Upper Elementary Lesson Plans (Grades 4 – 7)
These lessons are adaptable for multiple grade levels and specific subject matter.
Note: all files are in PDF format.
- 1816 Mississippi Census and Percentages (grades 6-7, math) file size: 34,719 KB
Using census data from 1816, students will find the percentages of the different groups (or populations) living in Greene County at that time.
- Artifacts in the Classroom (grades 4-12, language arts) file size: 1,645 KB
Students will be able to define “artifact,” “specimen,” and “collection,” will examine an artifact as a source of information, and consider how objects from their own lives may function as artifacts.
- Business Letter Writing (grades 6-8, language arts) file size: 301 KB
Using a letter written in 1799, students will learn about the different types of letter writing today and how to write their own persuasive business letter.
- Civilian Conservation Corps in Mississippi and Bridge Building (grades 4-12, language arts, social studies, science) file size: 20,910 KB
Looking at structures in Tishomingo State Park built by the CCC in 1939, students will learn about the CCC in Mississippi, gain a basic knowledge of the forces torque and stress on a bridge, and how to counteract them through the proper bridge design or engineering techniques.
- Developing a Living History Character (grades 4-9, language arts, social studies) file size: 250 KB
Students will learn how to research and develop a living history character from using primary and secondary sources to collect information about a historical character and writing and presenting a monologue from a historical character’s perspective.
- Early Trading and Talking with Choctaws (grades 4-9, social studies) file size: 970 KB
Using an 18th century notebook, students will learn about the relationship between a family of British traders and their Choctaw clients, be introduced to some basic Choctaw words, and practice their own trading skills.
- Educable Children Records (grades 6-8, language arts, math, social studies) file size: 514 KB
In this lesson students will learn about education and state government by reading a brief history of Educable Children Records, engage in a discussion that compares and contrasts historical documents, and use records to create statistical graphs.
- Find the Differences: Historic Mississippi School Slides (grades 6-10, social studies) file size: 18,137 KB
Using digitized photographs from the Mississippi Department of Education, students will discover differences between their schools and school photographs taken in the 1920s–1980s. Students will gain an understanding of the differences in school buildings during the 1950s–1960s, school transportation from 1930s–1980s, and sports or playground related activities in the 1940s–1960s.
- Forgotten Mississippi Towns (grades 4-9, language arts, social studies) file size: 3,188 KB
Using digitized historic Mississippi maps students will gain an understanding of changing Mississippi geography, how to use historic maps to plot forgotten towns on current state maps, how to write brief histories on these towns, and create their own museum exhibit.
- Learning Lagniappe Educator Extras: Historical Map Collection file size: 55.3 KB
- Historic Maps Resource Packet file size: 34,772 KB
- Historic Newspapers Resource Packet file size: 129,042 KB
- Friendly Letter Writing (grades 3-5, language arts) file size: 304 KB
Students will read the primary document, a letter written by A. Hutchins in 1797 during Mississippi’s territorial days, and compare it to letters written today and the different types of letter writing.
- The Great Flood of 1927 (grades 4-9, language arts, social studies) file size: 421 KB
Students will learn about the Great Flood of 1927, those affected by it, and the flood’s lasting impact on the Mississippi Delta as well as the importance of having an Emergency Plan of their own.
- Learning Lagniappe Educator Extras: 1927 Flood Photographs file size: 54KB
- How the African American Experience in World War II Helped End Jim Crow South (grades 7-12, language arts, social studies) file size: 10,502 KB
Students will investigate and discuss how the events of World War II influenced the Civil Rights Movement in the post-war period.
- Judith Sargent Murray (grades 4-6, language arts, social studies) file size: 214 KB
By using the writings of Judith Sargent Murray, a late 18th and early 19th century writer, students will gain a better understanding of life and education in early America.
- Judith Sargent Murray Resource Packet file size: 2,112 KB
- A Lyrical History of Mississippi (grades K-5, music) file size: 13,620 KB
Students will sing and move to various styles of music written about Mississippi’s history by Mississippi composers. Songs include “The Mississippi Flood Song” by Jed Hopkins and “The Mississippi March” by Onie Potts.
- A Mississippian in Antarctica (grades 3-5, language arts, math, social studies) file size: 630 KB
Using a primary source document, close reading tactics, and math, students will learn about native Mississippian Alton N. Parker and his role in the Richard Byrd Antarctic Expedition of 1928-1930.
- Native American Mound Construction (grades 3-6, math) file size: 249 KB
Students will gain an understanding of the Native American mound builders in Mississippi and calculate the amount of soil used in the construction of a mound.
- Public Health in Mississippi (grades 4-7, language arts, math, social studies) file size: 8,049 KB
Students will read an overview of the Mississippi State Department of Health, research and design a brochure based on a common disease found in Mississippi during the first decades of the 20th century, and use morbidity reports to create three types of graphs.
- The Rapalje Family Notebook (grades 6-8, language arts, math, social studies) file size: 8,313 KB
Using an 18th century personal journal, students will learn about the inhabitants of West Florida and how their lives differ from our own.
- Learning Lagniappe Educator Extras: George Rapalje Notebook file size: 52KB
- Silas Dinsmoor Indian Agent and His Travels (grades 6-12, language arts, math, social studies) file size: 279 KB
Using a historic letter describing a journey through the Mississippi Territory in 1803, students will gain an understanding of politics, Native Americans and settler relations, and travel and will learn about the importance and challenges of creating accurate transcriptions of primary documents.
- Silas Dinsmoor Indian Agent Resource Packet file size: 44,044 KB
- Using Mississippi Footprints to Build a Community (grades 2-4, language arts, social studies) file size: 4,929 KB
Students will learn to evaluate personal learning choices, synthesize information, develop insight into the characteristics of community building, and analyze their conviction and commitment to educational success.
- Woman Suffrage Movement in Mississippi (grades 6-12, language arts, math, social studies) file size: 875 KB
Students will examine constitutional and legal primary resources and biographies to understand the difference between the National Woman Suffrage and Mississippi Suffrage Movements. Using data from multiple U.S. Census records students will gain a greater understanding of the importance of the Woman Suffrage Movement and how it led to the Civil Rights Movement and other equal rights movements in U.S. history.