There is No Cure for Polio

This collection uses primary sources to explore the polio epidemic and vaccine. Digital Public Library of America Primary Source Sets are designed to help students develop their critical thinking skills and draw diverse material from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States. Each set includes an overview, ten to fifteen primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide. These sets were created and reviewed by the teachers on the DPLA's Education Advisory Committee.

Material Type: Primary Source

Author: Melissa Jacobs

African American History Month/Biography Research

Students will research an African American person based on set questions. The students will present their person in an interview format - Guess Who.

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Author: PAMELA PHELPS

Smart Search with Google

Sometimes there is a need to refine or modify a search. In this lesson, students will learn about some advanced search techniques and when it is appropriate to use these tricks.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: PAMELA PHELPS

Neighborhood Map

Students explore a map of a neighborhood. Students use the map to begin to learn spatial concepts such as identity, location, and symbols.

Author: Christina Riska Simmons

Library Video Scavenger Hunt

This library scavenger hunt is a fun way for students to get familiar with their library, its resources, and its collection.

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Author: Jen Baker

Why Should I Be a Global Citizen?

In their investigation of global citizenship, students begin by identifying and discussing a range of traits associated with the idea of responsible citizenship. Through the featured sources in this inquiry, students will build their understandings of these traits and see how, through a series of scenarios, those traits can play out in three contexts: classroom, community/state, and the world. In the end, students return to the compelling question and answer for themselves why they should (or should not) be global citizens.

Material Type: Lesson Plan

GEDB Oh the Feet You'll Meet-Shoes: Four Feet Two Sandals (Lesson 1 of 5)

This lesson allows students to investigate the world by taking the students to another country in a book about 2 girls that only have one pair of shoes, and includes information about countries working together and sharing natural resources in a show of global interdependence in the manufacturing of athletic shoes.This lesson was developed by James Agner 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.

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Author: Melody Casey

GEDB Global Birthday Celebrations: Embracing Celebration Differences (Lesson 4 of 4)

Students will learn to embrace how others celebrate their birthdays. They will explore the feelings of others as well as their own feelings as they explore the differences in how people celebrate birthdays. This lesson was developed by Tracey Dix 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.

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Author: Melody Casey

GEDB A Trip Around North America: Research a Country (Lesson 1 of 4)

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.            

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Author: Melody Casey

Global Marketplace

In this lesson, students will use a checklist to find out more about the plants they depend on for food and fibers. They will guess which plants originated in the United States and check their guesses by researching individual plants. Students will then recognize that people move valuable plants around the globe through trade.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

New Global Citizens: Environmental Sustainability (with ELD Modifications)

During this extended unit, students will explore environmental sustainability from a number of different perspectives. They will dive deep into global policies regarding the environment, specifically the dedication of different countries to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Students will review and discuss specific case studies, offering their opinion of certain practices and policies. As a summative assessment, students will create a “Call to Action” project, with the intent of raising awareness and instigating action on environmental sustainability. This unit includes language (objectives, vocabulary, and lesson modifications) that will help the teacher meet the needs of ELL students. These strategies may be helpful for other students, as well.

Material Type: Unit of Study

Time to Celebrate!

This lesson plan features activities that center around multicultural holidays that occur in November and December, including Kwanzaa, Hanukkhah, Christmas, Divali, Los Posadas, and Ramadan. For each holiday, book suggestions and related web sites are provided.

Material Type: Lesson Plan, Teaching/Learning Strategy

Author: Jackie Howes

Ask and Answer Questions

Learn how to identify explicit evidence and understand implicit meaning in a text.You will be able to answer questions about informational text and refer explicitly to the text to support your answers.

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Author: RHONDA BURGESS

Building Background Knowledge about Physical Environment: What Makes It Hard for Some People to Get Books?

In this lesson from Expeditionary Learning, students will imagine themselves in the role of the main characters of That Book Woman by Heather Henson. They will discover the motivations of the characters through role-playing and investigating the illustrations in the text. Students will use an informational text to investigate why it might be difficult to get books to people, as it was in That Book Woman. This is Lesson 1 of 17 from the Grade 3 Curriculum Map Unit 3, Module 1: http://engageny.org/resource/grade-3-ela-module-1-unit-3 .

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Assessment, Lesson Plan, Reading, Vocabulary

Author: Expeditionary Learning

Lesson Plan: Comparing and Contrasting Christmas Around the World

In this lesson, students will read different informational texts and compare and contrast the celebration of Christmas in two different countries.

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Author: Education.com, Inc

Reviewing a Book of Fiction

Students chose a book of fiction from the media center. Given a specific amount of time to complete reading the book, students then write a review of that book giving a description of various components of the book as well as a recommendation. 

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Author: HEATHER JOHNSON-MILLS

Media Center Activity Collaboration Form Using Big 6

This is a resource I created to help me do a better job at collaboration with my teachers when they wanted to use the media center.

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Author: HEATHER JOHNSON-MILLS

Diving Deeper With Characters

In this lesson, students watch as the teacher models using details to describe a character in an Arnold Lobel fable.  Then students work to use details to describe a character in another fable.

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Author: DEANNA WILES

Fair Versus Equal

Students explore different abilities of characters in a literature study of five different novels. Students select their own novel based on interest and readability, conduct research, and create a presentation on the disability of the character(s) in their novel. In addition, students visit an adaptive special education classroom to observe, interact and participate in learning with differently-abled peers. Students collaborate to communicate results of their research with peers, parents, and staff. They are visited by representatives from an organization such as Canine Companions for Independence to learn about how their organization works to improve the quality of life for individuals with disabilities.

Material Type: Unit of Study

Authors: Alison Brown, Carmen Young, Selena Miracle, Stephanie Caviness

Literature Circle Discussion Questions

Literature circles are a way to engage students in reading by selecting texts to read and discuss with peers. Instead of traditional literature circle roles, use question stems as a way to spark discussion. These question stems build in the complexity of thinking required. Reflection questions are included for debriefing after the small group discussion.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: Samantha Spezzano