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With great excitement, we are pleased to announce We're Published!
From a Teacher who bought our books (our first
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"Your units are exactly what I had hoped for--readable, interesting
topics
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Free Lessons
& Learning Modules
Unique to This Site
We hope you'll find
something you can use.
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Ancient
History
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Ancient Greek Olympics Mini-Unit: A Simulation for the Classroom (4-5 days) with city-state backgrounds, events & tongue twisters
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Can you save the Roman Republic? Lesson Plan, with handout
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Buddhist, Taoist, Confucianist, Legalist - How would each behave when faced with the same problems that face students today?
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The Three Teachings - Confucianism, Taoism/Daoism, and Buddhism
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Debates on Censorship: (2-3 days) Debate set in modern times. Lesson Plan, Ancient China
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Deep in the Tombs of Egypt - Message to the Planet! Two of our people have disappeared - Deep in the Tombs of Egypt! Designed for use in the computer lab.
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Ancient History Lesson Ideas (some ours, some e-mailed to us!)
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Daily Life in Ancient Civilizations: Index - Learning Modules
The Life & Times of Early Man - Why did Cro-Magnon man crawl on his belly through dangerous mazes in deep dark caves? How did the "Upright Man" travel from Africa to America without a boat? Who were the Neanderthals? Did man live at the same time as dinosaurs? Find out here! Explore the life and times of Early Man!
Ancient Mesopotamia/Sumer/Babylon/Assyria - The ancient Sumerians were great inventors. They invented the wheel, the sailboat, and the first written language. Find out what happened to kids in school who disobeyed their teacher! Read The Legend of Gilgamesh - the first superhero! Learn How Marduk Became the King of ALL the Gods. Enter Hammurabi's Court. Discover how people lived 5000 years ago in the land between two rivers.
Ancient Egypt Daily Life - Do you know what the ancient Egyptians believed would cure a toothache? Find out here! Read some Egyptian Tall Tales (shared with us by Egyptologist Jacques Kinnaer.) Enjoy an original story about Ancient Egyptian Daily Life. Explore Deep in the Tombs of Egypt.
Ancient Greece Daily Life - How would you have behaved if you had lived in ancient Sparta? (Lie, cheat, steal, because that is the Sparta way!) Or in ancient Athens? Or in Corinth, Argos or Megara? Meet the Greeks! They were a riot! They created some of the best myths in the world like Theseus and the Minotaur and the story of Little Io.
Ancient Rome Daily Life - If you had lived in ancient times, would you have chosen to become a Roman citizen? You might have! The ancient Romans invented more games than any other culture. Find out what the ancient Romans did all day! Don't miss the zany, original story, Thomas, Greatest Lawyer in all...Rome!
Ancient China Daily Life - Learn about Taoism with Winnie-the-Pooh! Explore daily life in 4 different Chinese dynasties. Meet weird emperors like Hu the Tiger! Read things written in BCE times! For those in a hurry, just click on the Cheat Sheet, for a very quick look at 11,000 years of ancient Chinese history!
Ancient Africa Daily Life - Explore daily life in four gold coast kingdoms - Ghana, Mali, Songhay, and Benin. Meet famous people like Mansa Musa, Sonni Ali The Great, and the most famous of all - Anansi the Spider! Read a story from ancient Nubia, The Lion's Whisker.
Ancient Celts Daily Life - The Iron Age Celts were very clean. They are credited with the invention of soap! They loved music, feasting, and fighting. They lived in clans, respected their druids, and created stories about fairies, elves, and leprechauns. Come meet the Ancient Celts who once lived all over Europe, and who settled down in ancient Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.
Ancient Mongols Daily Life - The ancient Mongols invented the ger - but what is a ger? Learn about whistle arrows, fabulous hats, horse head fiddles, well-wishing, salty tea, and the magical Shamas. Read the story of The Warrior Well. Meet "The Felt Tent People". Welcome to ancient Mongolia!
