Students recognize James Van Der Zee as an outstanding photographer who documented and reflected life in Harlem during the 1920s. They identify important aspects of Van Der Zee's life and artwork and compose and shoot their own...

Students locate Africa on the map or globe and tell one important fact about the continent. They follow directions and demonstrate the proper process of making an African Rattle.

The orchestra plays the National Anthem and discusses their origin. Students listen to other nation's National Anthems, and discuss how they felt while listening. As the students play the National Anthem, the teacher sings. The students...

Stuck for a journal topic? Download CAHSEE’s 21 “Expository Journal Prompts” as a pdf handout for yourself or class. A great resource for your writing program, print it up and add it your curriculum library.

Students define democracy and distinguish representative from direct or pure democracy. Then, with the focus on representative government, students will discuss and trace voting patterns in the United States.

Young scholars discover what forces work together to hold up a suspension bridge. They see various bridges around the world, and learn the basic principles that enable each bridge to support itself. Groups design their own bridge,...

Students through song analysis and group discussion, identify the qualities representing the Great Depression. They study the Great Depression and how it affected people all over U.S. They analysis the lyrics to the song "Brother Can you...

Students listen to songs from the group U2 to examine civil rights issues.

Students examine and research their Latino heritage. As a class, they read a poem and write their own individual poem about their pride in being Latino. To end the lesson, they read their poems to the class and discuss their various...

Students research and develop a report on birthday rituals around the world. In this research lesson plan, students compare birthday rituals from other cultures to their own. Images and resources are included.

Seventh graders complete a unit on the French and Indian War. They conduct an Internet document search and use what they find to complete a document based essay about the war.

Students discuss the cultural similarities and differences found in Northen Europe, Southern Europe, Western Europe, and Eastern Europe and create daily journal entries charting their discoveries. This lesson is the First Part in a Four...

Young scholars bring in rocks and minerals from home. They observe them and describe them carefully, completing a worksheet. Finally, a classroom exhibit is created.

Students describe the complementary relationships between pollinators and the plants they pollinate, identify adaptations that flowers have developed to "encourage" pollination, and create and draw their own "designer" flowers.

Learners explore African spirituals. In this slavery instructional activity, students listen to and analyze the spiritual song "Wade in the Water" line by line. Learners share their interpretations with their classmates.

Students listen to a statement about Zora Neale Hurston's essay, "Turpentine" and discuss if they agree or disagree with it. They work in groups to record information supporting their position.

Students listen to the song, Get Together, and discuss the theme. They list topics that bring people together, write the lyrics to and sing a class song, and write a paragraph about message songs.

Students perform a folk dance and discuss its cultural and historical meanings. They review the dance and perform it, beginning with four individuals who dance with confidence right from the start.

Fifth graders summarize a decade in the twentieth century and compare it to another decade. They present facts in a Hyperstudio document that includes text, photos, and audio to describe the decade.

Students examine posters as art and create their own examples featuring locations or events from their community. They display their works in their schools and discuss their cities and school environments in a live chat setting with...

Eighth graders create their own cane flute. They use a model flute to gain the correct measurements and use the scientific method to construct the flute to have sound quality and pitch accuracy.

Ninth graders use the internet to research a city or town on the "Walk Across Texas" route. They create a brochure or booklet advertising their assigned city or town.

Students discover the relationships between minerals, crystals and gems. They bring in rocks that they find at home, in the schoolyard, etc. and examine them and attempt to identify them. They set up a classroom exhibit that includes all...

Students participate in a class discussion about what makes a poster promote a message. They explore topics from character education and make a poster to define and promote a desirable character trait.