Research the Country – students will become more familiarized with their global region of study by researching a country in North America. This lesson was developed by Tia Gilliam as part of their completion of the North Carolina Global Educator Digital Badge program. This lesson plan has been vetted at the local and state level for standards alignment, Global Education focus, and content accuracy.            

In this lesson, students will learn the importance of water and how people in other countries do not have clean water to drink. First, students will research water conservation within their own communities. They will discover how water is purified and the steps necessary to keep our water sources clean. The students will then conduct research on the people of Sudan and how difficult obtaining clean drinking water can be. Students will conclude this lesson by building their own homemade water filters. This lesson was developed by Christina Hartzell as part of their completion of the North Carolina Global Educator Digital Badge program. This lesson plan has been vetted at the local and state level for standards alignment, Global Education focus, and content accuracy.

In this lesson, students will use primary source materials to investigate significant events in American History of the 19th century.

In this lesson, students will use primary source materials to investigate the economy, physical geography, and cultural aspects of the Northern States and the Southern States prior to the Civil War.

In this lesson, students will use primary source materials to investigate significant historical events during the American Civil War.

In this lesson, students will use primary source materials to investigate significant events in Post-Civil War American History of the 19th century.

This unit is designed for students to learn to make judgments and decisions based on facts, and to use informational and imaginative speech to present their personal viewpoint and opinion to others. Students experience, first hand, taxation without representation, and will develop a very real sense for the need to preserve the inherent freedoms of man. Using the American flag as a graphic organizer, students will develop a clear understanding of the actions and reactions of the American colonists to British rule and to our most important national holiday, the 4th of July. Historically significant events will be studied and organized through exploration of facts and opinions and interaction with informational text and class discussion.

Water covers 71% of the earth?s surface?does it get the instructional time it deserves in your busy curriculum? Students wade right in to the study of bodies of water as they read and discuss science trade books and work together to develop Readers Theater scripts based on selected titles.

In this lesson using Ben’s Dream, a picture book by Chris Van Allsburg, students highlight ten major landmarks of the world: the Statue of Liberty, Big Ben, the Eiffel Tower, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Parthenon, the Sphinx, St. Basil’s Cathedral, the Taj Mahal, the Great Wall of China, and Mount Rushmore. After reading and discussing Ben’s Dream, students identify the landmarks shown in the book and examine photographs of them. Working in small groups, students select one landmark to research. Using their research skills, students locate these famous landmarks, conduct further research on them, publish their findings using an online tool, and share that information with the class.

In this lesson, students will compare John Smith's account of the Powhatan Indians with other primary source material about the Powhatans. They will then compare ideas and facts from each source to determine similarities and differerences.

In this lesson students will study Native Americans in order to become familiar with the contributions to and influences on American society particularly, but not exclusively, in the Western region of the United States. This lesson will focus on some of the cultural history, writings and symbols of the southwestern tribes. After researching, studying and comparing the differences among the various tribes in small groups, students will produce individual reports about a specific Native American perspective.

This course was created by the Rethink Education Content Development Team. This course is aligned to the NC Standards for 5th Grade ELA. 

This course was created by the Rethink Education Content Development Team. This course is aligned to the NC Standards for 5th Grade English Language Arts. 

This resource accompanies our Rethink 5th Grade ELA course. It includes ideas for use, ways to support exceptional children, ways to extend learning, digital resources and tools, tips for supporting English Language Learners and students with visual and hearing impairments. There are also ideas for offline learning. 

This project can be used with 5th grade AIG students during the third module of EL.As students read the novel, Silver People:  Voices from the Panama Canal, by Margarita Engle, they will use their guided reading journal to take notes on different passages that represent the different themes of the novel.Students will then use their passages to complete a Google Slide presentation.  They will insert images that can relate to the passage and then provide their analysis of how the image and passage represent the theme from the book.

Students will play the role of newspaper reporters in order to research, write, and publish an article about the history of the Star-Spangled Banner. This is connected with the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, DC.

During a unit on financial literacy, this lesson gives students the chance to consider the options that consumers face when dealing with their money and to observe what happens to money when consumers make different decisions about how to use it. This lesson was developed by NCDPI as part of the Academically and/or Intellectually Gifted Instructional Resources Project. This lesson plan has been vetted at the state level for standards alignment, AIG focus, and content accuracy.

Western Carolina University has been named the Top Adventure School in the Southeast. What makes WCU such a great school? Could it be the place for you to start your life’s adventures after high school? Why should you consider becoming a Catamount?

This Thinglink would be used in conjunction with a Scavenger Hunt about colleges. The ultimate goal is for students to create their own Thinglink about a college/university of their choice. Extensions for comparing/contrasting universities across the state.

In this lesson, the whole class analyzes a photograph and brainstorms words to describe the characters' senses and feelings. A "hot-seating" drama session follows where classmates interview each other, acting as characters in the photograph, and further exploring the characters' feelings. Students are introduced to the idea of using similes and then work in pairs to describe a character's experience. They then create a simply structured poem using their ideas and similes.

Part 1 and part 2 of this lesson has an upper elementary create an animoto video about themselves or their family in some way.

Assignment:  Make a video with Animoto, to help us learn about YOU!

Here are the choices from which to choose:

About the author video.


Interview someone on video.


Choice - something which teaches us about you about which we didn't know.

Students will get an internet agreement chat and survey, as well as lots of tips and tricks with animoto.

Students will also learn how to take pictures and make video shorts on chromebooks.

In part 2 of this unit, kids will add features, zing, preview, publish, and edit.  They will share on projector and use padlet to reflect.