<  The Social Studies Page for K-8 Learners:  Lots of links for  students.
Social Studies Lesson Plans and More for Preservice and Classroom Teachers
Dr. Diane E. Newby
Central Michigan University
The Historical Perspective | The Economic Perspective |The Geographic Perspective |
The Civic Perspective| Diversity Links | Michigan
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  • Lesson Plans from the Digital Classroom
    • Teaching With Documents and Case Studies Lesson Plans:
  • The Cause of the Declaration of Independence
  • The Homestead Act of 1862
  • The Ratification of the Constitution
  • Fugitive from Labor Cases: Henry Garnett (1850) and  Moses Honner (1860)
  • Affidavit and Flyers from the Chinese Boycott Case
  • Maps of Indian Territory, the Dawes Act, and Will Rogers' Enrollment Case File
  • Tally of the 1824 Electoral College Vote
  • Eli Whitney's Patent for the Cotton Gin
  • The Wong Kim Ark Case
  • Court Documents Related to Martin Luther King, Jr.,  and Memphis Sanitation Workers
  • The Lewis and Clark Expedition -  Historic Trail Resources
  • Teacher Toolbag K-12 Lesson Plans
  • Teacher Tools
  • Using a Foldable Lesson Plan
  • New Deal Sites and Lesson Plans for 7-12 grades
  • The Lesson Plan Page
  • AskEric Social Studies K-12
  • National Geographic Xpeditions Geogrpahy Lesson Plans K-12
  • Teaching Current Events via Television, Newspapers, Magazines
  • Cooperative Learning Lessons (K-5)
  • New York Times Learning Network(Grades 3-12)
  • New York Times Lesson Plan Archive (6-12 social studies)
  • Kids Did This in Social Studies (Examples of Projects Completed by Students)
  • LessonsPlan Page (Over 800 Lessons)
  • Classroom Management
  • The Really Big List of Classroom Management Sites
  • Critical Incidents of Classroom Management
    • Bloomfield Hills K-8 Social Studies Aligned Curriculum
    Montgomery County Schools
    MarcoPolo Lessons
    Presidents of the United States
    The Life of Martin Luther King, Jr. - Grades 3-5
    Slavery and the Making of America
    Ancient Egypt
    Frederick Douglass
    Maryland Department of Education Lesson Plans Montgomery County Schools
    History Alive Grades 3-8
    Using Primary Resources  Here are Primary Documents of the United States About Oral History Lessons
    Using excerpts from the collection, students study social history topics through interviews that recount the lives of ordinary Americans. Based on these excerpts and further research in the collections, students develop their own research questions. They then plan and conduct oral history interviews with members of their communities.

    Use the questions such as those posted on the Social History Page to help students to analyze primary documents.


    Here are some sources to use for analyzing oral histories, so students can tell how family experiences during the Jamestown Settlement or the Civil War were alike and different.
    Jamestown Settlement

  • Read the first hand accounts of the Jamestown Settlement.
  • Read the accounts by By Captain John Smith and Edward Wingfield, first president of Jamestown.
  • Read a Perfect Description of Virginia. and Starving Time:  By John Smith
    • The Valley of the Shadow  - Diaries, Letters, and Journals from Augusta and Franklin Counties, Virginia
    Slave Narratives
  • Read the diaries, journals, newspapers, and official records in the Valley of the Shadow.
  • Identify those you wish students to read and analyze.
  • Bookmark the cites for students to read from primary documents.
  • Create questions such as those above for students to answer.
  • Create an answer sheet for the teacher's knowledge.
  • Have students present summaries of their findings to their group members.
  • Use the teacher's answer sheet to ask prompting questions of students to help them relate an key points that were missed in their summaries.
  • Below are two (2) oral history lesson plans to follow.

    • Before Brother Fought Brother: People and Places in the North and South
    Before Brother Fought Brother: Life Before the Civil War
    GeoPictionary
    The Five Themes of Geography (Grade 5)
    Making a Map  (Grades 4, 5, 6)
    Log Marks Activity  (Grade 4 - Michigan History)
    Communities(Grade 3)
    Learning Physical Geography Through Making an Edible Map (Grades 1-3)
    Three Dimensional Physical Map of the United States and Canada (Grades 6-8)
    Two Tickets to Freedom  (Economics and Geography)
    Down Buttermilk Lane (Economics and Geography)
    Teaching Strategies from ERIC Clearinghouse
    for Social Studies: Using ERIC Digest Type in social studies lessons.
  • McGraw-Hill WWW Lesson Plans Grades K-6
  • Houghton Mifflin School Place and textbook support for social studies lessons


