Ashbrook Center at Ashland University
The Constitutional Convention
Imagine sitting down with representatives of your school to write a new student handbook. What arguments would ensue? How would compromises be made to finish the project? Scholars research the Constitutional Convention using a directory...
Annenberg Foundation
Revolutionary Perspectives
Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Learners go to the heart of the causes of the American Revolution. Examining political cartoons, Enlightenment documents, and firsthand accounts, they present their ideas and reflective...
Syracuse University
Harlem Renaissance
The music and literature of the Harlem Renaissance defined American culture, including its poetry. Using a poem from the period, individuals explore its musical qualities and how it is reflective of the period. Then, they use what they...
Syracuse University
Ancient World Writing System
Most twenty-first century pupils don't know how to interpret cuneiform. Examining images of cuneiform and papyrus writing and using a chart and Venn diagram, young historians extrapolate what life may have been like for people who lived...
Syracuse University
American Industrial Revolution
While the Industrial Revolution may have fueled America's rise to the top of world markets, the child laborers often faced dangerous conditions. Using primary source images and other information, scholars consider what these children...
Syracuse University
Civil War
What was it like to enlist as a soldier in the Civil War? By using enlistment papers, young scholars consider this question. After they've looked at the primary source and discussed it, they create a short story of a fictional soldier to...
Curated OER
The Canadian Ribbon of Steel
Students research the building of the Canadian Railroad and discuss the impact it has on Canada today.
Curated OER
Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, 1903: Photos of a Community
Students looks at a series of photographs taken in 1903 in the community of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. They examine how needs were satisfied in this community, and compare that to how the same needs are satisfied in their own community.
Curated OER
Who's a Hoosier?
What is a Hoosier? 4th graders will identify sayings/expressions to reflect a region or culture. They will research Indiana history to work in groups to prepare for the annual 4th grade program where they will present the information...
Curated OER
Cartoons in the Classroom: Gas Pains Again
The price of gas has increased around the country, and many political cartoons, such as this one, have used humor to get people thinking about it. With the help of three very good critical thinking prompts, learners will analyze a...
Curated OER
Cartoons for the Classroom: Human Rights
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a political cartoon is like reading an essay. Have your critical thinkers examine three cartoons to read between the lines, gaining insight and information. They analyze how these cartoons...
Career Solutions Publishing
It’s For Real Workplace Ethics
Discuss the ethical and practical consequences of dishonesty at work by analyzing a hypothetical situation in which a young employee at a pizza shop is being asked by her friends for free meals.
Overcoming Obstacles
Pass It On!
Inspire teamwork in your classroom with a fun group activity. Peers pass a penny from the back of their hand to their classmate's hand, who passes it down the line, and see who wins the competition.
Channel Islands Film
Restoration Channel Islands Debate
Introduce learners to the debate format with an activity that uses the National Park Service's controversial Channel Islands restoration program as a topic. Class members learn how to generate provocative debate questions, how to prepare...
US Holocaust Museum
The Art and Politics of Arthur Szyk
Have you ever listened to a song that had a deeper political meaning to it? Every examined a work of art with layers of meaning? Pupils analyze the drawings of Arthur Szyk. They research the deeper meaning of several artistic cartoons...
Oklahoma City Public Schools Native American Student Services
A Story of Survival: The Wampanoag and the English
Redesign your holiday celebrations with the aid of a lesson plan booklet packed with facts, images, maps, activities, and readings about the three-day feast that marked the English settlers' first successful harvest.
Curated OER
Proverbs of One World
Bring your class to the computer lab, and have them use the library and online resources to select proverbs related to specified themes. They create a book or bulletin board of proverbs that offer lessons connected to themes of freedom,...
Curated OER
The Progressive Era: Muckrakers Grade 8
As you explore an excerpt from Upton Sinclair's The Jungle with your class, discuss how his descriptions of the meat-packing industry caught the public's attention and helped to promote change in the Progressive Era.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
The Progressive Era: Muckrakers
Using Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, guide your class in the process of identifying unknown terms using context clues and formulating text-based answers. The lesson plan includes a useful worksheet incorporating scaffolding questions on an...
Curated OER
You Are What You Eat!
Pupils create believable self-portraits incorporating selected food items as details, forms, and texturesThe compositional focus is a head-and-shoulders portrait appropriate to the food theme resulting in a humorous illustration. Written...
Curated OER
Power to the People: Social Movements of the 1960s
Students engage in a professional development workshop for teachers in the delivery of curriculum about the era of the 1960's. The emphasis of the workshop is using popular culture of the time in order to launch investigations that are...
Curated OER
St. Patrick's Day -- History and Traditions
In this St. Patrick's Day worksheet, students answer questions about the history and traditions of the holiday. Students complete sentences about the history and traditions and a word search.
Curated OER
Where it Grows
First graders identify the commodities of Oregon and produce a map of the different commodities in different regions.
Curated OER
George Washington: The Living Symbol
Students discuss George Washington's life and how he became a symbol of this nation. They categorize various images of Washington into the various roles he plays.