Discover colonies! Young historians will listen to a primary source journal entry read aloud with a backdrop of wave sounds. They discuss the entry, add historical facts to a chart and personal insights to another. Then they listen to...

What does it mean to "be of good character"? What are the qualities that define such a person? The 1825 Colonization Law of Coahuila y Texas required that all new immigrants into Mexican Texas present documentation that they were of...

What can maps tell us about the past? Find out with a Spanish lesson that incorporates geography. After examining maps individually, comparing two old maps of Spanish Florida and writing notes in the provided Venn diagram, pupils pair up...

Have you ever wanted to do something so perfectly you wound up not doing it well at all? Young historians use primary and secondary documents to analyze the United States involvement in the Vietnam War. The issues surrounding the...

Imagine living in the hold of a sailing ship for 63 days, enduring rough seas and autumn storms. As part of a study of the voyage of the Mayflower, class members examine an online resource that details life about the ship, watch a slide...

In this George Washington activity activity, students read a one page information sheet about George Washington. Kids put 10 events from his life in correct order. Then students answer 4 critical thinking questions.

Fifth graders complete an analysis of the Revolutionary War through literature. After "My Brother Sam Is Dead," students create a time capsule containing items that would be relevant during the Revolutionary War. They identify key...

Fourth graders create their classroom rules.  In this Mayflower Compact lesson, 4th graders listen to the Plymouth story and learn about the Mayflower Compact.  Students analyze the Mayflower Compact and create a class compact...

Fifth graders compare and contrast two early colonies and make a T chart. They list examples of worked well and what did not, and significant historical events. They use higher order thinking skills by deducing how different scenarios...

Students use maps, the Internet, graphic organizers and discussion to explore the history of the Middle American Colonies. They consider how the colonies were founded and the ideas of religious freedom and self-government they embodied.

Learners read articles relating to Jackie Robinson's breaking of the racial barrier in professional baseball. This leads to a deeper exploration of racism in the United States. They use a variety of worksheets imbedded in this plan to...

Connecting social studies and American literature, students study the Great Awakening and draw comparisons between its impact on England and on parts of Colonial America. They research the lives and experiences of people who lived during...

"Rikki-Tikki-Tavi," from The Jungle Book, offers young readers a chance to examine how Rudyard Kipling uses setting and personification to bring to life the brave mongoose who battles cobras to protect his family. Class members...

Learn about the first Thanksgiving with a unit centered around the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians. First graders read and discuss books, create a mural, complete a worksheet about five blessings in their life, prepare...

Fifth graders understand chronological order of events. For this Boston Tea Party lesson, 5th graders compare the events surrounding the Boston Tea Party to current times. Students learn vocabulary and customs of the revolutionary...

Learners discuss the appearance of a lobster. Using pre-cut parts, they create their own lobster and name each part of its anatomy. As a class, they listen and participate in exploring background information on the lobster and its...

Marine biology apprentices interpret data of sturgeon interaction with gill nets. They use the data to calculate the percentage of fish entangled in each twine size to discover if there is any correlation. This is a valuable exercise in...

The danger of mob mentality is on display in The Crucible by Arthur Miller. Get your class thinking with some challenging quickwrite questions, then assign characters from the play to be read aloud altogether. Links to worksheets...

Young scholars investigate slavery in America circa the American Revolution. They will examine point- of view and perspective as they research a variety of informational resources. While this is designed to be used with the PBS video...

Fifth graders investigate the connection between taxes and government services.  In this economics lesson, 5th graders discuss the process and benefits of paying sales and income taxes.  Using calculators, students compute the...

Learners, in a high school class for autistic children, take a virtual tour of Boston's "Big Dig" and the artifacts discovered there. During weekly lab sessions, they discover the processes involved in artifact preservation. Using...

Learners determine how animals and people adapt to the desert environment. In this desert lesson, students review vocabulary about the desert and how humans have to make changes to accommodate their environments. They listen to and...

Students examine the differences in the working and eating conditions between the late 1800s and today. They engage in an Internet Quest for information on cheese which culminate in a hands-on cheese-making experience and tasting activity.

Twelfth graders explore figurative language as it appears in Washington Irving's original text, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, answer questions based on story, and write sequels to it by using the different types of figurative language...