Curated OER
Pre-Columbian Settlements and People
Fourth graders describe the social, political, cultural and economic life and interactions among the people of California from the pre-Columbian societies to the Spanish mission and Mexican rancho periods.
Curated OER
Celebrate Native American Heritage
Students examine Native American heritage. They explore a museum of Native American culture and explore their food, dress, and customs. They also explore the Native Americans role in the first Thanksgiving.
Curated OER
First Nation People and European Explorers
Sixth graders investigate the characteristics of explorers. They research the factors that contributed to the first European explorers that came to North America. Students also concentrate on the interactions that explorers had with...
Curated OER
Continents And Islands
Students engage in a literature study in order to address the concept of exploring the culture of Puerto Rico. The lesson plan looks at the culture through the eyes of two children. This helps students to connect to the content of the...
Curated OER
Catch the Gullah Beat: Rhythm and Percussion
Students explore the Gullah culture. In this social studies lesson, students construct and play instruments similar to those of the Gullah people.
Curated OER
The Changing Role of Women
Eleventh graders examine the evolution of women's rights in America. As they analyze primary documents and discuss historical events, learners determine how Abigail Adams, Eleanor Roosevelt, Lady Bird Johnson, Margaret Sanger, and James...
Curated OER
A Practical Experiment In Colonization
Role-play and simulation exercises are fantastic ways to help learners understand the reality behind many social and historical events. Pretending they are colonists, upper graders choose a location, create a history, establish laws, and...
Curated OER
Family Life in the 1830s
Students compare and contrast family life today with family life in the 1830s. They conduct research on Old Sturbridge Village, read primary source documents, and develop a list of generalizations comparing/contrasting families of the...
Curated OER
A Journey to Language Arts
Young scholars explore events of the Lewis & Clark expedition. Students observe a PowerPoint presentation. They demonstrate journal writing using first person point of view. Young scholars describe life in North America during the...
Curated OER
Why Not Come to North Amercia?
Students examine the motives for French expansion into the New World, they evaluate primary source documents to determine who, what, when, where and why.
Curated OER
Like Comparing Bison and Fish
Fourth graders examine the cultures of early American Indians in North America and how geographic characteristics impacted the development of American Indian cultures. Students discuss Lewis and Clark, their journey, the Plains Indians,...
Curated OER
Ethnographic Film: Representations of the Other in Media
High schoolers examine how film represents different cultures. They think critically about these representations and how they affect people who are watching them.
Curated OER
English Perspectives
Students perform research in order to answer an essential question: How did the cultural characteristics, beliefs, attitudes, behaviors, and economic conditions of the French, English, and Indians contribute to the growth of inter-group...
Curated OER
The Age of Exploration
Students apply computer skills to gain further insight into early exploration. They analyze the role of each explorer and evaluate their importance. Students comprehend the Chronology of Discovery and Trade of early explorers. They...
Curated OER
The Story of Corn
Students use primary sources to compare the early development of corn with current techniques of biotechnology and genetically engineered seeds, and identify plants natural to the Americas and those natural to Europe that were part of...
Curated OER
Fort Clatsop: The Corps of Discovery's Winter at Fort Clatsop
High schoolers investigate the Lewis and Clark expedition and how it helped to shape American expansion during its early history. Students reflect upon the period of history and its implications for America.
Curated OER
Mesoamerica
Young scholars demonstrate knowledge of early Middle American civilizations. They study Mesoamerican i religions, governments, and achievements. They identify geographies of North and South America.
Curated OER
Entrepreneurs and the African-American Dream
Students make a simple graph of labor supply and labor demand in the North and South in the early twentieth century. They conduct research to identify top contemporary African-American entrepreneurs.
Curated OER
I & M Canal: Technological, Economic
Students read about and discuss the reasons European countries were interested in the Ohio Valley. They complete a puzzle to review vocabulary and watch a video on the Illinois Prairie and the I & M Canal. They rewrite the historical...
Curated OER
Barter Day
Fifth graders research bartering. In this bartering lesson, 5th graders investigate bartering as a way to trade for goods and services. Students experience bartering first hand while playing a game.
Curated OER
Bartering Through the Seasons
Fifth graders explore bartering. In this bartering instructional activity, 5th graders investigate bartering between the American colonies. Students study the climate and geography of neighboring colonies and investigate crops native to...
Curated OER
Jamestown Colonies and the Powhatan Indians
Eighth graders discuss the Jamestown colony and the Powhatan Indians. In this colonial history lesson, 8th graders talk about conflicts between the Native Americans and the colonists. They read a biography about Pocahontas to help them...
Curated OER
POWERFUL POTATO
Students will observe the growth process of a potato plant.Plant a potato in a large clay pot or gallon bucket. You may purchase seed potatoes
from a seed outlet in early spring or use a potato from home that has started to sprout. Make...
Curated OER
Freedom to Worship
Fifth graders read the biographies of seven colonists and determine their position on the freedom of religion. They conduct a panel discussion of seven personalities and debate the religious freedom in America.