discuss how this war brought about changes in the state of Illinois and specifically,...
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"L" Stands for Elevated
Young scholars play a trivia game to learn more about the Chicago public transportation system. For this transportation lesson plan, students also create an "L" car, and write advertising slogans for Chicago's elevated trains.
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Transportation Through Time
Students write a short story illustrating the past and imaging the future in transportation. In this transportation lesson plan, students explore artifacts that have to do with transportation in the past in Chicago.
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African American Life in the Nineteenth Century
Students read about the life and work of John and Mary Jones. Using primary source documents, they draw conclusions about their role in the abolistionist movement. They also examine artifacts from their lives and analyze their portrait...
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Prairie Poetry
Ninth graders take note of the ways in which word choice, rhythm, language and narrative voice, as well as point of view in a poem can be used to evoke a time and place. They use their insights to create a poem of their own.
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Stampin' Around Chicago
Students discuss the United States Postal Service and choose an artifact from one decade. In this art lesson, students research how the artifact chosen relates to Chicago and the United States. Students create their own postage stamp...
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Lesson 25: The Great Chicago Fire Must Become a Movie
Students write a persuasive letter asking James Cameron to choose their disaster for his next movie.
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Contemporary Chicago 1936-2000
Seventh graders produce stories, poems, and drawings about Weisenborn's 1936 mural and make a comparable collage about Chicago in 2000.
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National expansion of the United States (1815 to 1850), and its connection to local Illinois history.
Students discuss the importance of establishing the I & M Canal water route. They watch a video about the canal's history. They collect and write a personal migration story by interviewing a family member. They analyze trends and...
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Lesson 27: Illinois/Chicago Unit Assessment
Fourth graders create a Class ABC Book summarizing key elements of Illinois and Chicago.
Illinois Department of Natural Resources
Section Three: What's the Status of Biodiversity?
Biodiversity is essential for every habitat, but many species are at risk due to pollution and other factors. Explore several different species native to Illinois in a gallery walk with posters that learners have created after research...
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Land Use
Students examine ecosystems that covered Illinois 200 years ago, investigate some living and non-living components of ecosystems, identify components of prairie system, create food webs, and observe human effects on environment. Lessons...
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The Rocks Under Illinois
Pupils examine the rock layers in Illinois. They draw the many rock layers using the Geology website. They discover the arrangement of strata of rocks.
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Mapping the Prairie
Fifth graders study maps of the Chicago area looking at defining characteristics and place names. They investigate settlement patterns by looking at the maps.
DePaul University
Contrast and Evaluate Fact and Opinion
How can you tell when an author is expression an opinion or stating a fact? Use two short reading selections to emphasize the difference between a statement that you can prove and one that you can't. The first passage explains food...
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"Heritage" - "Hey, That's the Name of Our School!"
Seventh graders gain a better understanding of the canal period in U.S. History, and more specifically, discern the importance of the Illinois and Michigan Canal on the development of Illinois as a state and Chicago as a prominent city.
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Getting a Sense of Time
Students gain an appreciation for geologic and historic time. They gain a general amount of information of the development of hte Chicago area, with particular attention given to the role of the Chicago River. Students contruct a time...
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Three Chicago Painters: Self-Portraits
Students examine self-portraits on a Website. They create self-portraits which reveal something about themselves. They include objects which give clues to Students' personalities. The portraits are displayed in the school.
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Traveler's Trunk
Students analyze and interpret artifacts from the 1920s and explore the Great Migration. For this 1920s history lesson, students review background information about the Great Migration and use artifacts to study history of Chicago....
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The ABC's of Artifacts
Students create their own ABC book about artifacts. In this artifact lesson, students read ABC History Mystery and review the artifacts pictured in the book. They create their own ABC book with each student working on a letter.
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Abraham Lincoln and the Arts
Students engage in a study of history and how the figure of Abraham Lincoln has evolved into a national cultural icon. They discuss the importance of his life and how he influenced the political landscape of America in the past and present.
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I Am Me and Nobody Else!
Fourth graders explore writing as a way to communicate. In this writing lesson plan, 4th graders articulate how they feel about an issue in their lives. Students share their works.
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20th Century Architecture
Discover the functional works of art found in everyday life. Modern architecture is the focus of this highly visual presentation. Works from architectural masters such as Frank Lloyd Wright, Frank Gehry, and Le Corbusier are featured. A...