Browse lesson plans

Around the world, a multicultural unit

The students will listen to stories from different cultures. They will participate in directed discussion, followed by a related art activity.

Format: lesson plan (grade K–1 English Language Arts, Guidance, Healthful Living, and Social Studies)

By Judy Cliver.

Birds of a feather, an interdisciplinary unit: Language Arts wing

This lesson, which features Mark Twain's “Jim Baker's Blue-jay Yarn,” is part of an interdisciplinary unit on birds that contains math/science and language arts components. In the language arts wing, students will explore dialects and personification through this very entertaining tall tale full of the antics of talking blue-jays.

Format: lesson plan (grade 7 English Language Arts and English Language Development)

By Janet Fore.

Connecting folktales and culture in North Carolina and beyond

Students will explore connections to North Carolina culture as they engage in reading and analyzing three folktales of North Carolina Literary Festival author, William Hooks. After comparing these stories to other versions of the traditional tales, students will become authors and storytellers themselves as they rewrite a tale from a new cultural point of view. Opportunities are also included to extend this study to world cultures and folktales.

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

By Jeanne Munoz.

Culture everywhere

In Intrigue of the Past, page 1.3

In their study of culture, students will use a chart to show the different ways that cultures meet basic human needs and recognize that archaeologists study how people from past cultures met basic needs by analyzing and interpreting the artifacts and sites that they left behind.

Format: lesson plan (grade 4 and 8 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

Dynamic dialect: Horace Kephart and Our Southern Highlanders

Students will read an excerpt from Horace Kephart's Our Southern Highlanders and explore how language and dialect have changed over the years.

Format: lesson plan (grade 8–10 English Language Arts)

By Billie Clemens.

Folklife

Students will learn North Carolina folklore, traditions, war activities, local legends, superstitions, food preparation traditions, art, songs and dances which are unique to the area.

Format: lesson plan (grade 8 Social Studies)

By Carolyn Early.

It's in the garbage

In Intrigue of the Past, page 1.9

In studying archaeological concepts, students will analyze garbage from different places demonstrate competence in applying the concepts of culture, context, classification, observation and inference, chronology and scientific inquiry.

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

North Carolina American Indian stories

In this lesson students will select and read stories from some of the North Carolina American Indian tribes. They will compare and contrast two stories of their choice and complete a Venn diagram. Students will use the information on the Venn diagram to write three paragraphs. After reading several American Indian tales or legends, students will then create their own legend using the narrative writing process.

Format: lesson plan (grade 4 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

By Janice Gardner.

North Carolina Cherokee Indians: The Trail of Tears

In this two week unit, students will study the Cherokee by participating in literature circles, learning about Native American story telling, writing a letter to Andrew Jackson to protest against the Creek War, and more.

Format: lesson plan (grade 4–5 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

By Gina Golden.

Quilts

This lesson plan in designed to be one part of a fourth grade social studies unit on the Appalachian Mountains. It is based on the mountain custom of quilt making. This plan uses the book The Quiltmakers Gift by Jeff Brumbeau. It also uses the book internet site and other related sites. Enrichments of this lesson would be to display quilts, have a real quilt maker visit, have the class create their own paper quilt, etc.

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–4 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

By Barbara Waters.

Storytellers in the Mountains of North Carolina

Students will study five famous North Carolina storytellers: Jackie Torrence, Ray Hicks, Donald Davis, David Holt, and Sheila Kay Adams. They will research how their stories were collected and how they developed their storytelling styles that distinguish them from other tellers.

Format: lesson plan (grade 4 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

By Martha Hayes.

To market, to market: Photograph analysis

In this lesson, students analyze photos of markets from around the world to gain an understanding of the similarities and differences between geographically distant places, to learn about the economic and cultural significance of markets, and to improve visual literacy skills.

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–7 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

By Eric Eaton.

Resources on the web

American Memory Project Learning Page

Use the American Memory web site to teach about United States history and culture with these tips and tricks, frameworks, activities, and lessons that provide context for their use. (Learn more)

Format: website/lesson plan

Provided by: Library of Congress

Animals of the Chinese zodiac

In this lesson from the EDSITEment website, students learn about the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac. As well as developing their knowledge of Chinese culture, students learn to recognize symbols and describe different human character traits. From this... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade K–2 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

Provided by: EDSITEment

Children's BBC Newsround

A United Kingdom news website with articles about events, arts and science that will be useful to anyone interested in what's happening in the world. Browse thematic picturecollections, play a game, participate in an online opinion poll, or just catch up... (Learn more)

Format: website/lesson plan

Provided by: BBC News

A Dancer's Journal: Learning to Perform the Dances of Martha Graham

At the entrance to this site, users are invited to view the journals of Jordy Kandinsky, the newest member of the Martha Graham Dance Company. Entering the site produces a virtual locker full of notebooks, video and audio clips, a folder for teacher resources,... (Learn more)

Format: website/lesson plan

Provided by: ARTSEDGE

EDSITEment

The “best of the online humanities resources on the Web” including museums, libraries, and other cultural institutions. (Learn more)

Format: website/lesson plan

Provided by: National Endowment for the Humanities

Packing the Pilgrim's trunk: Personalizing history in the elementary classroom

This theme exploration helps students explore who the Pilgrims were, learn about their journey aboard the Mayflower, and discover how they adapted and built new lives at Plymouth Colony. After participating in an activity that activates prior knowledge... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade K–2 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

What's it like to live along a national boundary?

In this lesson, students will discuss the concept of boundaries and borders and will investigate the characteristics of the United States-Mexico border. They'll pretend to live on the U.S. side of the border and will write dialogues between themselves and... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 5 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

Provided by: Xpeditions