The struggles of Sam McCulloch, a free black man, to be recognized as a citizen entitled to own land in Texas are the focus of research project that ask groups to examine a series of primary source documents and piece together...

Bring the Age of Exploration into the 21st century with this ancestry activity! Learners get a chance to explore the complex genealogy of the Spanish settlers through watching two video clips (approximately five minutes each) featuring...

Students identify and interpret Spanish heritage, including the Mediterranean culture, language, history, trade, and migration. Following, they began an in-depth study of Egypt, the Middle East, Greece, and Rome and were able to make...

Sick of selling candy and washing cars? How about hosting a Digital Day or a Learning Lunch? The suggestions here make fund raising fun and rewarding. Raise money to preserve important maps and other primary source documents.

Students consider the plight of immigrant food industry workers in the United States. In this social justice lesson, students identify the pros and cons of being an undocumented worker in the U.S. and discuss labor laws.

Fourth graders recognize that the Tejanas were Texas women of Spanish-Mexican origin who contributed to the history of Texas. Students read and research the Tejanas women, complete an essay about a day in the life of a Tejanas woman ,and...

Students comprehend that Mexico is a country. They identify two types of regions in Mexico. Students comprehend that many people in Mexico speak Spanish. They use three Spainsh words. Studnents begin to relate simple words with...

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...

Students examine the changing life ways of the inhabitants of a Pueblo Indian village from the 7th century to the arrival of the Spanish in the early 17th century. They explain the influence of Spanish missionaries on the lives the...

Third graders explore how rice farming came to Texas. In this rice farming lesson plan, 3rd graders discover the history of how farmers began to grow rice in the United States. Students color code maps and create a timeline for rice...

Students study the Battle of the Alamo in depth. In this research skills lesson, students visit the Alamo de Parras website to examine issues related to the battle that took place in 1836. Students analyze comment strands on issues in...

Whether studying metaphors or Greek mythology, this labyrinth project is a fantastic lesson plan to add to your unit. It includes two versions of the labyrinth; making it with yarn or stone. If your materials are limited, you can even...

Students explore U.S. geography by researching agriculture. In this dust bowl instructional activity, students complete a cause and effect worksheet based upon the dust bowls that covered a large portion of Oklahoma and Texas in the...

Young historians research one of the most colorful periods in US History: the cattle drives of the 1800's. They research the three most popular trails, and complete mapping and writing assignments about each one. The lesson plan has many...

This 3-day immigration study draws on historical trends and current events. A worksheet accompanies initial research on one group's U.S. immigration history, giving opportunity for collaborative learning through sharing findings. Groups...

Young scholars explore how to read fossil range charts. They develop an knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of the fossil record. Students become familiar with the concepts index fossil and fossil range. Young scholars use bar...

Students consider the plight of immigrant workers. In this undocumented immigrant lesson, students compare the worker of the Industrialization era to the undocumented immigrant workers of today. Students read and discuss literature about...

Young scholars become curators and museum reviewers for an online gallery using a selected group of primary sources on Mexican migrant workers. They share and reflect on their own and each other's ideas though participation in an on-line...

Students read and discuss the book, Esperanza Rising. After analyzing and identifying the novel's structural elements, they examine working conditions for migrant workers in the 1930s. As part of the instructional activity, students in...

Students analyze potential challenges that immigrant women have in the workforce.  In this history lesson, students identify specific problems immigrant women face, then brainstorm possible solutions in their group.  The final...

Fourth graders research the location and causes of the Dust Bowl in 1935. In support, they interpret photos from that period in Oklahoma history, They also compare/contrast the American Dust Bowl to the dust storms that occurred in...

Fifth graders analyze the Mayan culture. In this Mayan culture lesson, 5th graders study the Mayan culture noting similarities and differences between the Mayan culture and their own. Students examine hieroglyphic writing and the Mayan...

The Aztec pictorial manuscript later known as the Codex Telleriano-Remensis was created in sixteenth-century Mexico, about a generation after contact. It is considered one of the most beautiful and informative remaining works by the...

Excellent site that examines the Mexican immigrant group beginning with early settlement in New Mexico in 1598 through to present times. The history as well as the intricate multiculturalism of this immigrant group is addressed.