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My Story and History: Peeking into the Past with Paintings
Consider how you can use a visual source, such as a painting, to learn about a historical time or event. Young learners discuss primary sources and how they differ from secondary sources, then analyze the painting Mother and Child by...
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Primary Sources and Protagonists: A Native American Literature Unit
Introduce your middle schoolers to the lives of past Native Americans. First, learners work together to put photographs in a sequence. Then, using their sequence, they create stories to share with the whole class. No matter how old your...
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Hernando De Soto's Trip Through South Carolina
Fourth graders become familiar with the explorations of Hernando DeSoto. In this DeSoto lesson plan, 4th graders recognize the routes and territories of DeSoto's explorations. Students use primary and secondary sources and research to...
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Red is the Word!
Through the use of stories, artwork, and the KidPix program, youngsters explore the color word red, and engage in activities around the word. Teaching kindergartners about the color words can be so much fun. This could be adapted for any...
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Sources of Information
Students review information from a previous lesson about JFK and his assassination. As a class, they identify sources they believe historians use and describe the difference between a primary and secondary source. In groups, they...
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Feminism Does Not Have to be an F-Word
Learners analyze social activism messages in music. In this feminism lesson, students explore selected music that expresses sentiments voiced in the women liberation movement in the United States. Learners compare the lyrics of the songs...
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Historians Interpret Sources
Students read excerpts from the historian Conover Hunt writing about John F. Kennedy and from primary source documents using the handout: Historical Sources and Historians. Students discuss and identify source types, evaluate sources,...
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Student Newspaper Project
Writing teaches us so much. One can identify the many characteristics of a newspaper, use the Internet to gather information, and communicate with others. Primary students create a class newspaper for publishing and dispersal.
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Civil War Play Lesson Plan
Students act out the Civil War through reader's theater. In this performing arts lesson, students research the Civil War and find costumes, props and scenery appropriate to the time period. They become characters from the Civil War time...
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Illustrated Letters
Learners role play the role of a famous artist living during the 1800s. They write a letter to their friend explaining the impact of this artist on others. In groups, they read primary source documents to examine life during the 1800s.
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That Was Then
Students compare and contrast their community in the past and today. Using primary sources, they develop their own history of their community. Individually, they create maps of the local area and complete sketches of local gravestones.
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Energy Efficiency Ambassadors
High schoolers research energy conservation devices. They also create their own light efficiency project and presents their findings on science fair night.
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Pioneering Children on the Move
Students inquire about life for pioneer children. In this pioneer period lesson, students analyze photographs of children, make information foldables, and create a covered wagon that was typical of the ones of the past. Students will...
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Real-Life History
Students collect artifacts which are part of their family/community history. They gather at home and share in the classroom at a specified time when extra care and supervision might be provided.
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Death On Board La Belle: Finding Clues from Old Bones
Students practice analyzing skeletal remains for clues by using the Internet. In this scientific investigation lesson, students research the La Belle shipwreck using the Internet and written materials, later completing a Skeletal...
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Scary Stuff!
Fourth graders interview community members for a "newspaper". They design a business brochure, write a disappearing ghost story, and experiment with mono-printing. They experiment with a variety of materials, tools, equipment, and...
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The White Stuff, Winter in Canada
Students write sound poems inspired by works of art they have viewed, create paintings with snow as subject, create zines about their perceptions of winter, and update one of Robert Harris' winter sports illustrations.
Four lessons on...
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Jazz it Up!
Students research the history and contributions of Jazz in their local environments. They then design and create a wide variety of presentations to share with the class using as many mediums as possible.
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World War II: Modern History of Hawaii
Young scholars examine world geography by viewing a documentary film in class. In this World War II lesson, students discuss the role Hawaii played in the great battle and what type conflicts happened among the island chain. Young...
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Independence Masks
Students explore how art reflects the economic, political, social, religious and historical concerns of a culture. They research a former colony to determine if there is any history of a mask. Students create a mask representing the...
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The Mystique of the Artist
Learners use mixed media to create personal expression on canvas art supplies bag, design three-dimensional model of their ideal studio space, write character sketch of Robert Harris using images of him, letter he wrote, and his art work...
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The Genre of Captivity Literature
Students make reference to previously presented material,
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Assembling a Story
Students observe, discuss, and interpret Radcliffe Bailey's work, By the River. They create personal narratives of people who came to the U.S. during the 18th or 19th century.
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Castle Builder
Fifth graders discuss the importance of castles in medieval times. Using the internet, they research the parts of a castle and design their own using the components. They use everyday materials to build the castle to a specific scale.