Consider purchasing this quick vocabulary assignment to introduce your elementary or middle school students to some basic terminology about Islam. You might even use it as a vocabulary quiz. The choice is yours! I believe this assignment would be best for kids between the ages of 10-14. There are twelve terms found in the complete assignment, with kid-friendly definitions, and an answer key for quick, simple grading. Additionally, I have created and included four puzzles you might consider using: a word search, a crossword puzzle, a fallen phrase puzzle, and a cryptogram puzzle. All answer keys are also provided. Last, please find a handful of websites you might consult to build a lesson or unit plan about Islam. The vocabulary words include: Allah, the Five Pillars, Hajj, Kaaba, Mecca, Minaret, Mosque, Muezzin, Muhammad, Quran, Prophet, and Ramadan.

The Martin Luther King, Jr. R.A.F.T. Creative Writing Project is an excellent assignment to use to wrap up a lesson about this iconic figure in American 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! 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 Boston Tea Party R.A.F.T. Creative Writing Project is an excellent assignment to use to wrap up a lesson about this famous moment in American 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! 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. I define this further in the packet.

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 is a challenging set of 22 research questions for a 20th Century American History class studying the decade 1960-1969. 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 22 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 is a challenging set of 21 research questions for a 20th Century American History class studying the decade 1950-1959. It has a strong focus on events during the Cold War and the American Civil Rights Movement. The questions are organized chronologically. 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 is a challenging set of 20 research questions for a 20th Century American History class studying the decade 1930-1939. The questions are organized chronologically, and there are two questions per year in most 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 20 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 went beyond basic questions like "When did Amelia Earhart make her famous flight?" and "Who was president during World War II?" Instead, I opted for questions that required strong critical thinking skills and better research skills and - above all - taught an appreciation for 20th Century American history.

This is a challenging set of 20 research questions for a 20th Century American History class studying the decade 1920-1929. 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 20 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 is a challenging set of 25 research questions for a 20th Century American History class studying the decade 1940-1949. It has a strong focus on events during and after World War II. The questions are organized chronologically, and there are two questions per year in most 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 25 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 went beyond basic questions like "When did World War II begin?" and "Who was president during World War II?" Instead, I opted for questions that required strong critical thinking skills and better research skills and - above all - taught an appreciation for 20th Century American history.

Would you like a fun, challenging way to teach students the fifty states and capital cities? This set of 25 FULL-COLOR Bingo game sheets will do just that! This packet contains a few components to help you and your students practice memorizing states and/or state capitals. You will find the following items: 1. Clue sheets for both states and state capitals; 2. Twenty (20) full-color Bingo sheets containing state outlines; 3. A full-color map labelled with both states and state capitals. What you will need: markers, coloring pencils, or regular pencils for students to mark the Bingo boxes I have used this packet primarily with middle school 6th grade students, but I believe it can be modified to work with upper elementary school students, too.

This is a challenging set of 20 research questions for a 20th Century American History class studying the decade 1970-1979. 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 20 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! The questions are organized chronologically, and there are two questions per year in many cases. 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 is a challenging set of 20 research questions for a 20th Century American History class studying the decade 1900-1909. The questions are organized chronologically, and there are two questions per year in most 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 20 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 went beyond basic questions like "Which president was assassinated in 1901?" and "Which city did the Hurricane of 1900 destroy?" Instead, I opted for questions that required strong critical thinking skills and better research skills and - above all - taught an appreciation for 20th Century American history.

This is a challenging set of 20 research questions for a 20th Century American History class studying the decade 1910-1919. The questions are organized chronologically, and there are two questions per year in most 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 20 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 went beyond basic questions like "When did the Titanic sink?" and "Who was president during World War I?" Instead, I opted for questions that required strong critical thinking skills and better research skills and - above all - taught an appreciation for 20th Century American history.

Would you like to enliven ancient history with a fun, challenging writing project? The Gladiators of the Roman Colosseum RAFT Writing Project contains a RAFT writing project for the social studies classroom. This project may be used as a creative research project or as a summarizing assignment to end a unit of study on Caesar or Ancient Rome. **Students are also reminded in the instructions that the writing MUST be school-appropriate! ** What is a RAFT, you might ask? RAFT is an acronym for a powerful writing strategy that provides rigor, flexibility, and variety. 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 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.

Absolute and relative location are two basic, important geography tools that all students must master. While there are many available assignments to teach these concepts to elementary school and middle school/junior high school students, here’s one with a twist! Students will locate all 30 NBA teams using absolute and relative location. Absolute location, of course, requires students to use latitude and longitude to give their answers. Relative location requires cardinal directions (north, south, east, west) and intermediate directions (northeast, northwest, southeast, southwest). This would be an effective assignment as the NBA season opens its latest season. Included, please find the assignment with chart for record-keeping, an answer key, a blank map, a political USA/Canada map, and an idea for an extension assignment. Plus, how about this idea for an educational technology twist? I used Google Earth and a custom-made kml file to bring the stadium tour to life in your classroom. I have included simple instructions to install the file on your laptop or desktop computer.

Would you like to enliven your 20th century American history or science lesson with a fun, challenging writing project? The Apollo 11 Moon Landing RAFT Writing Project contains a RAFT writing project for the social studies or science classroom. This project may be used as a creative research project or as a summarizing assignment to end a unit of study on Apollo 11. 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 Create Your Own Culture Project will give students hands-on practice working with concepts that are sometimes difficult to understand. What is a culture? What are culture traits? These are questions that students may struggle to define. If they are given the opportunity to create their own culture full of vibrant culture traits, I believe these concepts will be easier to master. Throughout this project, students are challenged to create unique characteristics and explain them thoroughly. There are other parts in which students must draw their creations. If used in its entirety, this can be a very powerful and engaging assignment! Of course, depending on your instructional goals and how much time you have available to you will also determine how much of the packet you may wish to use. Nothing in the packet is numbered – and for good reason! – so that you can mix-and-match handouts to meet specific goals. A complete project will give students the most immersive experience, but a handful of pages will also prove beneficial. A word of advice before you start: this assignment works best when students are required to take it seriously. They are asked to justify their answers in the assignment to cut down on “nonsense answers.” What about an extension idea? Consider displaying all of these projects displayed with colorful images and bold lettering on a poster board or bulletin board display. You might even host a multicultural fair in your classroom in which students present and explain the cultures they have created. What fun! If you should try this, would you please email me a photo or two of the finished work? I love seeing examples of how the assignments I write are used in the classroom.

Primary sources are defined as "works of human endeavor that were created at the time or very close to the time that is studied." Teaching with primary sources allows students to interpret information for themselves and demands of them higher level critical thinking skills. They also provide students a "window to the past," and depending on the era or subject taught, can provide eye-opening perspectives about social and political issues, economics, artistic movements, and so much more. The following 27 websites are my favorite resources for locating primary source materials to use in my classroom. I have organized this document categorically: the first part of the document contains primary sources related to American history and culture, while the second part of the document focuses on more global resources.

This is a challenging set of 22 research questions for a 20th Century American History class studying the decade 1980-1989. 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 22 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.