Curated OER
Mother's Day Butterfly and Poem
Students make butterflies out of paint and an open hand. In this art lesson, students press an open hand with paint on paper spreading the fingers to represent wings.
Curated OER
Fun in the Sun
Students freeze colored water. In this art lesson, students take the blocks of ice out of the freezer, put the blocks into a small pool and watch the ice melt.
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Hide the Acorns
Students search for acorns. In this art lesson students imagine they are squirrels finding and storing acorns. The students dig through a water table filled with sand or soil looking for acorns that have been buried.
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Potato Head
Students create a potato looking object. In this art lesson, students decorate hamster bedding with a face making it look like the potato. Students water the object causing the grass to grow making it look like hair.
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Valentine Hat
Students create a valentine hat out of red construction paper and a paper towel tube. In this art lesson, students create a hat out of strips of red construction paper attached to the paper towel tube. Students glue hearts on the hat as...
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Make an Uncle Sam Folk Art Figure
Students create an Uncle Sam art figure. In this patriotic instructional activity, students use wood, paint, twigs, and glue to create a folk-art style figure of Uncle Sam.
Facing History and Ourselves
Emmett Till: Confronting the Murder
The 1955 murder of Emmett Till is often regarded as the catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement of the 20th century. Learn more about the brutal crime—and, as many believe, the miscarriage of justice—that began a national conversation...
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Christopher Columbus
Help first graders gain an understanding of the beginnings of our nation by learning more about Christopher Columbus. They begin by listening to a read aloud of Christopher Columbus and His Voyage to the New World (another title...
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Role Models
Sixth graders examine the characteristics of role models. In this biography lesson, 6th graders debate the qualities of role models. Students work individually to research a historical or modern role model and create a mini-bulletin...
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Symbols and Signs
Students investigate the significance of various signs and symbols. They view and discuss the Statue of Liberty as a symbol of U.S. liberty, listen to the book "The Story of the Statue of Liberty," and create a class book of signs and...
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Thanksgiving Web Quest
Students review the reasons why Thanksgiving is celebrated in the United States. Using the internet, they research the history of the holiday and discover what the first Thanksgiving was like. They also examine a typical menu for a...
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Qualities of a Poetry Slam
Students discover the qualities of a poetry slam. In this poetry lesson, students conduct research to learn how slams are conducted and performances are scored. Students participate in their own poetry slam competition.
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"Mother Earth" -- Present
Students examine the Native American belief of "Mother Earth". They read stories from Native American authors and reflect. They illustrate this concept through art and haikus.
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Role Models
Third graders create posters of heroes and present their findings and what they think it means to be a hero. In this role models lesson plan, 3rd graders compare heroes and describe their characteristics.
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Northwest Coast Indians: Winter Celebrations Potlatch
Upper elementary learners engage in a study about the Potlatch as a Northwest Coast Indians social custom. Groups of pupils plan their own Potlatch ceremony; incorporating activities and creating gifts much like the ones that the Indians...
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Bog Child
You are destined for an engaged and happy class as they read Siobhan Dowd’s Bog Child because there is nothing missing from this study guide, seriously. This might be the easiest novel to teach because you don’t have to do a thing in...
Curated OER
Born on a Mountaintop? Davy Crockett, Tall Tales, and History
Students compare and contrast the details from the life of the real David Crockett and the legendary folk hero he later became. They identify the characteristics of a tall tale and follow a rubric to create a tall tale of their own.
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Bill of Rights
Young scholars discuss the government as a whole and then each amendment is examined. They complete a Bill of Rights test in groups or on their own. Answers are gone over in class and discussion is encouraged.
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Working on the Slant
Compare and contrast a major news story from various newspapers. How does the perspective change? Are certain things included in some of the stories and left out of others? Have pupils complete a graphic organizer to compare how...
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How Would You Feel?
Sixth graders put themselves in the shoes of aborigines who were displaced from their homes in the 1800s by Europeans who came in and took their land from them. They discuss the social injustices suffered by these people, and write...
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Alphabetize For A Reason
Students organize information by using the alphabet. Students organize materials alphabetically. Students alphabetize with the first, second and third letters of a set of words. Students discover applications for alphabetical order.
San Francisco Symphony
Prehistoric Music
What was music like during the Stone Age? Learners listen to a CD entitled, Art of Primitive Sound as they consider the culture of people in the Stone Age. They use objects found in nature to create instruments, and then...
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum
Recipe for an Inaugural Address
An inaugural address represents the first moments of a new beginning. Using John F. Kennedy's speech as a model for guided practice, groups examine the ingredients of an inaugural address. Individuals then repeat the analysis...
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The Supreme Court: The Judicial Power of the United States
Middle schoolers investigate some basic facts about the Supreme Court by examining the United States Constitution and one of the landmark cases decided by that court. The operation of the Supreme Court forms the focus of the lesson.