Scholastic
Pilgrim and Wampanoag Daily Life for Grades 6–8
Two slide shows, viewed side-by-side, permit middle schoolers to compare and contrast the lives of the Pilgrims of the Plimoth colony and the Wampanoags. Four videos take learners on virtual field trips to the Plymouth plantation. And an...
Curated OER
Student Opinion: What Small Things Have You Seen and Taken Note of Today?
An interesting and unusual topic for a news article, this resource from the New York Times website asks learners to take a moment and consider all the things they notice during a typical day. Based of the editorial piece "Things I...
Curated OER
Researching the Past
Learners research the western movement in order to learn note taking strategies with nonfiction texts. They use the Internet to search for important information about the western movement using the Cornell Notes note-taking system. They...
EngageNY
Close Reading: The Introduction to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
As part of a group of lessons, your class will return to the primary text for this unit, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Key vocabulary as well as close reading strategies continue to be the focus skills; however, this lesson...
Curated OER
All About Our Town
Pupils explore brochure writing. They work in groups to brainstorm and categorize important places in their community. In addition, they gather information from the Internet, take pictures using a digital camera, and create a community...
Curated OER
Let There Be Peace: Nobel Prize Winners
What is the Nobel Peace Prize? After they establish criteria for great leadership, secondary learners read a New York Times article about President Jimmy Carter's acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. Individuals research the...
Curated OER
Primary Sources and Protagonists: A Native American Literature Unit
Introduce your middle schoolers to the lives of past Native Americans. First, learners work together to put photographs in a sequence. Then, using their sequence, they create stories to share with the whole class. No matter how old your...
Curated OER
Search Warranted?
Young readers work on evaluating claims in a piece of informational text with the article "In New York, It's Open Bag or Find Exits" from the New York Times. They analyze current search procedures implemented to fight terrorism...
Curated OER
Cattle Drive Research
Students research the live of cowboys in 18th Century America. For this cattle drive lesson, students locate a variety of online resources and take notes. Students compile notes and write a brief report.
Curated OER
Create a Public Opinion Survey: The Middle East in the News
Though the discrete content here is a pair of New York Times articles about a 1998 military strike on Iraq and the coincident impeachment by the House of Representatives of then-President Clinton, this detailed plan for creating,...
Curated OER
Freedom and You
Students research the American Revolution. In this Revolutionary War lesson, students research facts about the American Revolution, write an expository essay, and peer edit for good content. The paper is suggested to be written after...
EngageNY
Main Ideas in Informational Text: Analyzing a Firsthand Human Rights Account
Although this is part of a series, lesson plan nine has your class take a break from their close study of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) text to read the firsthand account “Teaching Nepalis to Read, Plant, and...
San Francisco Symphony
Biographical Slideshow
Biographies can be a fun topic for any history project. Learners choose one famous person that lived between 1865 and 1930 to research. They gather information, work on reading comprehension, and use what they find to create slide shows...
Curated OER
PowerPoint Postcards
Third graders use the internet to research three facts about a country, state or habitat of their choice. Using this information, they create slides in PowerPoint to connect the information. They share their slides with the class and...
Curated OER
My State of the Union
Fourth graders, in groups, research states and using various print and nonprint reference materials. The groups make a presentation to inform the class about all the information from the state. This lesson plan provides imbedded support...
Curated OER
Literature: Isabel Allende
Students watch and respond to a Bill Moyers Now video on the Chilean author, Isabel Allende. They brainstorm a list of recent events that might inspire writers and choose one to write about in poetic, diary, or short story form.
Curated OER
Famous Virginians
Fourth graders research the lives of famous people from Virginia. Using the internet, they take notes in a blank flipbook given to them by their teacher. They write a speech in first person of the famous Virginian they researched and...
Curated OER
Mississippi River
Students study scanning and skimming techniques. In this research skills lesson plan, students use the research techniques on print literature about the Mississippi River. Students prepare book talks on the literature they read.
Curated OER
Underground Railroad
Learners explore the Underground Railroad. In this U.S. history and technology lesson, students research an assigned topic related to the Underground Railroad, such as "abolitionist," "conductor," or "station houses." ...
Curated OER
Fish Stories
Students conduct background research about a Pacific Rim country to develop a premise for a documentary film about the fate of traditional fishing industries in the area.
Curated OER
The Student Newspaper on World War I
Students explore WW I through the publication of a completely student-compiled newspaper.