Scholastic
Perfect Postcards: Illinois
Connect the geography and history of Illinois using an art-centered lesson on the railroads. The railroad connected once-distant places, particularly in the Midwest. Using research, class members create postcards of fictional cross-state...
Japan Society
National Identity and Literature from Okinawa
A lesson plan originally designed around the short story "Mr. Saito of Heaven Building" by Yamanokuchi Baku, this resource provides historical background, discussion questions, and brief writing assignments that help your class explore...
Polk Bros Foundation
I Can Identify and Support the Main Idea in Non-Ficiton
Analyze a historical or scientific informational text by determining the main idea and supporting details. This graphic organizer allows pupils to write down the main idea and four details.
Curated OER
Back to the Future
Students explore the benefits of new technology for the home and its possible drawbacks.
Curated OER
"Families and Schools of the Past"
First graders listen to and discuss historical fiction and bigraphies from the early American time period. They role-play, draw, write stories and dress up to re-create events from these historical characters.
Curated OER
Letters from Lincoln
Fourth graders explore the childhood of Lincoln and pioneer life in early Indiana. Students respond to literature and write a story using historical fiction. Students explore the writings of President Lincoln and the pioneer community...
Curated OER
Post Reading Activities for the Novel, "Home Children" by Barbara Haworth-Attard
In this post-reading literature activity worksheet, students examine suggestions for activities to complete after reading Home Children, by Barbara Haworth-Attard. They can choose from 11 activities which include to write diary entries,...
Curated OER
The People of Kansas
Learners investigate primary sources to experience first- hand accounts of Kansas pioneers. They write an historical fiction letter or skit based on territorial documents.
Curated OER
The Ruins of Pompeii: A Window into History
Sixth graders research the history of Pompeii and its destruction. Locate important geographical features of Rome. Gain insight into the past through archaeological interpretation. Synthesize historical information through imaginative...
Curated OER
Once Upon a Castle
Students complete a variety of activities surrounding castle communities and fairy tales. They write a letter to a fairy tale character, write a fairy tale, create a model of a castle, and draw a map of a castle community.
Curated OER
No is No, Si is Yes
Third graders match the body part words in Spanish to a picture. They receive a picture of a human with lines coming from its feet, hands, and arms. Students use a word bank, to write the Spanish word that corresponds to the picture. ...
Curated OER
The House of Dies Drear
Students read The House of Dies Drear and understand how he filled a need and helped people. In this philanthropy instructional activity students understand how the people who helped on the "Underground Railroad" filled a need and helped...
Curated OER
Scrapbook of Evidence
Students read three different genres of fiction. They create a story map and brainstorm possible collage inclusions. Each student prepares a minimum of two scrapbook page entries for each text or passage. Students write beside each...
Curated OER
Simile Stories
Fourth graders view song lyrics and identify similes in the song text. In this similes lesson, 4th graders define and identify similes on a worksheet. Students write their own similes using various adjectives.
Curated OER
Treasure Chest
Students explore Chicago in the fur-trading era. In this Chicago lesson, students discover what life what like during this time. Students read an historical fiction story about life in the fur-trade era. Students view replicas of...
Curated OER
Poetry of Abraham Lincoln
Fourth graders analyze Abraham Lincoln's poems "The Bear Hunt" and "My Childhood's Home" for word choice and deeper inquiry into the vocabulary he uses to convey emotion. They identify rhyming words and patterns in these poems. ...
Curated OER
From America, With Love
Students research the experiences of specific immigrant groups in the United States. Letters are written from imaginary immigrants to relatives in their countries of origin, including historically accurate details.
Curated OER
Postcards From Mars
Fifth graders research and explore what life would be like for human colonists on Mars. They explore various websites, read and discuss newspaper articles, develop a chart of the hardships and conditions that would be faced by colonists...
Curated OER
Patricia Polacco, Author and Illustrator
Young scholars conduct Internet research about the studenT author and illustrator Patricia Polacco. They compose letters to Ms. Polacco and, after revising and editing their work, send them in the mail.
Curated OER
Fact, Fiction, or Bad Memory
Students identify bias in how the events of the Boston Massacre were reported. They attempt to determine who is to blame for the Boston Massacre by determining the reliability the of sources.
Curated OER
Pirates: Fact or Fiction?
Students gain an understanding of what pirates are and to prove they really did and do exist. They discuss the different myths the students have about pirates as compared to what the documentary discusses.
Lesson Snips
Lessons from the Holocaust
Connect global examples of attempted genocide with a well-designed social studies instructional activity. It includes an excellent informational text with background information on the Holocaust, as well as worksheets, book report...
Curated OER
Constructing Narrative from the Migrant Experience in Literature
Excerpts from John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath and from John Fante's Ask the Dust, as well as a variety of primary source documents provide the background for an examination of the migrant experience from 1920-1945.
Curated OER
The Iditarod Race Compared with the Movie, Iron Will
Feel the freezing rush of an Alaskan sled dog race in this reading lesson. Using research about the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, seventh graders compare and contrast the depiction in the movie Iron Will. The lesson lasts for seven days...