    • Geography - -Back to Top Communities
    Map Making
    The Five Themes of Geography
    All Around the School Yard
    Shaving Cream Landforms
    Making Sense of Maps
    Log Marks Activity  (Grade 4 - Michigan History) Background information
    Learning Physical Geography Through Making an Edible Map   (Grades 1-3)
    Three Dimensional Physical Map of the United States and Canada  (Grades 6-8)
    Two Tickets to Freedom  (Economics and Geography)
    Down Buttermilk Lane (Economics and Geography)

    Comparing the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of Michigan
    Community Helpers
    Follow the Leaders

    Constructing a Community with an Emphasis on Landforms
    A Comparison of Cities
    For Reference only - Do not teach a lesson from AskEric - General Lessons
    AskEric Geography Lessons

    AskEric History Lessons

    Michigan Themes

    Holidays
    St. Patrick's Day  - Kindergarten
    AskEric - General Lessons
    AskEric Geography Lessons

    AskEric History Lessons

    Neighborhoods and Communities The Farm Grades K-3
  • Images for Teaching Geography
  • Mr. Dowling's Online Lessons on Maps and Globes
  • National Geographic Classroom Ideas Just click on"Standards," and then click on the topics and grade levels on the left side of the page.
  • "Helping Young Children Learn Geography"has lesson plans and activities for parents and teachers.
  • Using Scale (Grades 3-5) Students use a map scale to determine actual distances.
  • The Seasons (Grades K-2)
  • Geography and Discussion Lesson Plans K-5
  • Activities for Teaching Five Geography Themes
  • What do Maps Show? (5-8)
  • Destination Anywhere Map Unit and 10 Big Ideas (Upper Elementary)

    • Plan a Vacation (Grades 3-5)
  • Lesson Ideas About Michigan-Back to Top
  • Michigan Historical Lesson Plans Lesson Plans

    • Core Democratic Values and Civics-Back to Top
  • Civics Lessons from the Educator's Reference Desk
  • Evaluating Evidence
  • Nine Techniques of Propaganda
  • Propaganda Can Make History
  • Civics Online
  • Citizenship City Great Unit 6-8
  • Civics Lessons from Cradle
  • Civics Alive:  Kids Voting Online Lesson Plans Grades K-6
  • Teaching Citizenship's Five Themes Activities for Grades 1-6
  • Activities on Core Democrativ Values(Grade 5 - Cooperative Learning Approach)
  • Our Flag (K-2
  • I'm Just a Bill (Grade 3) Students map out how a bill becomes a law.
  • Building a Government Grade 3 - Suggestions for online activities
  • Lesson Plans Developed by Teachers (K-12) Scroll down and find ideas on these topics:
  • Center for Civic Education - Lesson Plans from "We the People" (secondary)
  • Decision Making Rules Grade 2
  • Democratic Decision Making Grades 3-5
  • Your Own Classroom Court Grades 5-12
  • Justice Grades 5-12
  • Resolving Conflicts Grade 5
  • Oral Reports through Personality Bags Grades 4-6
  • Discussing the Contitution through a Polorid Camera Grade 4
  • Decision Making Activities Grade 4
  • A Dictionary of Independence
  • Government Timeline in Action
  • Candidate Debate - Grades 3-8
  • Exploring Citizenship through Patterns and Change - Kindergarten
  • We the People Grade 4

    • Lesson Plans for History - - Back to Top
    Teaching with Historic Places Grades 5 - 8 Early America The Revolutionary War The Civil War
  • The Shape of Things to Come (Grades 5-8)

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    Plans about Diversity-Back to Top

  • Culture in the Cupboard
  • Ellis Island and the Wall of Honor (Grade 5)
  • Electronic Field Trips Ellis Island Unit
  • Teaching about Amistad
  • Africans In America
  • African American Almanac
  • The Gold Rush

    • 101 Things Friends Do (Grades 2-3) Internet - Email Activity
  • School Colors
    • Activities for Economics-Back to Top
  • National Foundation for Teaching Economics
  • Junior Achievement and Offices in Michigan
  • Online Economic Lessons - National Council on Economics
  • Virtual Economics (Grades 3-6)
  • Using the Internet to Teach Economics
  • A History of Money
  • Two Tickets to Freedom  Grades 5   Economic Concepts: Scarcity, Opportunity Cost, Interdependence  - Geography Themes: Location, Place, Movement

