National First Ladies' Library
Finding Treasure Island; An Exciting Escape
Students read Treasure Island. They have a choice of a number of activities associated with the novel, including writing a review of the book. Students also participate in a National Geographic High Seas Adventure, going on an Internet...
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Pilgrims: The First Americans
Fifth graders become familar with the pilgrims and first Thanksgiving through essays about important people of the time. In this Thanksgiving activity, 5th graders choose an important figure from the time of the Pilgrims and write...
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Marine Biology Field Trips
Learners visit a Marine Biology study area 2-3 times and write a report after the last visit. They participate in the Marine Biology field trips working with lab partners. They complete data sheets to write their primitive environmental...
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Let's Make A Dill
Students perform an "autopsy" on a dill pickle to determine its' cause of death. After finding "clues" inside the "body," students organize facts and use their imagination to write an epitaph. As an alternative, students may view a...
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A New Life
Learners write a paper about how their life would be different if fractions, decimals and percents did not exist. The teacher leads a discussion after the papers are written.
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Math in Your Life
Examine how math fits into everyday lives by writing mathematical word problems and answering them. Middle schoolers will also practice their test taking skills utilizing different kinds of tests.
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Whose Manifest Destiny?
Students examine the Westward expansion. In this North American settlers lesson, students will view a PowerPoint presentation and answer critical thinking questions. Students will write an essay that analyzes the impact of westward...
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How Does Power Affect Conflict?
Students use several short stories to analyze different types of power. While discussing the role of power in these short stories, students will practice communication skills essential to conflict transformation, specifically attentive...
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Create a Board Game
Students research, design, and create a game board based on information learned in ancient civilizations' social studies units. They utilize computer technology to research the project, as well as, textbooks, in-class library and video...
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The Notorious Hope Diamond: What Makes an American Legend?
Students view and discuss a video on the legend of the Hope Diamond then compare and contrast other tales such as Paul Bunyan, Pecos Bill and Johnny Appleseed. They analyze basic characteristics of these legends then use descriptive...
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Time Management
Students plot activities for a 24 hour day. They record their information on a spread sheet program. Students list categories they use and write equations for cells that add cells of each category together. Students create a pie chart of...
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The Kindness Company
Students organize themselves into a simulated company complete with applications, interviews and training. They identify a community need they can fulfill related to cooking or sewing and work to make and deliver the designated product.
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Starting at the Beginning
Sixth graders develop basic band skills through in-class instruction, individual practice, and the Essential Elements band method. Instruction is teacher-led with examples and drill/practice. National Standards for the arts are...
National First Ladies' Library
Digging up the Past: Sir Arthur Evans and the Palace at Knossos
Middle schoolers explore the excavations of the Palace of Knossos on the Island of Crete. They create a simulated news broadcasting on the work of Sir Arthur Evans and his colleges. In their news investigation, learners cover such topics...
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Seeing Art in Historical Context: An Activity to Promote Visual Literacy
Young scholars consider works of art in their historical context. In this art in historical context lesson, students are encouraged to think about and record their prior knowledge of the historical period and to make inferences about the...
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Desertification
Students investigate the process of desertification in the Sahel region of Africa. They discuss photos from a National Geographic magazine, analyze the physical/political map of the Sahara, identify the causes and effects of...
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Familial Relationships in Great Expectations: The Search for Identity
Students read the novel "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens. In groups, they use the text to identify and describe family relationships in the book. Using this information, they compare and contrast how these relationships are...
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Burial "Rights"
Students, after viewing several segments of the video, "Stories Under the Stones," discuss the pros/cons of separate burial areas for different groups of people. They analyze a series of documents regarding the burial policy of one...
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It's Just a Barn
Investigate Pennsylvania Barns. Have your class consider the elements common to Pennsylvanian barns and why they are significant to the food production process. They write summaries of Frederick Watts and his impact on agriculture.
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Scenario challenge
Fifth graders become familiar with the geography of New Hampshire and the importance of specific sites in history. In this New Hampshire lesson, 5th graders create a brochure including points of interest and showing distances...
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Creating Characters
Students identify simple pictographs and ideographs from Chinese writing. They create their own images, and combine characters to communicate ideas to one another, introducing basic foundations of how elements of the Chinese writing...
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You Are What You Eat: Lessons from Alice Waters
Students view the AMERICAN MASTERS episode titled ALICE WATERS AND HER DELICIOUS REVOLUTION. They examine their own eating habits and determine how they can eat food that is both healthier and tastier. Through Guided Reading strategies,...
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Seven Famous African-American Masters of American Art
Students examine seven different African-American artists. In groups, they use the internet to identify their contribution and techniques to the art world and examine the time period in which the artwork was produced. To end the...
National First Ladies' Library
Fashion Trends in the 1960s: Hippies, Flower Children, and Design
Middle schoolers use the Internet to research and examine clothing styles of 1960s, draw pictures of various clothing and accessories popular in that decade, trace images on top of foil tray or pan to design a stamp, and make...