In this U.S. worksheet, learners take notes in a graphic organizer as they read several passages, then answer four comprehension questions.

Students explore American Civil War, hypothesize that the Union Army was defeated at Gettysburg by Lee's army, and write an essay describing how different North America would be today if the South had won the Civil War.

Young scholars study the thirteen colonies: geography, economics, politics, and religious groups. They explore early colonial life, and create a travel brochure, travel guide of the 13 Colonies, and word search.

Who became US Chief Justice in 1801? Which delegate from New York advocated a strict constructionist interpretation of the US Constitution? What is the term given to the chief or one of several import crops regularly grown and sold in a...

Explore communication through writing by analyzing individual sentences with young writers. They practice writing compound sentences and identifying sentence fragments. The next step has them learn the five parts of a friendly letter....

Students examine jazz's roots and their hybridization in New Orleans in the early 20th century. They listen to ragtime and jazz recordings, then complete worksheets imbedded in this plan.

Beginning with a definition and a few corrected examples, this resource shows how comma splices can be identified and then eliminated. Four sentences are enumerated for writers to practice in order to avoid comma splices themselves.

A reading of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech launches a study of rhetorical devices such as hyperbole, allusion, metaphor, simile, personification, connotative language and parallel structure. Class members then...

Emerging poets design a website and then post seven original poems as well as their written critique of these poems. Although the resource mentions Inspiration and FrontPage technologies, any software could be substituted. 

In this instructional activity, students analyze different parts of a letter and insert the appropriate punctuation including a comma, period, colon, question mark and semicolon.

Students complete a research project.  In this American History lesson, students work in groups to research reasons that people wanted to settle in America.  Students record the information, share what they found and write down...

Students research the Aztec culture in Mexico. They focus on their religious practices. They write a goal to personally sacrifice something. They also write about the costs and benefits of a sacrifice.

Fifth graders examine a time line of early American explorers from England, Spain, and France. They trace exploration routes on maps and write reports about early explorers. Students view a laser disc presentation, Land of Opportunity...

Students write script for a puppet show. In this writing lesson plan, students write a puppet show script using facts from a previous lesson plan. They listen to DyAnne DiSalvo Ryan's, City Green before discussing the characters and...

Students utilize their reading comprehension abilities by discussing a story in class.  In this story analysis lesson, students read the story Witch of Blackbird Pond and answer questions in their reading journal.  Students...

Learners write a journal entry relating to their reading. This this writing lesson, students relate a book they are reading about the colonial settlers to their own life situations through journal writing.

In this recognizing facts about the state of Michigan activity, students read factional phrases and choose the person, place, or thing being described. Students answer 10 multiple choice answers.

Fifth graders refer to text and timeline to fill in a graphic organizer and timeline from 1492-1607. They participate in a class discussion that allows for speedy accumulation of events and fill in their own timelines. They work in small...

Students visualize and manipulate sentences as building blocks, and, given a key, use Legos™ to demonstrate how to construct sentences of variety (simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex).

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...

Fifth graders connect reasons for coming to the New World with identity. The create identities and place them in one of three settled regions. They refer to prior study notes in their Colonial Notebooks to establish their identities.

Fifth graders research their assigned regions, complete regional guide and prepare presentations about the New World colonists. They refer to "Everyday LIfe: Colonial Times" as well as searching marked internet sites.

Fifth graders give presentations on colonial research. The others take notes on the presentations. They play a card game which helps them review content. They take a summative assessment and present their research notebooks.

Students visit appropriate websites to discover quotes from Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanac. Working in pairs, they choose three quotes on which to elaborate and then write two original quotes.