Curated OER
Washington Irving in Context
High schoolers examine the various roles Washington Irving had in his lifetime. Examining the situation in Europe and the United States, they are encouraged to relate Irving's experiences to different events. They examine themselves in...
Curated OER
Witchcraft
Tenth graders develop response to witchcraft from a historical and cultural perspective. They evaluate the use of ceremonies and rituals in witchcraft. They develop a character and develop use of genres and styles of drama. They role...
Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association
A Research Project: A Discussion of the Recreating and Populating of a Colonial Village
Primary source research, secondary source readings, and discussion provide the understanding necessary for students to create a colonial persona, and simulate a situation appropriate for this person, time, and place. While the lesson...
Foreign Policy Research Institute
A Geography Lesson
Fewer and fewer people have a strong grasp of world geography, but this activity helps students understand geopolitics by creating their own original historical map. The activity requires selecting a country from the list provided,...
Curated OER
Energy Crisis: Then and Now
Using political cartoons, scholars analyze the energy crisis of the 1970s and '80s, comparing and contrasting it to current tensions with oil. Display the 6 cartoons (linked) to the class, and demonstrate analysis using the worksheet...
Curated OER
Greek To Us - Comedy, Tragedy, and Satire
The history of Greek drama is the focus of this multiple-choice quiz. Ten questions ask about historical figures and the roots of tragedy and comedy in Greek religious festivals. While studying Greek drama, use this quiz to test your...
Out of Africa Wildlife Park
A Thematic Learning Guide to Lions
Written as an accompaniment to a field trip to the Out of Africa Wildlife Park in Arizona, this is an interdisciplinary, themed lesson on lions. Even if you cannot take your upper-elementary kids to this attraction, there are a few...
Curated OER
Dorothea Lange and the Relocation of Japanese Americans
Students consider the relocation of Japanese Americans during World War II. For this Japanese relocation lesson, students examine photographs by Dorothea Lange, the "Pledge of Allegiance," and a US government flyer from 1942. They use...
Tell City Schools
The Cay
Support your instruction of The Cay by Theodore Taylor with this extensive unit of materials. Provided here are prereading activities, worksheets and discussion questions for the entire book, and reading quizzes that you can use to check...
Learning to Give
What Are Your Thoughts?
The varying responses of the characters in Mildred Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry to the discrimination they experience or perpetrate provides readers with an opportunity to not only examine the feelings of the characters but to...
EngageNY
Inferring About Characters Based on How They Respond to Challenges (Chapter 3: "Las Papayas/Papayas")
Start off your day with a quick reading comprehension quiz about chapter three of Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan. After they complete the quiz, pupils participate in a discussion and look closely at the text. A strong Common Core...
Curated OER
Presidential endorsements: Newspapers decide
Twelfth graders collect, organize, evaluate and synthesize information from multiple sources in order to draw logical conclusions. They communicate this information using appropriate social studies terminology in oral, written or...
Smithsonian Institution
Conflicting Voices of the Mexican War
Americans wanted to fulfill Manifest Destiny, and this pattern continued with the Mexican War. The resource specifically teaches about the Mexican War through a variety of exercises including a research project, group work, brainstorming...
University of Arkansas
Our Responsibilities
The fourth in a five-instructional activity unit examining human rights and personal responsibility asks class groups to investigate a current rights issue, and using the provided graphic organizer, summarize the issue, consider which...
Curated OER
History Detective: The Case of the Mysterious Trunk
Students role play as history detectives. In this historical inquiry lesson, students discuss what detectives do, analyze a trunk of "artifacts" and make conclusions about its fictional owner. Students complete six pages of related art,...
Curated OER
A Modest Proposal
Eighth graders are read excerpts of "A Modern Proposal" by Jonathon Swift. Using a map, the locate the country of Ireland and discuss the type of writing and how it is important to historical events. They practice writing about...
Curated OER
Understanding Tibet
Students work in cooperative groups to read one current situation of Tibet. They respond to a set of discussion questions. Pupils write a newspaper article expressing the current information explored. Students write an editorial or...
Curated OER
Activating Students
Students view and analyze one example of student activism in the 1960's and then apply their learning to their own situations. They work cooperatively to develop and implement their own "activist" or community service learning plan.
Curated OER
My Home is Not Your Home
Students examine tension in Slovakia over issue of the rights of Romas (Gypsies). They compare and contrast situation in Slovakia to other historical examples researched in class.
National Endowment for the Humanities
From Courage to Freedom: The Reality behind the Song
Students study how Frederick Douglass uses language to describe a realistic picture of slavery in his writings which are primary source documents. They examine his use of word choice, imagery, irony, and rhetorical appeals and use slave...
Curated OER
Invention Timeline
In this lesson, students Create a timeline of historical events, Identify patterns of change, Interpret data in a timeline.In this lesson, students use Inspiration to view progress over time as they develop
timelines highlighting...
Curated OER
Introduction to the Graphic Novel Maus
Students begin reading the graphic novel "Maus". Using the Internet, they discover fundamental differences between Judaism and Christianity. Using excerpts from the novel, they identify animal metaphors used for nationalities and ethnic...
Curated OER
The Underground Railroad
Students discuss how slaves fought against their situation and how did they escape. They discover what the Underground Railroad was and how it slaves used it to reach freedom. They then play a game focusing on the Underground Railroad in...
Curated OER
Folktale Quilt
Students read several selections of folktales from different historic periods and different cultures. Then they incorporate a folktale theme into a modern day story, using elements that parallel those from the original version.