Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Philanthropy in Michigan? Civil War Lesson 1: What is Philanthropy?

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Learners determine the meaning of philanthropy and find examples of it in Mary Francis Shura's, Gentle Annie: The True Story of a Civil War Nurse. They discuss act of philanthropy that they have personally witnessed.
Lesson Plan
2
2
Shakespeare Uncovered

All the Globe’s a Stage: Shakespeare’s Theatre

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
“All the world’s a stage,” exclaims Jaques in As You Like It, but it is the structure of the Globe stage and how that structure influenced Shakespeare’s plays that is the focus of an on-line research project. Class members visit a series...
Lesson Plan
Science Friday

Fossil Detectives

For Students 6th - 8th
What can this rock be? Pupils pretend to be paleontologists by sketching fossils and making predictions about their types. To determine whether they can identify the type of dinosaur, class members compare their observations and...
Lesson Plan
Code.org

The Need for Programming Languages

For Teachers 9th - 12th
LEGO see if you can recreate my design. Individuals build an arrangement from LEGO blocks and write directions for someone else to follow in order to recreate the arrangement. Pairs then swap directions and try to...
Lesson Plan
PBS

Using Primary Sources: Nazi Spy Ring Busted

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Spy games are not just for professionals anymore! Scholars use short video clips, primary documents, and photographs to investigate Nazi spies in America during World War II.  The young detectives analyze the paranoia warfare can...
Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Kennewick Man: Science and Sacred Rights

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
"Have respect for the dead!" Scholars investigate how science and religion often clash. As they look into the laws of science and the laws of religion, the legal ramifications at the federal level of both play into an argument they...
Activity
1
1
Teaching Tolerance

Civil Rights Activity Book

For Students 4th - 6th
An activity booklet includes a timeline of the movement, a song, and various informational reading passages on leaders, events, and the Civil Rights Memorial in Washington DC. Reading response questions and word puzzles are sure to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Race and Voting in the Segregated South

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students examine the history of African American voting rights. In this voting rights lesson, students listen to a lecture on African American voting rights between the years 1890 and 1965. Students respond to discussion questions...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Adarand Case: Affirmative Action and Equal Protection

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders examine the Adarand case.  In this American Government lesson, 11th graders create a list of reasons for each affirmative action program.  Students develop a defense on certain issues and present it to the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Causes of World War I

For Teachers 9th
Ninth graders identify and explain the six major causes of World War I. They explore the events leading up to WWI, the assassination of Franz Ferdinand and why they were the culmination of everything. Students discuss the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Works Progress Administration and the New Deal

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students research the Depression Era and how it contributed to the formation of the Works Progress Administration. After research, they create a skit to illustrate life during the Depression and the role of the Works Progress...
Lesson Plan
Smithsonian Institution

The Proper Gentlemen: George Washington and "The Rules of Civility"

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Young scholars read and interpret a portion of the "Rules of Civility." They describe the significance of these rules in Washington's time. They discuss how the rules might be significant in today's world. They write rules of etiquette...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Paleoecology Using "Fossilized" Owl Pellets

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students study the differences in anatomy to help identify different species and use a dichotomous key to identify what the owls were eating.  For this investigative lesson students dissect owl pellets to identify the species eaten...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Images, Empathy, and the Humanitarian Impulse

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers study humanitarian intervention and its role in society.  In this politics lesson students view a video on Darfur and discuss what they learned. 
Interactive
Curated OER

Werner Heisenberg

For Students 7th - 12th
In this online interactive history quiz activity, students respond to 10 short answer and essay questions about the life and accomplishments of Werner Heisenberg.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The 1932 Election: A Turning Point in History

For Teachers 4th - 7th
Young scholars discuss the presidential election in 1932. In this U.S. history lesson, students compare and contrast the differences between the Hoover administration and the administration of FDR. Young scholars work in groups and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

1945 Project

For Teachers 6th - 11th
Students investigate an aspect of life in 1945 in their country. They write a newspaper account of the topic they research.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Understanding the Importance of the Declaration of Independence

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders examine the importance of the Declaration of Independence by using a variety of research sources and computer technology to obtain information. They internalize the thoughts, actions, and motives of the signers of the...
Primary
Texas State Library and Archives Commission

Texas State Library and Archives Commission: About Texas: Reconstruction Acts: 1867

For Students 9th - 10th
The text of the Reconstruction Acts of 1867. Section one establishes military districts in the South.
Website
Other

University of Western Georgia: Reconstruction in the South

For Students 9th - 10th
An excellent distillation of the many issues addressed in the Reconstruction period in the South in the twelve years after the end of the Civil War.
Website
Mount Holyoke College

Mt. Holyoke: Reconstruction Timeline

For Students 9th - 10th
Here's a concise timeline that highlights the important facets of reconstruction from the announcement of Abraham Lincoln's reconstruction plans to the end of reconstruction at the election of Rutherford B. Hayes.
Primary
Other

Reconstructing the South: First Reconstruction Act, 1867

For Students 9th - 10th
The text of the first Reconstruction Act providing for the government of the former Confederate states by placing them in military districts.
eBook
OpenStax

Open Stax: Radical Reconstruction, 1867 1872

For Students 11th - 12th
This section explains the purpose of the second phase of Reconstruction and some of the key legislation put forward by Congress, describes the impeachment of President Johnson, and discusses the benefits and drawbacks of the Fifteenth...
Lesson Plan
US National Archives

Docsteach: From Dred Scott to Civil Rights Act of 1875: Eighteen Years of Change

For Teachers 9th - 10th
In 1857, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the Dred Scott decision that African-Americans were not citizens of the United States. Yet within 18 years, Black Americans would not only have citizenship, but would be guaranteed the right to...