This activity will provide a good warm-up activity for the beginning of a unit on map skills, an additional practice for quick finishers, and more. Students will create a mental map of their school, their neighborhood, or their home. A mental map is a map you create in your mind of a familiar place. You have been creating these kinds of maps to navigate from place-to-place since you were very young. Think of it like a drawing of a place you carry around in your mind. If you can visualize a place or location in your mind, you have a strong understand of mental mapping skills already. For example, you have a strong map of your school in your mind if you can walk from one part of your neighborhood to another without asking for help. In this activity, you will draw a mental map on a piece of paper. You may draw a mental map of your school, your neighborhood, or your home. The activity comes with a checklist to guide students when they create their maps.

The Howard Carter and King Tut's Tomb R.A.F.T. Creative Writing Project is an excellent assignment to use to wrap up a lesson about this incredible event in ancient Egyptian history. It is also a great idea if you wish to make a unit multidisciplinary: you can combine social studies and language arts into a fun, challenging creative writing project! It might even complement a thematic learning center! What is a R.A.F.T., you might ask? R.A.F.T. is an acronym for a powerful writing strategy that stands for Role, Audience, Format, and Topic. R.A.F.T.s provide rigor, flexibility, and variety. A R.A.F.T. can be implemented in all content areas, thus making it an excellent Writing Across the Curriculum resource. Young writers might pursue one of several genres or types of writing to create one of several products including a letter, a television commercial, a journal entry, and several more.

The Flags of the World matching assignment packet requires students to match up the names of countries with their respective flags. The assignments come complete with separate name banks, which you can use (or withhold) depending on how challenging you would like to make the assignment. Answer keys are also included. There are eleven worksheets in this packet. These sheets include two Africa sheets, two Asia sheets, one Australia and Oceania sheet two Europe sheets, one North America, one South America sheet, and two sheets that allow students to test their knowledge of flags of countries from all over the world. This is a full-color assignment that would be great to introduce a new continent of study in a geography unit, to test students' abilities to conduct quick research, or to leave with a substitute teacher.

What’s on the Menu? is one of my favorite ways of introducing my students to different cultures around the world and begin thinking critically about how people interact with their environments and vice versa. What better way to do so than with food? Here is what is expected of students in this assignment: Through an intensive, research-based study, students will learn about cultural similarities and differences around the world, particularly the foods people eat. The final project may provide a unique and fascinating study of the geography, history, economic, religious, and cultural factors that influence cuisine around the world. This assignment works best when tied to a map study or long-range unit of study that allows students to see how people influence their environments and how their environments influence them. The project should require students to provide thoughtful answers to questions about how, why, and where culinary interests develop. This packet contains the following: •A universal menu template that students can use to research ANY country’s cuisine. It is color-heavy, and if your school or classroom budget does not allow printing of heavy images, I have provided an alternative that will require less ink and copier toner. •The aforementioned printer-friendly menu template for any international menu. I have also included several individualized menus for the following nations: Brazil, France, Greece, India, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, and Thailand. •Three lesson extension ideas. •A rubric you may consider using to evaluate the project.

This is the create-a-country project which requires students – upper elementary, middle, or high school – to demonstrate fundamental geography skills. I mention it is a scalable assignment. Simply, there are different versions of this two-part assignment here: an upper elementary school assignment, a middle school assignment, and a high school assignment. Of course, you can mix-and-match to fit the needs of your classes. Both parts of this assignment require students to think critically to earn full credit. The first part of the assignment requires them to define their country’s unique characteristics. The second part is a map-making assignment in which they take the displayable characteristics from part one and illustrate them on a blank piece of paper. This can be a very powerful and engaging project! I have used this assignment with success in a few ways. Sometimes, I use only the map-making part of the assignment to determine what my students already knew about map-reading skills. Another time, I used the definition assignment to reinforce an introductory unit on physical and cultural geography. I have also combined both parts of the assignment as a unit-ending project. I find this project asks students to think critically about the many characteristics that make up a country. This packet contains the following: •Two assignments-in-one: a definition assignment which requires detailed, thoughtful answers and a map-making assignment. •There are three versions of the definition part of the assignment. These have been built to scale. Consider using the first version in an upper elementary classroom, the second version in a middle school classroom, and the third version in a high school classroom. •Five lesson extension ideas. •Two rubrics you may consider using to evaluate each part of the project.

Lord of the Flies RAFT Writing Project contains a Common Core-ready writing project for the English/Language Arts classroom.This is a culminating project to end a unit of study on William Golding's famous novel. What is a RAFT, you might ask? RAFT is an acronym for a powerful writing strategy that provides rigor, flexibility, and variety. RAFT stands for Role, Audience, Format, and Topic. A RAFT can be implemented in all content areas, thus making it an excellent Writing Across the Curriculum resource. Young writers might pursue one of several genres of writing (expository, narrative, descriptive, argumentative or persuasive) to create one of several products (letter, television commercial, diary entry, etc.).

