Curated OER
The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry
With The Great Kapok Tree, by Lynne Cherry as the hook learners discuss the rainforest, the animals that live there, and conservation efforts. Then, students write a letter to the man in the story asking him not to cut down the Kapok...
Curated OER
The Meaning Behind the Mask
Students explore the world of African masks and storytelling. They create masks that tell stories of their own.
Curated OER
Cultural and Social Transformation since 1865
Young scholars research the evolution of cultural and social issues in areas of Westward Expansion, Immigration, and Civil Rights. They practice writing clear details with supporting evidence and examples and evaluate ways of improving...
Curated OER
Marostica, Una Citta Incantevole
Students explore various Italian websites on the city of Marostica. They complete a worksheet, list the cultural events they would like to see, create a poster of an imagined cultural festivity in Italy, or write a radio announcement.
Curated OER
Attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Sixth graders hear a story about the atomic bombing of Japan and write an editorial about the event from the perspective of either a Japanese or an American.
Curated OER
Unleashed: Poems by Pets
Students create a poem from the first person perspective of a pet. In this Writing/Poetry lesson, students read a short poem from, Unleashed. Students brainstorm what their animal may say. Students write a poem using the first...
Curated OER
Hiroshima
High schoolers conduct research focused around the events concerning the bombing of Hiroshima in Japan. The research is based upon the answering of several key questions. The students are also exposed to different media sources to see...
Curated OER
Holocaust Research Project
Learners research multiple aspects of WWII. For this Holocaust lesson, students will use several primary source documents to write a 3 page pater on subjects concerning WWII, such as Kristallnacht, Ethnic Cleansing and the Holocaust.
Curated OER
Social Effects of WWII on South Carolina
Students study the history of South Carolina and the impact World War II had on the state. In this WWII history lesson, students research the social effects incurred from WWII on the people of South Carolina. Students develop an outline...
Curated OER
Surprise at Pearl Harbor
Students review the concept of courage and relate it to their daily life. As a class, they are introduced to the events of December 7, 1941 at Pearl Harbor. Using a map, they locate Hawai'i and label the islands. They use the internet to...
Curated OER
The Real World War II
Students work in groups in order to investigate primary and secondary resources in order to make their own conclusions about the history of World War II. They look at the evidence critically looking to find valid resources.
Curated OER
Write All About It
Fourth graders use research skills and the writing process to create a newspaper. Although students work in groups to complete the final draft of the newspaper, each student is responsible for doing his or her own research and writing...
Curated OER
Lesson: Journey of a Tree
Third graders explore the operation of a Christmas farm and how trees are shipped. After taking a tour of a Christmas tree farm and researching transportation, location and cost issues, 3rd graders create a map to show the distribution...
Student Achievement Partners
Laura Hillenbrand's "Unbroken" and Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston's "Farewell to Manzanar"
Passages from Unbroken and Farewell to Manzanar provide the context for a study of the historical themes of experiencing war, resilience during war, and understanding the lasting trauma of war. Appendices include extension...
EngageNY
Learning to Observe Closely and Record Accurately: How to Create a Field Journal
Look carefully. Scholars practice observing and recording the natural world around them by looking out a window or viewing an image. Learners discuss how their experience compares to that of Meg Lowman in The Most
Beautiful Roof in the...
Curated OER
What's In a Name?
Young scholars explore the relationship between names and certain cultures and locations. In this identity instructional activity, students create family migration or immigration maps. Young scholars read excerpts from When My Name was...
Curated OER
Secret Life of Bees Research
The Secret Life of Bees provides high schoolers an opportunity to connect the events in the novel to events in America’s history. After choosing a topic from a provided list, individuals research how the event affected the Civil Rights...
Hawaiʻi State Department of Education
Text Connections
There are so many different ways to help learners make text-to-self connections. Here, fifth graders will create tableaus that show an event from a chapter in the class reader. They'll discuss why they chose that event to dramatize and...
Curated OER
International Day of Peace
To recognize the International Day of Peace, pupils complete activities such as reading a passage, phrase matching, fill-in-the-blanks, correct words, multiple choice, spelling sequencing, scrambled sentences, asking questions, take a...
Curated OER
Dragonwings: Explore Chapters 1-5
If you are beginning Laurence Yep's Dragonwings, this will provide activities for the first five chapters. The objectives include making connections to oneself and the world, organizing information and events, vocabulary acquisition,...
Curated OER
Propaganda
How does word choice affect the reading of a text? Compare two headlines that were written about the same event. Is one biased? Discuss how word choice often reveals the author's feelings about a topic. Then look at different techniques...
Peace Corps
Celebrating Our Connections Through Water
Water is vital for survival, but how does it help global cultures flourish? Elementary and middle schoolers learn about the different cultures around the world that celebrate water and incorporate it into their festivals or traditions.
Curated OER
Understanding "The Stans"
Students explore and locate "The Stans" in Central Asia to create, write and illustrate maps, graphs and charts to organize geographic information. They analyze the historical and physical characteristics of Central Asia via graphic...
Foreign Policy Research Institute
Intro to China
Understanding the global interconnection between people of other nations is extremely important in our ever-shrinking world. Emergent global thinkers examine the significance of Chinese culture, religion, and political power. They then...