"Prairie Voices: An Iowa Heritage Curriculum consists of two parts—a curriculum and a timeline. The curriculum has 52 model lesson plans in topical areas, including the land and built environment, native people, migration and interaction, organization and communities, work, and folk life. In addition, the curriculum includes an overview of Iowa history, ideas and examples for teaching local history, a list of resources, Iowa facts, timeline trivia, and additional classroom activities gleaned from several sources.
These lesson plans can be geared to any grade level. The curriculum is multidisciplinary so educators can incorporate state and local history into the study of other subject areas, including literature, math, science, social science, creative writing, art, music, and industrial arts. Prairie Voices encourages the use of local historical resources to tell the story of Iowa."
--From the Prairie Voices Curriculum Introduction
The Iowa Arts Council is pleased to announce the debut of Iowa Folklife Volume II., which explores the traditional music, foods, dance, rituals and crafts of Iowa’s diverse cultures. This online resource includes content pages, photos, audio samples, suggested readings, lesson plans, and a variety of online resources for students (k-12) and educators. Use the whole curriculum or just one unit! Enhance your experience by inviting featured traditional artists or those from your community into your classroom. Consult the Folk & Traditional Artists link for each unit, the Iowa Folklife Roster, or Iowa Roots for artist contact information, and apply for an Iowa Arts Council grant for artist fees and other program expenses.
-- From the Iowa Folklife Curriculum
"This learning guide is an attempt to extend the reach of the festivals and other materials to students—the next generation of Iowans. Young people need to know about and understand the cultural traditions that have been nurtured upon this soil by previous generations, and find their own connections to them. Teachers and elders can help students as the latter discover the vitality of the folklife around them, and figure out how to make it their own."
-- From the Iowa Folklife Curriculum
"Discover the people, places, events, and ideas of Iowa history. Create your own story of Iowa as you go to unexpected places and search the past and present. Travel down side trails and uncover artifacts as you explore your Iowa pathway."
-- From the Iowa Pathways Site
Published quarterly from 1975 to 2000, The Goldfinch is an Iowa history magazine for children, ages 8 to 13. Each issue focuses on a theme (ranging from Immigrants to Diaries, from Home and Family to Iowa’s Kid Heroes) and includes articles, games, photos, and fiction.
There are Teacher Guides to some issues of The Goldfinch.
The Goldfinch Teacher Guides »
"Each year in America there are over 80,000 elections, the most prominent of which is the national election for President, held every four years. These days, the process for a national election lasts over a year, taking up more than 25% of the standing president’s time in power.
"Our goal in this curriculum is to simplify the electoral process. The national election process is actually quite a confusing one, but here are the essentials."
-- From the Iowa Student Caucus Teacher Curriculum
