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Oral Genealogy

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Learners research their family histories by conducing interviews with parents and grandparents. They put their histories into a chant or a chart/family tree and present it to their class.
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No New Workers Need Apply

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students explore older people's perspectives on work and retirement by creating charts to reflect statistical trends and formulate interview questions. They write follow-up articles that record and comment on the attitudes of their...
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Discovering Your Community

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students focus on the origins of the families that make up their community by exploring their family's origins through themselves, parents, and grandparents. Students create a map marked with family origins for the class.
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Photograph Copying for Primary Source Historical Information (When Skiing Came to America)

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders explore the history of their town using old photos and interviews to compile data. They used pictures of a historical town event and interview residents who had participated in that event.
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Axis and Allies World War II Simulation

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Learners investigate World War II through the computer game Axis and Allies. They discuss the basics of World War II before playing the game, spend eight weeks playing the game that is a simulation of World War II, and write a report...
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Oral Histories

For Teachers 6th - 12th
One of a series of lessons from Ellis Island. In this lesson, students use research from a previous lesson to conduct oral history interviews of family members to learn about their cultural and ethnic heritage.
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Daily Life During the Great Depression

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students identify what daily life was like during the Great Depression and why oral histories are valuable tools for preserving memories. They develop a list of questions. They conduct an oral history interview. They write down the...
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Schools

For Teachers 1st
First graders complete a unit of lessons on school and how schools have changed. They read a Laura Ingalls Wilder excerpt, view and discuss a Norman Rockwell painting, conduct an interview, construct a school map, and create an ABC book...
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Initiation – Industrial Revolution

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders examine historical artifacts. For this Industrial Revolution lesson, 6th graders discover how modern conveniences are connected to innovations of the Industrial Revolution era. Students interview adults about technological...
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Intergenerational Friendships

For Teachers K - 2nd
Students interview senior citizens. In this communications instructional activity, students read the book Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge and discuss how to be sensitive to people of a different generation. Students develop interview...
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After Hamelin

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers discuss the story The Pied Piper.  In this reading comprehension instructional activity, middle schoolers participate in a variety of activities designed to enhance and further their understanding of the...
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Personal Stories and Primary Sources: Conversations with Elders

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Learners learn from their elders. In this oral and social histories lesson, students analyze primary sources to develop an understanding of the America in which their grandparents grew up. Learners conduct interviews with elders in...
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The Ku Klux Klan In Indiana: 1920-1930

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Young scholars examine the role of the Ku Klux Klan in Indiana from 1920-1930. They read an informational handout, define key vocabulary terms, conduct an interview with a parent or grandparent, write a family history, and role-play a...
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Ethnic Folklore in Your Classroom: Traditions, Tales, and Treasures from Tijuana to Timbuktu

For Teachers Pre-K - Higher Ed
Pupils create their own festival. In this folk life lesson plan, students research their folklore history by interviewing their parents and grandparents, organizing the data found, and presenting that material to the class. Pupils have...
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You Mean I Am Part of History?

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders open the lines of communication between family members and to gain a historical understanding about family history. They research and interview their grandparents and parents and create a research paper.
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Kentucky Coal and Our Environment

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students identify person who was or is directly or indirectly involved in the coal industry. They contact person to see if you may conduct an interview and develop a list of questions to ask the interviewee. Conduct the interview at the...
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Family Tree

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Students examine their family history in order to create a family tree. Explain the concept of the family. They are encouraged to interview their parents, grandparents aunts and uncles to get as much information as possible.
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The Evolution of Arkansas Elementary Education

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders interview older citizens to discover earlier educational history. They write essays based on their interviews.
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Religion, Culture, and Diversity

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students study different religions and share their own religious traditions. In this religion instructional activity, students investigate different religions and how ideas about religion can create conflict, growth, and change. They...
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Personal Decision Making

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students create a powerpoint presentation documenting a decision they must make regarding Japanese internment during World War II. Working in groups, students are given scenario regarding internment. Using various resources, including...
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Retirement: Show Me the Money!

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students explore the concept of retirement finances. In this retirement finances lesson, students discuss what it means to save, invest, risk, or the time value of money. Students play the stock market game. Students interview a parent...
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Family Traditions, Customs and Beliefs

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students discuss African childhood, explore family traditions, customs, and beliefs, examine African recipes, discuss differences or similarities in food preparation between the U.S. and Africa, and prepare a dish with adult supervision.
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Surviving the Depression- 1930-1939 Lesson 1: Life During the Depression- Picture

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students examine and analyze primary source documents and pictures from the Great Depression Era. They consider ways in which the suffering of the Era could have been alleviated.
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Miss Rumphius

For Teachers K - 5th
Students engage in a literature study in order to appreciate the world around them and create an innate instinct of working for the cause of conservation for the environment. They answer guided questions that use the story as a resource.