The "To Kill a Mockingbird RAFT Writing Project" contains a Common Core-ready writing project for the English/Language Arts or Social Studies classroom.This is a culminating project to end a unit of study on Harper Lee's famous novel. What is a RAFT, you might ask? RAFT is an acronym for a powerful writing strategy that provides rigor, flexibility, and variety. RAFT stands for Role, Audience, Format, and Topic. A RAFT can be implemented in all content areas, thus making it an excellent Writing Across the Curriculum resource. Young writers might pursue one of several genres of writing (expository, narrative, descriptive, argumentative or persuasive) to create one of several products (letter, television commercial, diary entry, etc.).

The Women Who Shaped America Research Project allows upper elementary and middle grade students (grades 5-8 with some modifications) an opportunity to research one of 40 important, ground-breaking, and/or pioneering women and present their findings in a biographical essay. These individuals include activists, scientists, athletes, trailblazers, politicians, authors, suffragists, and many more! That's right: there are 40 individuals to choose from! This research project is ideal for Women's History Month -- or any time of the year. There is also an optional digital storytelling component utilizing the free iPad app, Shadow Puppet EDU. This part of the project again is optional. Students can still complete the biographical essay.

The Book Thief RAFT Writing Project contains a Common Core-ready writing project for the English/Language Arts classroom.This is a culminating project to end a unit of study on Markus Zusak's powerful novel. What is a RAFT, you might ask? RAFT is an acronym for a powerful writing strategy that provides rigor, flexibility, and variety. RAFT stands for Role, Audience, Format, and Topic. A RAFT can be implemented in all content areas, thus making it an excellent Writing Across the Curriculum resource. Young writers might pursue one of several genres of writing (expository, narrative, descriptive, argumentative or persuasive) to create one of several products (letter, television commercial, diary entry, etc.). I define this further in the packet.

The Honoring Important African-Americans Research Project allows upper elementary and middle grade students (grades 5-8 with some modifications) an opportunity to research one of 40 major African-Americans from many different walks of life and present their findings in a biographical essay. These individuals include activists, scientists, musicians, trailblazers, politicians, inventors, athletes, and many more! That's right: there are 40 individuals to choose from! This research project is ideal for Black History Month -- or any time of the year. There is also an optional digital storytelling component utilizing the free iPad app, Shadow Puppet EDU. This part of the project again is optional. Students can still complete the biographical essay. All handouts are included. I have also included Common Core Anchor Standards I have met with this project.

In this project, students will design a walk-through aquarium full of exhibits containing their favorite marine mammals, fish, amphibians, reptiles, and more! The challenge is that they must design their aquariums to scale. Thus, one inch on the map might represent 50 feet in their aquariums. I have taught map scale in several ways over the years, using worksheet after worksheet, to introduce the concept and allow students to practice it. I used political maps, highway maps, physical maps, and more, but I felt like I needed a project to allow my students more hands-on, critical thinking exercise to learn the concept. Recently, I developed this short project to give students just that. Included in this packet are: a brief teacher's guide, a step-by-step set of instructions including notes and a materials list, three sample maps, and a rubric for easy grading.

The Famous Athletes Research Project allows students in grades 5-8 an opportunity to research one of 40 famous athletes and present their findings in a biographical essay. It is an excellent project to allow students to research several famous athletes from various sports. That's right: 40 star athletes from tennis, baseball, basketball, football, track & field, soccer, skateboarding, and more! There is also an optional digital storytelling component utilizing the free iPad app, Shadow Puppet EDU. This part of the project again is optional. Students can still complete the biographical essay. All handouts are included. Please check the preview before buying. I have also included a brief pacing guide/set of instructions, a rubric, and handouts to allow students to better understand the writing process.

This is a challenging set of 21 research questions for a 20th Century American History class studying the decade 1990-1999. The questions are organized chronologically, and there are two questions per year in many cases. Here is what is GREAT about this assignment: it's fully customizable! For instance, you might use only 10 of these questions instead of the 21 in the packet. You might choose 5 of the questions and ask students to conduct in-depth research for a full-length report. The possibilities are endless! I decided to make a research assignment that required strong critical thinking skills and better research skills and - above all - taught an appreciation for 20th Century American history.

This six-question activity challenges students to identify the "Big Six" British Romantic poets - Shelley, Byron, Coleridge, Blake, Wordsworth & Keats - by lines of poems they wrote. The complete assignment features lines from Ode to the West Wind, The Chimney Sweeper, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey, She Walks in Beauty, and Ode to a Nightingale. Also, included: please find a short list of free online resources you might consult while planning your lessons for this topic. (If you have access to subscription databases, however, you might consider those first.) Consider downloading the activity to challenge your students to identify these six great poets!