    • This book, which is a true story of fugitive slaves William and Ellen Craft, is based largely on William Craft's narrative, Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom. The story begins on a winter morning in 1848 when Ellen Craft, a light-skinned young slave, disguises herself in men's clothing and walks into a train station in Macon, Georgia and purchases two tickets, one ticket was for herself and the other for her husband. Ellen posed as a white Southern planter, and her husband,William as her slave. This began their dangerous journey which took them to England and eventually back to Georgia.
  • Marketing a Product, including Making Commercials (Can you sell it - Grades 4-5)
  • Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt (Grade 5)
  • The School Store (Grade 4)
  • Needs and Wants(1st grade - A cooperative learning lesson plan using think, pair, share)
  • Assembly Lines (Grades K-2)
  • Convince Me (Grades 4-6) In this activity, students look for and analyze examples of ads.
  • Design Your Own Dream Store (Grades 5-6) Students plan, create, and advertise their very own, unique store.

    • Design Your Own Money Grades 4-8) When you get to this page, scroll down for great teaching ideas.
  • Economics Lesson for Grade 3: The Three Little Pigs Focus on: Human, Natural, and Capital Resources and Production - This lesson plan is an example from Montgomery Public Schools.
  • Managing your money (Grades 4-7)
  • Virtual Economics Web Companion K-12 Lesson Plans - Download with Adobe Acrobat Reader
  • Using the Internet to Teach Economics: An Idea Page
  • Money Equivalents Page (K-3)
  • Consumer Price Index Project (This project is for high school students; however, it can be revised for grades 5-8)

    • Picture a Business (Grades K-2)
    Economics:  Find a Lesson

    Banking on Our Future
    Practical Money Skills - K-8
    Economics and Georgraphy Lessons for 32 Children's Books
    I Can Be an Entrepreneur - Grades 3-5
    Lean on Me:  We Depend on Each Other K-2
    These Golden Jeans
    Peanuts, Pecans, and Peas, Please 3-5
    Delivering the Goods K-2
    What Do You Want to Be?
    Paraffin-alia  Grades 3-5
    Beanie Baby Prices Soar - Grades 3-5
    Not Your Grandma's Lemonade Stand - Grades 3-5
    Laura Ingalls Wilder's Frontier Town - Grades 3-5

    Social Studies Literature Links -Back to Top
  • Integrating Geography and Social Studies Middle Level - Collier Brothers Series: Jump Ship to Freedom and War Comes to Willie Freeman - Several Websites to integrate these literature links with social studies

    • A Panel of Survivors (Grades 5-6) Children role play real life survivors, those they know, read about or have seen in videos.
    Various Social Studies Lesson Plans-Back to Top
  • A Teachers Guide to the Holocust Lesson plans for students and many resouces for teachers
  • Lesson Plans for a Variety of Social Studies Topics(Conduct your own search.)
  • Academy Curricula Exchange K-5 Lesson Plans Grades 6-8
  • Lesson Plans and Resources for Social Studies Teachers
  • Teaching Current Events Using Political Cartoons This is the Teachers' Guide for using the Professional Cartoonists Index web site.
  • Teaching About the Real Thanksgiving
  • Educator Reference  Desk  Site includes lesson plans for many social studies disciplines, K-8.
  • Learning Linksis an Internet resource for fourth and fifth grade students, parents, and teachers.You might obtain ideas for thematic lessons and units that refer to mathematics, science, social studies, language arts, cultural diversity, etc.
  • The Lesson Plan Page the lessons that integrate, social studies, language arts, science, music, and art. Click on a lesson. You then get a page with an advertisement. Just click on "click here to continue, " found in the upper right corner. You will then be able to view the lesson that you selected.
  • Links to Social Studies lesson plans and resources A decent site for Social Studies lessons.
  • Lesson Plans Using Expanded Environment Themes for Elementary- The Evergreen Curriculum Elementary Social Studies
  • Middle Level Teaching Strategies and Themes
  • Eric Clearing House for Social Studies
  • Social Studies Project Watch - Over 40 links to K-8 lesson plans and libraries
  • Social Science Homepage - Several Helpful Activities


    • Idea Plans for a Variety of Curriculum Areas-Back to Top
  • Teachers.Net K-12 lesson plans in music, art, language arts, social studies, mathematics, and science
    • Core Democratic Values |Resources for K-8 Teachers |K-8 Social Studies Methods |Newby's WebConnection
    - Back to Top