Ancient India Daily Life - What did the ancient Indians wear? What did they eat? Did kids play with toys? Did they go to school? This site shares daily life in three major time periods of ancient India history; the mysterious and so cool Indus Valley Civilization, the Vedic & Epics Periods, and the Age of Empires.
The Incredible Incas - The Incas never invented the wheel. Yet, high in the rugged Andes Mountains of South America, the Incas built thousands of miles of well-paved roads. Everyone in the empire was well fed and no one was homeless. Meet "The Children of the Sun".
The Mysterious Mayas - One day, the Mayas appeared. 1500 years later, they disappeared. No one knows where they came from and no one knows where they went! During their stay, they build fabulous pyramids, temples, and ball courts. Learn About Daily Life in the Maya Empire. Read the exciting adventure of The Hero Twins. Meet "The Children of the Corn".
The Awesome Aztecs - Why did the Aztecs search for 200 years to find the Place of the Prickly Pear Cactus? What did conquered people have to pay in tribute? Discover how the Aztecs treated some very honored guests in the story Journey of a Princess. Welcome to ancient Mexico.
Daily Life in Olden Times (US & Canada Native Americans) - Our New Section, Eastern Woodland Indians, Southeast Region, Plains Indians, Southwest Region, California, Northwest Pacific Coastal Indians, Far North
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Ancient Myths, Folktales, Stories retold by us for use in the classroom as handouts (word format)
The Legend of Gilgamesh (Sumerian)
How Marduk Became the King of ALL the Gods (Babylonian)
Theseus and the Minotaur (Minoan/Greek)
Little Io (Greek Version) & Little Io (Roman Version)
Anansi the Spider (Africa, Ghana)
The Lion's Whisker (Africa, Kush/Nubia)
Loawnu the Wise Woman (Xia Times, Ancient China)
Wang the Peddler (Han Times, Ancient China)
The Warrior Well (Ancient Mongolia)
The Hero Twins (Maya)
Place of the Prickly Pear Cactus (Aztec)
Journey of a Princess (Aztec, grades 6-12)
Clever Coyote (Comanche Buffalo Myth)
Child of Water and Little Blue Rock (Apache Myth)
Wise Owl (Iroquois Myth)
How Raven Stole Crow's Potlatch (Northwest Coastal Pacific Myth)
Happy Together (Russian Folktale)
Free Presentations in PowerPoint
format retold by us; illustrated by
Phillip Martin
Early
Humans (Lucy, Neanderthals, Cro-Magnon and more!)
Rameses
II (Egypt)
Hermes
& Apollo (Greece)
Nero
at the Circus Maximus (Rome)
Nero
Goes Insane (Rome)
Ancient
Chinese Dragons (China)
Warrior
Well (China/Mongolia)
The
Story of Mulan (China)
The
Hero Twins (Mayas)
The Invisible
Warrior (Woodland Indians, A Cinderella Story)
Kwanzaa
(African American)
7 Wonders of the Ancient World
The
Seven Wonders (Index)
Great
Pyramid at Giza
Hanging
Gardens of Babylon
Statue of
Zeus at Olympia
Temple
of Artemis at Ephesus
Mausoleum
at Halicarnassus
Colossus
of Rhodes
Lighthouse
at Alexandria
Tests for Ancient
History
(no answers)
Ancient
Mesopotamia Unit Test
Ancient
Egypt Bingo (Test Review Game)
Ancient
Egypt Unit Test
Persian War Quiz
(Early Greece)
Ancient Greece
First Section Test (Early Greece)
Ancient Rome First
Section Test (Early Rome)
World History/World
Studies
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The Middle Ages for Kids - Mrs. Donn's Special Section. European Medieval Times - from the dark ages to the Renaissance - feudalism, the church, castles and commoners, rise of towns, crusades, the plague, the triumphs, the defeats, the Magna Carta and more.