This is a map skills assignment for young students that teaches students how to properly use cardinal directions (north, east, south, west) and intermediate directions (northeast, northwest, southeast, southwest) with a map of Europe. So, what makes this assignment different from all of the others that you have used? The assignment is written so that students must interact with the map before they use cardinal and intermediate directions. They must first properly label the cardinal and intermediate directions on the included map's compass rose. Then, they must locate and label 15 European cities and 10 bodies of water. After successfully locating these places, there are 10 questions that require them to think about how people move from one city to another.

You are about to download a research project titled “Roman Rulers: The Good, the Bad… and the Weird.” Students must research one of the following emperors of Ancient Rome: Julius Caesar, Octavian (Augustus), Claudius, Nero, Vespasian, Titus, Hadrian, Marcus Aurelius, Caligula, or Commodus. They must determine the emperor’s strengths and weaknesses and their contributions to Roman life. In the assignment packet, you will find: For students: a role-playing letter for students to read as an introduction to the project, a step-by-step list of detailed instructions, research logs, and a works cited page to document their sources. For teachers: a list of required materials, a pacing guide, two rubrics, and a list of reputable online resources for students to use when they conduct their research. This project is intended as a cumulative assignment to enrich a unit on Ancient Rome. It would work best with middle school or high school students. You might modify it for mature elementary school students. Additionally, this project demands higher level critical thinking, as students must assess the importance of the emperor they have chosen. (This is not a biographical sketch.) They must also demonstrate teamwork skills, research skills, proper MLA citation, 21st century technology skills, the ability to work against a deadline, and much more.

This PowerPoint presentation is titled “The Colosseum - Let’s Take a Tour!” I will create and upload a series of interactive PowerPoint presentations similar in structure and style to this one to help upper elementary and middle school students learn more about the world around them. The complete assignment includes (1) the PowerPoint presentation, (2) a KWL chart to activate the lesson, (3) 15 questions you can use to guide the lesson or use as a quiz afterwards, and (4) a handful of research prompts you might use to extend the lesson. This particular PowerPoint is chock full of quality information about the Colosseum. Please download the sample to see for yourself. I have also filled the presentation with high-quality color photos and clickable links to some key vocabulary terms. If you have access to Google Earth and YouTube, you will also find clickable links embedded in the document so you can take your students on a virtual field trip to see the Colosseum from above (Google Earth) and to a classroom-safe video (YouTube) offering a first-person perspective so your students can feel what it is like to be there. I envision using this PowerPoint presentation in a handful of ways: as either a classroom instruction tool on a SmartBoard or as a self-guided PowerPoint that students can access as a homework assignment.

These worksheets are good tools for teaching students about the fifty states and their capital cities. In this packet, you will find the following worksheets and visual aids: (1) State Capitals – Students must find all 50 state capitals and write them down on the blanks provided. (2) The 50 States & Their Capitals – Students must write down the name of each state on the blanks provided. (3) State Abbreviations – Teach students the proper postal abbreviations for all 50 states. (4) State Nicknames – Teach students all of the state nicknames. (5) and (6) Capital City Jumble – Two worksheets containing 15 problems each. Students must unscramble the names of capital cities and then list their respective states. (7) A colorful map containing the 50 states and their capital cities (8) A blank map of the 50 states.**

This is a research project about ancient Egyptian pharaohs that requires students to role-play as Egyptologists-in-training. Students may choose one of these eight pharaohs: Akhenaten, Cleopatra, Hatshepsut, Khufu, Ramesses II, Seti I, Tutankhamen, or Thutmose III. Their task is to evaluate their chosen pharaoh’s strengths and weaknesses as a leader and their contributions to Egyptian life and culture. Here are some of the specifics: For students: the role-playing letter introduction, step-by-step directions for implementation (written in plain English for students to easily understand), research logs, and a works cited page to document their sources. For teachers: a list of required materials, a pacing guide, two rubrics, and a list of reputable online resources for students to use when they conduct their research. This project is intended as a cumulative assignment to enrich a unit on Ancient Egypt.

Virtual tours and field trips provide students with opportunities they may not get to experience otherwise. Where else can you “take a trip” to see Sistine Chapel, the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, or the African grasslands – all in one day? These tools may also challenge students to think critically about the places they visit. For example, a virtual trip to Pompeii requires students to consider the quality of life in an ancient city. A trip to Chichen Itza will allow them to appreciate and question the Mayas design decisions. Simply, virtual field trips can spark your students’ interest and motivate their learning in a specific content area. The following websites are worth considering for virtual field trips. Some are built as all-inclusive virtual trips with text and audio; others provide only imagery which can be adapted to fit the needs of a lesson.