National Endowment for the Humanities
Charles Baudelaire: Poète Maudit (The Cursed Poet)
After learning the main ideas of the Decadent movement, high schoolers work in small groups to read and translate poems by the French poet Charles Baudelaire using basic etymology skills. They then read the accurate English translations...
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Celebrate Kwanzaa in the United States
Students explore and study the celebration of Kwanzaa in which African-Americans remember their heritage and remind people of the importance of sharing with family and friends. They participate in a chant about the seven continents and...
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Draw a Scientist
Students think to themselves about what a scientist might look like when they're working and then draw a picture of a scientist at work and discuss their drawings. They notice the number of men compared to women and other such...
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Canada and the United States: A Collage
Middle schoolers create a visual presentation that describes the influence of American culture on Canadian culture, the Canadian response to that influence, and the benefits and drawbacks of that influence to Canadian culture.
Curated OER
Increase the Peace At Recess
Students discuss activities that could further keep the peace at recess. Using vocabulary, they analyze recess from a different point of view. They discover how working together can make their school a safer and fun place. They...
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Language with Linguistic Legos
Young scholars visualize and manipulate sentences as building blocks, and, given a key, use Legos™ to demonstrate how to construct sentences of variety (simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex).
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Romare Bearden
Students examine and discuss a collage by the artist Romare Bearden. They analyze the impact of jazz on art, listen to jazz, and create an original collage.
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Conflict Diamonds
Students examine how diamonds are portrayed in American culture. They identify the political and social implications of conflict diamonds and the locations of these diamonds in Africa. They evaluate the effectiveness of the Kimberley...
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Diwali
Students participate in the retelling of a story. After reading the story Diwali, students working in groups retell the significant events in the story through role play. In addition, they discuss the significance of the Hindu elements...
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Glue Fish
Get out the glue and those oil pastels its time for an art project. The class explores shape, art, and color as they draw fish with glue, let them dry, and then color them as they wish. This project would be wonderful after discussing...
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Gullah Activities
Pupils study the Gullah culture by watching a video about Gullah, Gullah Island. They discuss the customs and crafts of the people such as basket weaving, food preparation, pottery, and quilt making. While working in centers, they make a...
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Animal Alphabetizing
Second graders observe a stack of folders, papers, notebooks or other materials that need to be organized. They discuss what the word organize means and then practice alphabetizing books according to first names of students as a class....
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Just Stringing Along
Students learn the string instruments of the symphony orchestra and recognize their "relatives."
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United States All the Way
Pupils create patriotic books about the United States and some of its special symbols.
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The Silk Road
Students research the geography of Asia from Xian to Istanbul. They explore the intricacies of ancient trade, including trade goods and policies. They study minorities within and outside of various Chinese and other Asian empires.
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Telling Time
Students identify numerals on a clock and put them in correct order. They identify the hour and minute hands on a clock. Students practice time skills by telling time by the hour using a standard clock.
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Island Culture: Puerto Rico
Students explore the culture of Puerto Rico. They create maps of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. They work in small groups to research a decade in history and add drawings and pictures to a timeline of their decade. They practice...
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The Ballad of the Sad Café
Students view the film "The Ballad of the Sad Cafe" and analyze it for stereotypes of mountain and hillbilly communities. They identify and discuss Appalachian values represented in the film and write a report on their observations.
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Learning to Play the Panpipes
Young scholars experience what a pan pipe is and how sound is produced on it. Research a brief history of the pan pipe. Employ producing a characteristic tone and be able to produce various pitches. Play a simple melody and ensemble on...
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This Land is Your Land - Travel Posters
Eleventh graders compile a list of places in the United States where they have either traveled or where their relatives or friends live. They collect travel posters, brochures, postcards, and maps from their region of the United States.
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The Producers
Students design attractive posters to promote the work of Leroy Anderson, an American composer with an unusual style.
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Mr. Bones
Students play CD-ROM game My Amazing Human Body, and participate in relay game in Phys. Ed. where they put together skeleton on which body parts are labeled.
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Fifty States Field Day
Students explore the 50 states in preparation for a special field day. On the actual field day, the oldest students in the school manage each of 50 physical activity stations. They share information about each state and introduce the...
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A Renaissance of Jazz and Poetry
Students explore, analyze, study and read a variety of poems and listen to jazz that have their roots in the Harlem Renaissance. They then discuss the similarities and differences of themes in the works of different poets and composers.