Curated OER
Old Toys
It's funny how things change over time. Show your class how different and similar toys from the past were to the toys of today. Each slide contains an image, name, and description of a toy typical of those used in the 1800's and early...
TCI
Picking Rusty Gold: Why Do People Buy and Sell Antiques?
Your historical sleuths will work to research the in-depth history of chosen artifacts and will use their research to design a fictional advertisement for an early 20th century item.
Curated OER
Play With a Purpose
Students consider toys as more than items for playing, compare and contrast inventors and toys they created, and discuss purpose of specific toys, including whether toy was created for education, financial success, or both.
Curated OER
Build It With Lincoln Logs!
Students use primary sources to analyze advertisements, prices, and styles of Lincoln Logs from Carson Pirie Scott catalogs from 1952 to 1960. Students then compare modern-day toy to Lincoln Logs of the 1950s by analyzing differences in...
Curated OER
Journal of Time: A Historical Perspective
Analyze the setting behind the Great Depression in California with Pam Munoz Ryan's Esperanza Rising. Middle schoolers assess the protagonist during her coming-of-age moments, while migrant workers manage the hardships of the...
Japan Society
Popular Culture and Japan’s Gross National Cool
From Manga to Godzilla and Pokemon, Japanese pop culture has been taking the globe by storm. This phenomenon is called "soft power." Learners will examine the differences between hard and soft power, as well as learn the historical...
Free Library of Philadelphia
Resources for Ghost Boys
Jewell Parker Rhodes, the author of Ghost Boys, wanted to bring the historical legacy of Emmett Till and the current topic of racial prejudice into today's young readers' mindsets. Use a reading guide and set of discussion questions to...
PBS
Cardboard History
A PBS clip focused on collecting sports memorabilia launches this research project lesson. Class members then read Dan Gutman’s Honus and Me in which Wagner’s baseball card is used to time travel. The lesson ends with researchers...
Curated OER
Kidding Around In The 1980s
Students examine pop culture of the 1980s. In this historical time period lesson plan, students view a Smurfs cartoon from the 1980s and discuss its similarities and differences to cartoons today. Students work in groups to...
Curated OER
Lewis and Clark
Learners investigate the historic journey of Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery. They identify six discoveries made on the journey, participate in an online activity that traces their trail, write a journal in the first person...
Curated OER
Immigration History Firsthand
Middle schoolers interpret historical evidence presented in primary and secondary resources. In this immigration lesson, students conduct research regarding Ellis Island and the American immigrant experience. Middle...
Curated OER
Sports in China: What And Why They Play?
Learners study several different types of Chinese sports played throughout history in China. They examine the historical perspective of the importance of sports in Chinese culture and create a final project using information about three...
Scholastic
Thanksgiving Lessons Grades PreK-2
A quintessential resource for teaching an elementary unit on the first Thanksgiving addresses a variety of skills, including informational reading, critical thinking, comparing and contrasting facts, technology tools, and historical...
Curated OER
Tracing Our Own Family Pilgrimages
The Pilgrims may have arrived in North America by way of the Mayflower, but chances are, your class members' ancestors came to the United States in another way. Guide them through an exploration of their own heritage, countries of...
Curated OER
Immigration: Stories of Yesterday and Today
Students use Web technology to access immigration history and develop an understanding of the concept of immigration. Then they develop oral history writing skills, including note-taking and conducting an interview and read for detail....
Curated OER
Create Your Own Native American Board Game
Young scholars are asked to identify different parts of the Monopoly game. They discuss the different tokens, the play money, the houses, and the different places. Students are asked to hypothesize why the creator of the game, Charles...
Curated OER
World War II Review
Ninth graders review previously presented material on World War II and discover how the world was at that time. They, in groups, participate in map work designed to explain Axis and Allied countries using toy army men.
Core Knowledge Foundation
Christopher Columbus
Take some time to focus on Christopher Columbus, his three ships, the purpose of his voyage, and the new land he discovered. Pay special attention to the included additional materials, they are the real value in this resource.
Smithsonian Institution
Mobilizing Children
Scholars find out how the government used propaganda to mobilize children to help in the war effort. Lesson exercises include analyzing a quote from Franklin Roosevelt, viewing propaganda images and posters, and participating in a lively...
Middle Tennessee State University
Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? A Comparison in American Culture
As part of their study of the Progressive Era, class groups examine a 20th century version of "The Three Little Pigs" through a New Era lens and identify how ideals such as the value of hard work, creativity, and problem solving,...
Curated OER
Rural Voices Through Photography
Students research the history of the Depression particularly in the ways it was documented by photography. Then they take their own pictures in the style of one of the best documentarians, Dorothea Lange.
Curated OER
New Haven Families: Artifacts and Attitudes, 1770s to 1890s
Students investigate their own city's cultural past in New England. They
National First Ladies' Library
Eleanor Roosevelt: Economics, Discovery and Daily Life
Examine the causes and effects of the Great Depression and the role of Eleanor Roosevelt during the era. Pupils take an inventory of their home for wants and needs, and conduct online research on The Great Depression. They then convert...
Curated OER
The Punch and Judy Show
Students view a puppet show and learn how people from the past spent their leisure time. In this puppet show lesson plan, students view the show and see how people 400 years ago would spend their time. Then students get to ask the...