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Feudal Japan: S.P.A.M. (Samurai, Peasant, Artisan, Merchant) - (1 day) Lesson Plan, Game. See also: Feudal Japan & Haiku Verse & Daruma Dolls
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Russia: Start of the Russian Revolution - (3-4 days) Lesson Plan.
See also: Russian Revolution
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World Cultures: What is Culture? (90 minutes) Lesson Plan with List of Various Groups handout
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Australia's Great Barrier Reef (2-3 days) Lesson Plan and Personalities Handout.
See also: Australia
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India/Pakistan Dispute over Kashmir (4 days) Mini-Unit with Background and Handouts
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Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (2 days) Simulation for the Classroom with background, role descriptions
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As some of you know, before he became a teacher, Mr. Donn spent a career in Military Intelligence as a member of the SSA at NSA (the National Security Agency, or the No-Name Agency, as they like to say in the movies.) This lesson includes propaganda materials we do not often see as they are typically dropped in massive quantities over enemy territory. Very neat stuff! Feel free to use these materials in your classrooms.
Propaganda Techniques Can YOU find the secret messages hidden in propaganda?
It's not as easy as you might think. What is propaganda anyway?
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Geography in the News (8 weeks, a few minutes a day) Ongoing daily activity, 5 Themes of Geography
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More Geography Lesson Ideas The Geography Game (Educated Guess) works well anytime but is especially useful to open a new unit. Plus other lesson ideas.
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Colonial Mexico Learning module. The Pre-Independence Mexican Indian Uprisings; Did they help or hinder Mexico's drive to independence from Spain? (Rise of Democratic Ideas; 19th Century, 9th-grade World History) This is a module Don created in college, but it has a lot of useful information, so I threw it online. Hope it helps!
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Holidays Around the World - Mrs. Donn's Special Section. Ancient Roots, Modern Holidays; mini-learning modules for over 30 different holidays, with holiday games, lesson plans, activities, for the classroom.
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WW2 - The US Home Front (unit index)
Conducting Oral Histories
Where were you on December 7, 1941
Symbols of the Home Front
Ration Books, Victory Gardens, Junk Rallys
The Ration Stamp Game
Walking Home (original short story, written by us)
WW2 - Leaders in the News
WW2 - Headlines in the News
WW2 - More Lesson Ideas - Neutrality, National Interest, Hiroshima
Early Americas
Daily
Life in Olden Times (Native Americans)
| Iroquois | Chippewa/Ojibwa | Cherokee | Comanche | NW Pacific |
| Hopi | Navajo | Apache | Sioux | California |
| Anasazi | Pueblo | Seminole | Inuit | More |
Iroquois
Nation
What was the job of the False Face Society? Who were the Three
Sisters?
What were the Snow Snake Games? Who was Hiawatha?
What was the League of Nations? What was wampum? Read
the story of Wise
Owl
Ojibwa/Chippewa
Why did the Ojibwa hide pebbles in moccasins? What is a Charcoal Sad
Face?
How do you play Butterfly Hide and Seek? What is a Dream Catcher?
See if you recognize this
famous fairytale: The
Invisible Warrior
Cherokee Nation
Why did the Cherokee Indians have a red chief and a white chief?
What is a Booger Ceremony? Where is the Darkening Land? What is the Trail
of Tears?
Seminole
What is the job of an animal spirit helper?
Why did the Seminole people hang baby cradles from the rafters of their homes?
What are comfortables? Why were beads so important?
Welcome to the Florida Everglade Seminole Indians in Olden Times.
Plains
People
Why did the Plains people prefer tipis to houses?
Name 72 things the Plains people made from buffalo.
Why do the elders still speak of Clever
Coyote with gratitude?
Why were horses called dogs? What were pictographs?
Sioux Nation
What could boys do when they reached their 10th birthday?
What engagement present did the family of the bride receive?
Why weren't kids given names when they were born?
What did star quilts represent? What was the Seven Council Fires?
Anasazi/Pueblo/Hopi
Why did the Pueblo dig a hole in the middle of a secret underground
room?
