Civil War Trust
Genealogy
The Civil War is undoubtedly a part of America's history, but could it be part of your pupils' history as well? Middle schoolers conduct research to discover a connection between their ancestors and the American Civil War. Whether...
Peace Corps
Community
What is a community? Find out with a lesson that sheds light onto the different types of communities—school, local, and global. Scholars read informational text detailing the life of a young girl from Cape Verde and take part in a...
PBS
Family History: Treasure Troves
It's time for show and tell! Scholars investigate historical artifacts to determine what secrets they reveal about the time periods they represent. They then research their own personal artifacts, as well as those from World War I.
Learning to Give
Your Place in the Community
Learners identify their beliefs and values and compare how these values relate to those of their community. They then determine how their values affect the roles they play in different situations. A quiz about values and beliefs...
Novelinks
Things Fall Apart: Problematic Situation
If you could pick characteristics you would want your child to possess, what would they be? To better understand Okonkwo, one of the key characters in Things Fall Apart, class groups engage in an activity that asks them to consider this...
California Department of Public Health
Walking on the Path to Better Health
Walk your way to health with this great resource! Walking is a valuable physical activity that can be done frequently and with ease by learners of all ages. "Warm up" by reviewing the benefits of physical activity with your class...
Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation
What Was Everyday Life like in Colonial Virginia?
After reflecting on jobs people perform in the present day, scholars discuss what they believe jobs would have been like in Colonial Virginia during the American Revolution. Small groups then perform a jigsaw using informational packets....
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Working in Birmingham's Iron Industry
What did railroads, iron, and industry contributed to Birmingham's successful growth? The lesson explains how the iron industry worked. It also describes how the location of Birmingham and its proximity to railroads. played a key role in...
K12 Reader
Apprentice System
As a reading comprehension exercise, kids examine a short article on the apprentice system, and then use information found in the text to respond to a series of comprehension questions.
Roald Dahl
Matilda - The Third Miracle
Magnus takes a visit to the classroom in the 20th chapter of Matilda. Or does he? After reading, learners interview the person in the hot seat to get a detailed account of what happened during this chapter. Then, they write individual...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
An African American Represents Alabama during Reconstruction
The era after the Civil War saw a flourishing of African Americans exercising their rights. Using graphic organizers and Internet research, pupils consider the legacy of Benjamin Sterling Turner, who sat in Congress. Afterward, they...
Australian Broadcasting Cooperation
Sherpas
Climbing Mount Everest is a dream for many mountaineers, and for a lucky few, it's a hard-fought accomplishment. Learn more about the important role Sherpas play in Mount Everest expeditions, including Sir Edmund Hillary's famous...
Teaching Tolerance
Community Spotlight Cards
Not all heroes wear capes—or cleats. Class members identify unsung heroes in their schools or towns for interviews, then create trading cards. A celebration including presentations or trading of cards completes their investigation of...
Teach Engineering
What is Going on with Grandma?
Pupils individually determine what they need to know about osteoporosis and how they will find that information. They share their thoughts with a partner before moving on to share with the class. The class arrives at a list of a set of...
Federal Reserve Bank
Income Taxes
Most adults dread April 15 — tax day! Tax preparation can be intimidating even for adults. Build confidence by leading individuals through the process and then give them a scenario to practice. The exercise uses tax vocabulary to give...
Our White House
The Our White House Inauguration Celebration Kit for Kids!
Get the youngest American citizens involved in the presidential election and inauguration with a set of social studies activities. Focusing on the history of presidential inauguration ceremonies, learners draft their own poems, design...
EngageNY
Creating a Histogram
Display data over a larger interval. The fourth segment in a 22-part unit introduces histograms and plotting data within intervals to the class. Pupils create frequency tables with predefined intervals to build histograms. They describe...
Penguin Books
An Educator's Guide to Al Capone Does My Shirts
It's hard to imagine that life on Alcatraz could be dull. A series of intriguing lessons take readers through the novel Al Capone Does my Shirts. Pre-reading questions introduce the text and a range of suggestions, from comic strips to...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Alabama Tenant Farmers and Sharecroppers, 1865 to Present
The tenant farming and sharecropping systems that developed in the South after the Civil War, the reasons for their development, and the eventual decline of these systems are the focus of this two-day plan.
Alabama Department of Archives and History
The Civil War at Home
To conclude a study of the 4 C's (cause, course, consequences, and characters) of the Civil War, young historians examine personal letters that reveal the effects of the war on those at home.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Albert Sabin and Bioethics: Testing at the Chillicothe Federal Reformatory
Do the ends justify the means? Getting a drug approved in the US is a long and involved process. But at some point out, it involves testing on humans. The ethics of such testing is the focus of a resource that uses Dr. Albert...
Curated OER
I Search My Family Project
Students research their family's heritage. They follow a guide, document their family's history and put it together in report form.
Curated OER
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle
Learners examine the breaking out of traditional gender roles in this story by Avi Wortis, The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle. Gender limitations are explored in this instructional activity.
Curated OER
Family Violence & Abuse
Students examine the cycle of violence: child abuse, date rape and why women stay in violent relationships. They identify characteristics of abusers and victims, identify the parts of the violence cycle and explain the cycle by using...