Alabama Department of Archives and History
World War II - Life on the Home Front in Alabama
What was life like for civilians who were home during WWII? The lesson uses a PowerPoint presentation with photos to explain life on the home front was like during World War II, including shortages of food, collecting scrap metal, and...
Curated OER
Character Traits and People in Black History
Third graders, after reading a one-page biographical essay, write in paragraph form how an African American has demonstrated a certain character trait.
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Tapping into the Experiences of Senior Citizens
Through casual talk and structured interviews, 6th graders tap into the wealth of their senior pals' experiences. They write descriptive essays and narratives based on conversations with relatives or neighbors. They read selected...
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Civil Rights Video Essay
Learners research an event or a person from a decade in American history when the civil rights movement was an important focus. They create a multimedia project based on the research.
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Create Your Own Country Project
Young scholars demonstrate their knowledge of geography with this fun, collaborative social studies project. Working in small groups, students develop their very own countries, writing descriptions of their physical location, social...
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Working on the Slant
Compare and contrast a major news story from various newspapers. How does the perspective change? Are certain things included in some of the stories and left out of others? Have pupils complete a graphic organizer to compare how...
National History Day
Helping Life and Aiding Death: Science, Technology, and Engineering at Work during World War I
Science, engineering, and United States history? Pupils research collections of artifacts from the Smithsonian to learn about historical scientific innovations. At the end of the lesson, they write an essay to discuss technology's...
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If You Lived In Japan
In this descriptive writing worksheet, students write about their life changes if they moved to Japan permanently. Students write 1 short essay.
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A Treasure at our Doorstep
Students write a descriptive essay about a historical landmark in their area, such as the Curtis Center in Philadelphia, PA. In this historical landmarks lesson, students use their senses to detail information about the chosen landmark,...
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HEALTH & SOCIAL SCIENCE
Students use the information gathered from the Nick News Special Edition about homelessness. Each student creates a homeless collage poster featuring magazine and newspaper pictures and articles about the topic and a brief descriptive...
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Newspapers: A Connection to Our Past
Students discuss current events and importance of understanding historical context for events today. They research current event and its historical context, and plan, shoot, and edit iMovie video essay using AppleWorks storyboard.
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This Is America! Flag Collage
In a visual essay of their thoughts about "What America Means to Me," kids of any age can create a collage about their country. Originally intended to be created physically, learners could share their projects online by using an...
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The Art of Locomotion
Tenth graders examine the artistic legacy of trains by comparing the representations of trains in the painting of Turner and the photographs of Terry Evans. They write an essay, story or poem using their own observations of trains,...
National History Day
Leland Linman’s War: A Look at Soldiers’ Daily Lives in World War I
Hunkering down in the trenches of World War I, Leland Linman decided to write a journal about his experiences. By reading Linman's entries in the fourth installment of an eight-part lesson series, scholars get a firsthand look at life in...
Foreign Policy Research Institute
Comparing Regimes: Critical Reading of Memoirs and Experiences from Totalitarian Regimes
Can you imagine living in a totalitarian country? Learners will read several primary source memoirs to gain a deeper understanding of what life is like under a controlled government. They'll discuss each piece in pairs, research...
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Instruments From Around the World
How much does the environment affect how and what man creates? Children explore the effect of the environment on primitive man as they research raw materials from a specific location. They use their findings to write a short essay about...
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Maine: A Place Apart?
Students list phrase that describe Maine from both an insider's and outsider's point of view. They create an exhibit on Maine's history and write an essay about Maine's image as "a place apart."
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The Cause & Effect Model
Learners analyze the plot of the story, "The Little Engine That Could" to provide a model for writing creatively, developing critical essays, producing themes, and making predictions.
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Buddhism-Nirvana Day: Meditation Article Planning Frame
In this Buddhism belief worksheet, students plan a strategy for writing a descriptive essay about meditation. After filling in an idea for an opening sentence, 4 key points, and interesting ending, students will have created a plan for...
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War Story Documentary
Students research and create an aspect of a war. They practice on writing a bibliography and essays.
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Evaluation Essay
Learners write an essay about previous studied lessons that is applied to the Japanese American experience. They have to role play being a Caucasian, or Nisei in California at a given time based on what they have studied. What would...
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Writing a Fantasy Story - Time Travel
Students write a fantasy story about travelling back in time to the period of the Oregon Trail. They conduct research and take notes about the Oregon Trail, and write a first and a final draft of their short story about their visit to...
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Special Interests: How Would A Legislator Vote?
Students act as elected officials who must make decisions that will make someone unhappy. They consider five bills that are up for vote in light of the contributions that many special-interest groups made to their campaigns. Students...
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The Embodied Presidency Wilson
Learners take a closer look at U.S. intervention in Mexico. For this 20th century history lesson, students examine primary documents to consider why the United States entered the Mexican War and then write DBQ essays on the topic.