Who are the giant Natackas? What are kachinas?
How did the Pueblo get their name? Who are the Old Ones?
What happened at a naming ceremony?
Apache
Why do Apache kids hunt for blue stones? Who are the Devil Dancers?
Read an Apache myth about Child of Water
and Little Blue Rock.
Learn how to play Apache toe and toss games.
Navajo
When a young couple ate from the same basket, why did all their relatives
lecture them?
What is a Ketoh? Why did the Navajo make Sand Paintings and then destroy
them before dark?
What is a Blessingways? Welcome to the Southwest Navajo Indians in Olden
Times.
Northwest
Pacific Coastal
What made the Puget Sound Indian tribes
"rich" in ancient times?
Why were woven mats so important? How did totem poles
get started?
What could you buy with 5,000 blankets? What's a potlatch all about?
Discover How
Raven Stole Crow's Potlatch
California Indians
Why was the bear doctor feared?
What was the purpose of the Big Head Dance?
Why did certain medicine men hunt rattlesnakes?
Why did the Chumash need a ladder to get into bed?
Far North
What trick did the Kutchin people use on their enemies?
How did these early people stop ghosts from entering their homes?
Welcome to Alaska Natives, the Arctic and the Far North in olden
times.
More US History
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Civil War: Letters from the Civil War - Lesson plan with 3 primary document handouts of letters written during the Civil War. (We have the originals.)
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1930's Life on the Farm during the Great Depression - Learning Modules. Not everyone felt the effects of the depression in the same manner. People who had little to begin with had always coped. These short stories share the daily life and adventures of one such family, and the success they achieved with a mere seven acres of land in the 1930's. These are stories of the American way - where attitude is everything! Short stories written by Lin's author/artist Mom.
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World War II: The Home Front (5-7 days) World War II Mini-Unit with 7 handouts
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Civil Rights, Segregation (2-3 days) Lesson Plan with 3 handouts. This was truly a family effort. The lesson plan is Don's, supported by 2 original short stories - Back of the Bus and Welcome Home - written by Lin's author/artist mother, plus Lin's write-up on Rosa Parks. We hope it works as well in your classrooms as it did in ours.
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Celebrate Black History Month & Celebrate Woman's History Month with BioBoards. This activity also works for Hispanic Heritage Month or any cultural heritage celebration period.
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Visit the 1962 Seattle World's Fair - Lesson Plan, Learning Module.
Language
Arts
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Freshman English Poetry Slam (2-3 days) Lesson Plan
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Harlem Renaissance/ Poetry of Langston Hughes (3-4 days) Lesson plan
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Haiku (1-2 days) Learning Module, Lesson
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Stories written by us for use in the classroom and the computer lab
You Be the Detective
Myths & Legends
Free Presentations in PowerPoint format
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| Social Studies | Language Arts | PE |
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| Government | Holidays | Templates |
Maxie's
Magnificent
Guides
....
produced by...
Maxie the Magnificent
World Citizen
Smokey the Bear & the Forestry Special Free Classroom Play, Free Smokey Bookmarks, Smokey the Bear Radio Copy from the 1954 Campaign, Lesson Plans & Links
Free Clip Art Ancient History, Native American, American History, World History, Holidays
To our students: These artists have generously given of their talent to make your homework, your school reports, and your web page (and mine!) look great. Don't forget to thank them!
Free Online Editions Newspapers, Magazines, Encyclopedias (Research Sources)
FREE SAFETY LESSONS & ARTICLES
Helping to keep your kids safe -
askacop.org
We were honored when Askacop
wrote to see if Lin would be willing
to write a couple of short stories on specific subjects
for their website. The result:
You Be the
Detective
The Flyer
The
Babysitter
Joey's
Turn
The Coldest
Day
The List
Columbus
Day
Was Columbus Smart
about Safety?
More from AskaCop
Topic
List: This is a list of the many subjects AskaCop freely covers
including
Free
Police and Safety Coloring & Activity Pages
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