John F. Kennedy Center
Comparing Cultural Holidays
A lesson examines the holidays, Día de los Muertos and Halloween. After an exciting clip from the movie Coco, class members review vocabulary and discuss what they know about Halloween. The conversation leads into the history of Día...
Smithsonian Institution
Changing Gender Roles on the Home Front
Many historians discuss how gender roles changed because of World War II, but how did this come to be? An informative resource challenges scholars to do some digging and research the information for themselves. They research how...
Curated OER
It All Begins With A Name
When students learn about coats of arms symbols, they can explore history, math, and their own ancestry.
Curated OER
Huntington's Disease
Students research specific genetic disorders and create a pedigree of a fictitious local family in which Huntington's Disease is found. They predict inheritance and severity of HD and role play decision making process involving genetic...
Curated OER
Language Arts, African Americans, Oral Tradition and the Blues
When slavery took Africans from their land, they were separated from the rich musical and oral traditions native to each country and region. While working as slaves, Africans found they had two places where they could use these musical...
Curated OER
African Myths
Students discover the role of storytelling in the African culture. In this multicultural lesson, students discuss the elements of the African myth and record them on the board. Students visit an African folktale website and read examples...
Curated OER
The City of New Haven
Students examine the geography, politics and history of their local town of New Haven, Connecticut. Using the internet, they explore the neighbors of New Haven and write directions from their house to school. In groups, they research...
Curated OER
A Little Horse Sense
How have horses evolved over time? How do horse skulls reveal this evolution? How have the roles horses play changed over time? What kind of social structure do horse herds have? How should wild horse populations be managed? To find the...
Curated OER
Can You Hear Me Now?
Students explore the industry involving communication and put communication devices into activities. In this communication lesson plan, students put items into chronological order, review primary sources, compare and contrast items, and...
Curated OER
Television
Students investigate the invention of television and examine its role in their lives. They read and discuss an informational handout, list the pros and cons of television on a worksheet, and create a class pie graph illustrating the...
Curated OER
Paper Mola - Reverse appplique
Students investigate mola artwork from Panama. They discover the choices necessary to create a successful piece. Students understand the color and shape choices necessary for this art form.
Curated OER
Introduction to Genealogy - Time Travel with EuGENEus!
Students participate in introductory level genealogical activities in this series of lessons. They complete the timeline and quiz online.
Curated OER
Immigration for Grades 6-8
Middle schoolers explore immigration. In this immigration lesson, students research the topic and compare immigration of the past to the present. They create a decade long timeline of immigration.
Curated OER
Native Americans
Students explore Native American cultures. In this cultural comparisons lesson, students participate in several activities that compare and contrast the culture of the Hopi and Comanche Tribes.
Elizabeth Murray Project
Gender and Opportunity in Colonial America
What was life like for women in Colonial America? What restrictions were placed upon them and what opportunities were they afforded? A case study of Elizabeth Murray offers high schoolers a chance to investigate primary source...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
The Effect of the Great Depression on Children
How did the Great Depression affect children? Sometimes studying the Great Depression means only studying about how it affected adults, however, relating the experiences of children and peers their age to themselves may make the...
National Museum of the American Indian
The Kwakwaka'Wakw: A Study of a North Pacific Coast People and the Potlatch
Discover the cultural practices and unique value systems of a group of native peoples from Canada called the Kwakwaka'wakw. Your young historians will discuss how conceptions of wealth can vary and how these native...
Columbus City Schools
Heredity: Traits, Genes, Alleles
If you knew people would pay extra for a bald dragon, could you pick which parents you should breed in order to get the highest number? The unit examines heredity and genetics through breeding dragons, mice, dogs, and tries to figure...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Dueling Telegrams: 1963 Verbal Power Play Between Wallace and JFK
Information, inferences, and innuendos. Text and subtext. Class members examine telegrams exchanged between President John F. Kennedy and Alabama Governor George Wallace, studying both what is stated and what is implied by the...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Strange Fruit: Lynching in America
To continue their study of the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the beginning of the civil rights movement, class members watch the YouTube video of Billie Holiday singing "Strange Fruit" as an introduction to an examination of...
Digital Public Library of America
Teaching Guide: Exploring Little Women
Louisa May Alcott's Little Women is a literary masterpiece as well as a timestamp of the formative mid-nineteenth century in America. Using a primary source set of photographs, letters, and portraits, readers discuss the ways...
Curated OER
Murals
Young scholars investigate how murals portray cultural expression. They study the history of mural making, explore its symbolism and design a mural of their own.
Curated OER
Let's Make a Meal: A Study of Oats
Young scholars investigate the history and health benefits of oats. In this food history and nutrition lesson, students describe the origin of oats in America, define nutrition related vocabulary, and read and follow recipes for making...
Curated OER
The Growth of the Suburbs - and the Racial Wealth Gap
This lesson explores structural racism by revealing the important role that family wealth plays in shaping life chances how opportunities to accumulate wealth have been racialized, and the roots and consequences of the current race-based...