Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Coming to America

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders listen to the song America by Neil Diamond, view pictures of Ellis Island, and role play as processing officers who evaluate, classify and recommend which immigrants can stay in America.
Lesson Plan
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Ellis Island: Gateway To America

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders study the immigration station on Ellis Island. Through several activities, they see that immigrants who arrived at Ellis Island came to America from different countries, mostly those in Europe, for a variety of reasons.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The War Lesson Plan

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Young scholars view video clips of the film "The War". Several classroom activities are included and address major themes found in the film. The lessons incorporate video clips from the film as well as additional resources provided.
Worksheet
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Cartoons for the Classroom: Tooning into the Candidates: Barack Obama

For Students 8th - 12th
In this current events worksheet, students analyze a political cartoon about Barak Obama and respond to 3 talking point questions.
Lesson Plan
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Gateway to America

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders study about immigration, Ellis Island, and tenement life from 1890 to 1924. They create an identity of a fictitious immigrant and describe what they find when they arrive in New York.
Lesson Plan
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Black History Project

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders explore and analyze about famous African-Americans by listening to four picture book biographies. They generate a list of 15 famous African-Americans and then create a survey to rank them according to importance of...
Lesson Plan
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The Life of a President

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Learners examine the life of President Gerald R. Ford. After reading an article, they discuss his legacy. They collect articles written during his time in office and examine the key issues of his presidency. They write an article about...
Lesson Plan
PBS

Looking for Lincoln Throughout His Life

For Teachers 1st - 3rd
Young historians gather information about Abraham Lincoln through a variety of activities. They match vocabulary words with pictures to create a timeline. Additionally, learners read books and articles that teach them...
Lesson Plan
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Native Americans of Rockland County

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students comprehend Native American cultures through the use of both secondary and primary sources. They explore and investigate Native Americans in New York State. Students are shown some old Indian arrowheads and they are challenged...
Lesson Plan
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Romare Bearden: Piecing Together A Viewpoint

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students examine the history of Romare Bearden and her artwork. The lesson consists of some virtual field trips and projects. The lesson is designed to be taught as either a social studies or art lesson. The teacher could also teach this...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Latinos Spice Up Melting Pot

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students investigate the history of early Hispanic workers in the U.S. They complete an online Webquest, explore various websites, read about Latinos in the U.S. today, view a mural, and answer discussion questions.
Lesson Plan
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Can You Walk a Mile With My Foot?

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Young scholars engage in a lesson that is concerned with the measurement of a foot as a customary unit. They take part in a series of activities to help them acquire skills of using a foot to compare other units of measurement. The...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Expanding the Mission: Historical Parks

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students explore U.S. geography by viewing a documentary in class. In this national parks lesson, students view video clips of individual national parks and locate them using Google Earth software. Students create a persuasive...
Lesson Plan
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A More Perfect Union: Barack Obama's Race Speech at the National Constitution Center

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders explore the process of perfecting the Union through changes made to the Constitution, and through the powers delegated to each branch of government.  In this American Government lesson, 11th graders research various...
Lesson Plan
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USS Alligator

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Student study the USS Alligator, the United States' first submarine. They describe the United States' first submarine, the USS Alligator's technology in 1862 and its voyages. A nautical vocabulary list is included for student reference.
Lesson Plan
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Urban Concentration and Racial Violence

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students research one of the many urban race riots in U.S. history, from the New York City riots during the Civil War to the "Red Summer of 1919" or the hate-strikes of 1943. They present their findings in the form of a newspaper's front...
Lesson Plan
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Wisconsin Heritage Timeline

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders explore why groups of immigrants settled in Wisconsin. Through intervies with family members, printed materials, and internet research, 4th graders discover the contributions early residents made to the state. Students...
Lesson Plan
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Historical Events in Utah History

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders choose a topic they are interested in related to the history of Utah. Using the internet, they research the topic making sure to cite where they gathered the information and take notes. To end the lesson, they write their...
Lesson Plan
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Lesson III: Crisis, Pearl Harbor, Internment

For Teachers 9th - 11th
The third in a series of lessons introduced by “A Fence Away From Freedom,” uses the Smithsonian website, “A More Perfect Union: Japanese Americans and the U.S. Constitution” and focuses on the section of the presentation devoted to the...
Lesson Plan
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Flag Etiquette

For Teachers K
Pupils study flag etiquette. In this US flag lesson, students explore the flag and its history. Pupils also demonstrate the proper procedures for folding a U.S. flag.
Lesson Plan
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Satchel Page

For Teachers 5th
Bring a lesson about Negro League Baseball to your Black history unit, or any other research unit throughout the year. While the lesson plan itself is simplistic, there are several good ideas that you could use, such as creating trading...
Lesson Plan
Deliberating in a Democracy

Violent Video Games

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers examine violence in video games. In this American history instructional activity, students read an article on the link between video games and violence. High schoolers respond to discussion questions and debate the topic.
Lesson Plan
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Runaways Past and Present

For Teachers 10th
Tenth graders use video and the Internet to compare runaway teenagers of the 1930s with runaways today. The lesson plan uses the integration of technology in order to build skills and conduct research.
Lesson Plan
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Jefferson on a Nickel

For Teachers 2nd - 3rd
Students study our third president, Thomas Jefferson through stories and poems. They investigate the attributes of a nickel.