Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Fiction and Nonfiction

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders differentiate between fiction and nonfiction using the books "Sarah Plain and Tall" and "A Day in the Prairie." They develop a list of information that they learn from the text, and create an information web. Students...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

the Not Forgotten - Sharing History & Archaeology

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students create a catalog of gravestones in a cemetery that includes a burial ground from the Revolutionary War. They photograph and document the grave sites, research the Battle of Bunker hill and work with community members to create...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Outdoor Education

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students participate in various outdoor activities to teach them about the environment. In this outdoor education lesson plan, students participate in activities such as compass direction, conservation, forestry, wildlife, and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Parthenon

For Teachers 9th
Ninth graders explore he purposes of the Parthenon.  In this World History lesson, 9th graders create a complete picture of the Parthenon.  Students research one aspect of the structure and report their findings back to the class.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Trekking to Timbuktu: Restoring the Past

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students investigate the environmental factors that threaten Timbuktu. Students investigate what measures are being taken to restore their mosques, and the condition of their ancient manuscripts. Students discover information about the...
Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Trekking to Timbuktu: Mansa Musa Takes a Trip - Teacher Version

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders identify Mansa Musa and discuss his pilgrimage, explain how he related to leaders in the East, and describe decisions he made about his homeland. They discuss changes brought about in Mali as a result of his pilgrimage.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

On the Road with Marco Polo: From Hormuz to Venice

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students study the route from Hormuz to Constantinople that was traveled by the Polos. They explain the importance of Constantinople in medieval time and discuss its location, and outer wall structure.
Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Lesson 1: On the Road with Marco Polo: A Boy in 13th Century Venice

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Learners investigate Marco Polo's life as a young boy in 13th century Venice. They analyze maps, explore various websites, complete a chart and answer discussion questions, and create a travel brochure about visiting 13th century Venice.
Lesson Plan
National Gallery of Canada

Urban Panorama

For Teachers 7th - 8th
How can a photographer use images to represent a topic? Over the course of three days, learners discuss various photographs and practice their picture-taking skills with an outdoor, panoramic photography session. They use the images...
Lesson Plan
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Pulitzer Center

Peacebuilding: Taking Home Lessons Learned in Africa

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Learners take a closer look at one journalist's work on UN Peacebuilding efforts in four African nations: Sierra Leone, Burundi, Central African Republic, and Guinea Bissau. They collaborate to define peacebuilding and discuss...
Lesson Plan
Stanford University

Beyond Vietnam

For Students 6th - 12th Standards
On April 4, 1967 Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his speech "Beyond Vietnam." The controversy that followed is the focus of a three-lesson unit that asks class members to consider the political and social implications of King's...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

In Old Pompeii

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students investigate the history of Pompeii and its destruction. They take a virtual field trip to the ruins of Pompeii, create a travel brochure to attract tourists to the site, and write an account of their trip.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson: Dongducheon: A Walk to Remember, A Walk to Envision: Interpreting History, Memory, and Identity

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Cultural discourse can start through a variety of venues. Learners begin to think about how our minds, memories, and identities shape our attitudes toward culture and history. They analyze seven pieces from the Dongducheon art exhibit...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson 2-Profiles in Courage: To Kill A Mockingbird and the Scottsboro Boys Trial

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Review one of the most memorable cases in the history of the United States. After reading To Kill A Mockingbird, young scholars read and select court transcripts and other primary source material from the Scottsboro Boys Trial of 1933....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson: Tlatelolco: Mexican Student Massacre 1968

For Teachers 10th - 12th
The Massacre of Tlatelolco is the focus of a discussion-based lesson. Civil-minded learners consider the nature of student movements that have ended in violence based on over-reaction and government oppression. They discuss the social...
Lesson Plan
Pulitzer Center

The Crisis in the Ivory Coast

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Through reading a variety of news articles and other informational texts, learners discover the political turmoil and intense ethnic and religious tensions that envelop the Ivory Coast today. Class members research the historical...
Lesson Plan
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All for KIDZ

Building Relationships: The Orphan of Ellis Island

For Teachers K - 6th Standards
Family and friendship are two very important themes of the historical fiction novel The Orphan of Ellis Island by Elvira Woodruff. From video clips and writing prompts to reader's theater and family interviews, this resource...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson: Allison Smith: What Are You Fighting For?

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Trench art is a nontraditional art form created by soldiers in trenches during wartime. Artist Allison Smith connects her art to the American Revolution and the question: "What are you fighting for?" Kids examine her art, how it connects...
Lesson Plan
Poets.org

Love as a Two-way Street

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
Create an abundance of understanding, as your high school learners learn to analyze multiple love poems. Part one of this resource has learners define what love is, examine art that reflects the love between Robert and Elizabeth...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Building Suburbia: Highways and Housing in Postwar America

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers determine how suburbs changed America. In this post World War II lesson, students complete research projects that require them to examine the growth of suburbs in the 1950's and 1960's. High schoolers reveal how government...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
A thorough lesson introduces learners to Hans Christian Andersen, the nineteenth-century author who created wonderful tales. They read the original texts of several of his stories, including "The Ugly Duckling," "The Little Mermaid,"...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Eagle Has Landed: Aztecs Find a Home

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Pupils examine the Aztec civilization in what is now Mexico. Using a map, they locate the empire and explain the legend of the founding of Tenochtitlan. They explore the symbols on various Mexican flags and what they meant to the Aztec...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Breaking News

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students organize a newspaper article using a worksheet that helps them study the vocabulary of news articles. They write newspaper articles about mythical creatures invading contemporary Los Angeles.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Dear Congressperson...

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students identify their local, state, and national officials. They create a short blurb about each official and their function in office. Students choose an issue of concern they would like to write to their local official about,...