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Be a Sourceerer's Apprentice

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students examine and discuss various primary and secondary sources. They bring in an example of a primary source, explain how it is a primary source, and complete a worksheet about interviewing a primary source.
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We the Present

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students interview representatives from nonprofit organizations in their community. They summarize the information from their interviews and share the information with the class. They identify the impact of the organization on the...
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Yes, We Can!

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students examine a situation of striking workers in Los Angeles. They answer questions related to the story. They also interview people involved if time allows.
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Discovering Your Heritage

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Young scholars interview a family member about their heritage. They listen to and record part of their family's oral history. Students also create and label a family tree going back a minimum of two generations and compare and contrast...
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An Upbeat West Side Story: Puerto Ricans and Postwar Racial Politics in Chicago

For Teachers 10th
Tenth graders read an article about the migration of Puerto Ricans to Chicago. As a class, they identify the barriers the immigrants faced regarding employment and separation from family members. To end the lesson, they work with a...
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Growing up in Las Vegas; Memories of Childhood in the Neon City

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Young scholars investigate the history of Las Vegas through conducting interviews.  In this oral history instructional activity, students locate and speak with older residents of Las Vegas in order to gain a better understanding of...
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Tamar Burris

For Teachers K - 5th
Students explore genetics. In this life cycle activity, students consider the meaning of "genes" and "heredity" as they watch a video about the topics. Students then research their own genetic make-up as they interview family members....
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I Watch Babies Grow

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Young scholars explore the changes of life in different generations. In this change of life lesson, students help out families with new babies and learn about their needs. Young scholars participate in interviews, creating timelines and...
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Connection to the Past

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students learn basic interviewing and biography writing skills. They first identify a senior citizen in their community who remembers the Great Depression.
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Real-Life History

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students collect artifacts which are part of their family/community history. They gather at home and share in the classroom at a specified time when extra care and supervision might be provided.
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Working in Photographs

For Teachers K - 6th
Students analyze illustrations of workers in the 19th and 20th centuries. In this social science lesson, students examine photographs of workers and identify the types of work that were available in the 19th century compared to the 20th...
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Memories of School Days

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students interview, record, and retell school stories of a family member. They research, document, and describe how schools have changed over time.
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Hooray For Heroes

For Teachers K - 1st
Young scholars identify and interpret what heroes are by researching various American heroes of the past. Students select several school heroes and interview them, as well as their own personal hero and write a story about them. Young...
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September 11 Lesson Plans

For Teachers 11th - 12th
By interviewing family members about 9/11, students can provide material for deep and meaningful discussions.
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One-Room Schoolhouses

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders complete a variety of activities involving one-room schoolhouses. They create a diorama and interview family members who actually attended a one-room schoolhouse. Finally, they visit a one-room schoolhouse in their area.
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Baseball Memories

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students act as historians by, first, reading and analyzing oral histories of professional baseball players to become familiar with baseball figures. Then, they proceed to interview family members, relatives, or neighbors who have...
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The Life of Milton Hershey

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students examine the life and business success of Milton Hershey. They conduct an interview with a local entrepreneur, define key vocabulary terms, develop a list of jobs they can do to earn money, read a biography of Milton Hershey,...
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Immigration and Migration Today and During the Great Depression

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Learners conduct oral history interviews and research primary resources to explain changes in immigration and migration over time.
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The Kindness Company

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students organize themselves into a simulated company complete with applications, interviews and training. They identify a community need they can fulfill related to cooking or sewing and work to make and deliver the designated product.
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Creating a Timeline and Scanning a Photograph

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students create a timeline and scan pictures for it. In this timeline lesson, students use an interview of a family member to create a timeline for that person. They scan photographs to add to their computer made timeline. 
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Eyes in the Sky

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students examine the use of satellites. In this research lesson, students discuss the history of satellites and how we use the information today. They will conduct interviews with older adults who have lived in the changing times from...
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Social Studies: Where I Come From

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students research the countries of their origins and examine life there today. They write family travel logs by interviewing family members about their heritages, and they visit the Xpeditions Website for online resources about their...
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Growth of Islam

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students participate in a simulated student exchange program assigned to live with a Muslin family in Damascus. They create a scrapbook of information from Internet resources about their experience, reflecting daily life, religion and...
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Launching a Writer's Workshop

For Teachers 1st - 2nd
Students interview each other and their parents to examine why and when writers write and where published authors get their ideas. They complete a class T-chart, fill-out an interview worksheet, and read and discuss a variety of book...