In this article, the authors focus on a one-week research project examining Frederick Douglass's civic actions to challenge racial discrimination African Americans faced before and after the U.S. Civil War. Our one-week research project was implemented at a free public charter school in amid-sized Southern city. Our project connects to the…

Article describes an archaeological dig conducted by a group of elementary school students in Milford, Massachusetts. It gave the students a look at the past and a link with the citizens of Milford in yesteryear. (Author/ML)

This lesson plan is concerned with early humankind and its development into human societies. It presents four topics for Unit I: (1) cave art; (2) paleontological discoveries; (3) evolution from hunting-gathering to farming; and (4) development of language. It also suggests completion time for each topic; addresses the uses and significance of the…

As an alternative to studying Washington and Lincoln during February, the author's sixth-grade class chose to research the life and times of another president, William Henry Harrison, who was born on February 9. (SJL)

Suggests using issue-centered approaches in elementary social studies instruction and discusses one example, the Reconstructive Model by Frank Simon. Argues that by using this model, teachers can develop their own issue-centered lessons and units about history. Provides an example of a sixth-grade lesson on disabled students developed using this…

Social studies educators have promoted inquiry learning as a valuable method of instruction. Research into the use of inquiry methods in the teaching and learning of history has demonstrated that this method has much to offer. Recently, the use of technological tools, including the Internet, has received attention as a means of transforming social…

In this lesson, student teams research one of the species of early humans. Teams will create presentations that include information on physical traits, habitat, era, means of survival, culture, and relationship to modern humans. Students are provided with background information, detailed instructions, on-line resources, and reflection questions.…

This unit for sixth-grade students provides a fuller understanding of Julius Caesar's significance. Before students delve into the sample topic, they need an understanding of Roman values, lore, republican ideals, and structure of early Roman history. The first few activities in this lesson are to be taught prior to beginning the actual study of…

On November 17, 1995 the following news item appeared in "Time Magazine": "Long-lost cave reveals burial tombs of Maccabees." You (the student) are a journalist who has been asked by your editor to follow up that news item with an in-depth feature a two page spread with text and graphics entitled "The Life and Times of…

This model lesson for sixth graders about the beginnings of civilization in the Near East and Africa aims to have students focus on the cultural and geographical features of a region: landforms, climate, and vegetation. The lesson features three major topics: (1) Sumer and Mesopotamia, (2) Egypt, and (3) Kush. It addresses the uses and…

This teaching unit provides materials and information about the effects of El Nino on people, the economy, and nature around the world. It is important for students to know the impact El Nino has had on the world. The unit presents information that builds student's interest in other environmental phenomena as well. This unit offers information on…

These guidelines for conducting oral history projects are the result of the first efforts at school history of sixth-grade students at the Southside Elementary School, Columbus. While the guidelines stem from a project on a specific topic, they would be useful to students (even students beyond the sixth grade) who wish to do oral history work.…

A study recorded and analyzed instances of how middle school students develop their skills of historical thinking and perspective taking through the use of two methods: textbook analysis and oral history interviews. First, students analyzed textbook treatment of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in their U.S. and Japanese history…

This instructional unit was built upon the idea that most of the children from a second and a sixth grade classroom already had some knowledge about the social history of their community in Loveland, Colorado. The teachers implementing the unit helped these students make connections between the past and present and thereby develop an understanding…

Information and learning activities about Russia are presented in this sixth grade social studies unit. Among the unit's objectives are identification of political and economic effects of Communism, determination of the size of the Soviet Union and its latitudinal position, and comprehension of the causes and effects of the Sino-Soviet split.…