Curated OER
Picture This
A unique writing lesson, this plan begins with learners talking about multiculturalism in small groups. Each learner will choose a picture from a newspaper, describe it to their small group, and think about how it relates to...
Curated OER
The Family: Louisiana Family Folklore
Every family has a different story to share. Your learning community examines the checklist that applies to the lesson, share some of the teacher's family photos, and look for clues in their own family photos in order to complete a...
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Introducing Vocabulary: Christopher Columbus (Weinberger)
The story of Christopher Columbus has fascinated young historians for centuries; use this vocabulary-in-context strategy to dive into Kimberly Weinberger's picture book about this classic explorer. Begin by introducing the new words:...
Curated OER
A Soldier's View of the American Civil War
Study and research the American Civil War in this explanatory writing lesson. Middle schoolers complete six activities to learn about the American Civil War and soldiers' views of the war. The lesson includes several options to complete...
BBC
Words in the News
Here's an "old-school" lesson plan on an event in US history. High schoolers look into the massive layoffs that occurred in New Orleans in 2005. Discussion and debate take place, and groups of learners must cut and paste a series of...
Curated OER
Guided Reading: Family Picnic
Students blend phonemes. For this guided reading lesson, students create words by blending isolated phonemes. Students read a book discussing families.
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Cave Art: Discovering Prehistoric Humans through Pictures
Students explore how people in earlier times used art as a way to record stories and communicate ideas by studying paintings from the Cave of Lascaux and other caves in France. Three lessons on one page.
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Tiles, Blocks, Sapphires & Gold: Designing a Treasure Map
Young cartographers in groups hide treasure at school and then create a map to find it using pattern blocks and tiles. They make paintings with clues to create a visual representation of the location of their treasure. Groups present...
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Cave Art: Discovering Prehistoric Humans through Pictures
Students understand how to "read" a picture and put together a series of images in a way similar to that of putting together words to form a story and gain knowledge about the past.
Curated OER
Photo Clues Worksheet
In this family picture worksheet, students carefully look over a photo they brought from home analyzing the people and backgrounds. Students record their findings on the provided T-chart before writing an autobiography, poem, or story...
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Personal Stories of the National Parks
Learners explore historical information about U.S. national parks using the stories of Edward and Margaret Gehrke as a primary source document. In this United States geography, history, and literacy activity, students view the diary...
PBS
Reading Adventure Pack: Archaeology
Readings of fiction and nonfiction texts followed by a series of activities put scholars in an archaeologist's shoes. Learners read two texts, Archaeologists Dig for Clues by Kate Duke and The Shipwrecked Sailor: An Egyptian Tale with...
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Picturing First Families
Students complete a variety of activities as they study Washington, D.C., the Presidency, and George Washington. They take a virtual trip to Washington, D.C., and visit the National Portrait Gallery, the White House, and the Library of...
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Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Pirate's Map for Me: An Original Story
Students read Blackbeard and brainstorm their knowledge of maps. In this language arts and geography instructional activity, students use landmarks on their playground to review north, south, east and west and discuss the compass rose....
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Traveling Through Literature
Integrate geography with literature in this interdisciplinary instructional activity. Begin by reading a poem such as The Time We Climbed Snake Mountain by Leslie Marmon Silko. On a large map, place push pins in the cities or states...
Curated OER
Pablita Indian Legends
Scholars are introduced to the characteristics of a legend. They read and discuss Old Father Story Teller by Pablita Velarde. Then, in groups, they write and illustrate a poem based on one of the legends from the book. This lesson plan...
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A Map Mystery
First graders solve a mystery by following map clues. In this map clues lesson plan, 1st graders follow a computer program called Neighborhood Map Machine. In this program, it gives students directional and spatial clues in order to...
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Seems Like a Million Bucks
Students explore philanthropy. In this service learning lesson plan, students read Sam and the Lucky Moon, identify the elements of the story, and examine the benefits and costs of giving.
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Classifying Information About a Main Idea
Elementary learners explore language arts by completing a text identification activity. They discuss the importance of a main idea in a story or paper and how to present it properly. Then they practice identifying the main idea in sample...
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Where the Buffalo Roam
Second graders explore what life in the Chicago area was like hundreds of years ago. They discuss how settlers impacted the environment, and why there are no longer herds of buffalo in the Chicago area today. They read an article and...
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Friendship
First graders explore human psychology by reading a book in class. In this friendship lesson, 1st graders identify the benefit of friends and strong relationships while reading the book The Rainbow Fish. Students analyze the images from...
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Sgt. Humiston, Where are You?
Students become familiar with the events of the Civil War. In this identification lesson plan, students use deductive reasoning to understand how the deceased soldier was identified. Students view primary documents for...
Curated OER
Impact of Westward Expansion on Indigenous Populations
Students study the impact of westward expansion on Native American populations. They create a diorama of a Native American scene, write imaginary letters as a pioneer child reflecting on his/her experiences, and create story sticks that...
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Traveling Through Time, Wetland Style
Students create a timeline on the development of the Pajaro Valley Area. In this social science instructional activity, students discuss the changes that took place in the area over the past 300 years. They draw a pictures of how the...