Elementary History/Social Studies Resources

This guide has beed updated and presented by our Indian Education Program to provide resources for educators to use throughout the year

Adapt lessons, units, etc to reflect and honor the experiences and community of your students. Making humanizing connections to personal/community/cultural experiences

Students engage in authentic cycles of inquiry: developing questions & planning inquiry, applying disciplinary tools & concepts, evaluating sources & using evidence, and communicating conclusions & taking informed action.

Create lessons that use various resources (visual, oral, and written) that represent a wide range of diverse people that contribute to our communities

Students take action in their community based on the information they have gathered throughout their inquiry. 

We are currently accepting requests for the Get Smart with Art fall program (October 2023 to January 2024). Please submit an application using this form. The fall booking period closes on September 11.

On September 25, applications will open for the Get Smart with Art spring program (February 2024 to May 2024). Please submit an application using this form. The spring booking period will close on November 6.

To prepare for your visit, please review our educator resources. Stay up-to-date on plans to expand our educational offerings through our newsletter.

Questions: schooltours@famsf.org

We are currently scheduling guided and self-guided visits through January 2024. Guided tours at the museum are available for grades 3-12. Self-guided visits are available for grades K-12.

Please note: due to capacity limitations in Yayoi Kusama: Infinite Love, we are unable to schedule school groups for this exhibition. All tickets for this exhibition, including for students and teachers, can be booked through tickets.sfmoma.org starting September 12, 2023.

Be sure to check our Teacher Resources page for art projects, artist-designed activities, videos, animations, and discussion questions.

OMCA is excited for the 2023–24 school year. We look forward to greeting you and your students with onsite programs that help students reflect, connect, and contribute to their communities. 

Come explore the many stories of California and its people, learn about the natural, artistic, and social forces that affect the state, and investigate your own role in both its history and its future.

Whether in OMCA’s Galleries of California Art, History, or Natural Sciences, or one of our special exhibitions, all of our cross-disciplinary programs are rooted in inquiry, dialogue, and creative expression

MoAD celebrates Black cultures, ignites challenging conversations, and inspires learning through the global lens of the African Diaspora. Lesson Plans, Museum Tours, MoAD in the Classroom, Education Resources,
Original Programs, Workshops, Talks, and Engaging Events.

The Hermosa Beach Historical Society & Museum presents their virtual Tongva Experience Field Trip. Julia Bogany, a Tribal Council Member and the Cultural Consultant for the Tongva-Gabrielino, the native people of the Hermosa Beach South Bay shares the history, stories, and culture of the Tongva Tribe with our students to help fulfill their California History educational requirement.

Here you can access virtual tours of the California Indian Museum and Cultural Center exhibits, video lessons and curriculum for their popular Native STEM Makers Program. You will also find curriculum, handouts, and flyers.

The Chinese Historical Society of America offers educators classroom resources that they can use before, during, or after their visit to the museum.

The curriculum guide attached contains resources related to Chinese American Exclusion/Inclusion or Towards Equality: California’s Chinese American Women

Some educational resources and activities for you to learn about the expansive Chumash culture. 

Recommendation: Click on everything. There are lessons that integrate Social Studies and Science (5th Grade Lesson Plan: Shadows of the Sun and a Chumash Calendar), There are current stories of Chumash people today (We Have Always Been Here: A Queer Navajo Wedding) and stories about how the next generation is keeping traditions and customs alive today through paddling and tomols.

CCC provides essential arts access for school groups and the community. Explore our educational programs below!

For information about our tours for school classes and private groups, please visit our TOURS page.

​

Visit our EVENTS page for upcoming events and programs!  

Lots of videos with songs and stories along with deeper discussions that explore race, identity, ethnicity and self-love.

From Sesame Workshop:

Coming Together is a Sesame-wide initiative that helps children grow up with a healthy self-identity and sense of belonging. We’re working to create a world where all children can reach their full potential—and do so in celebration of our diverse world. Our research-based, child-centered resources include the whole family, inviting parents and caregivers, educators, and providers to help children celebrate their own race, ethnicity, and ethnicity and become upstanders for themselves and one another.

Here is a link to some Community Builders made by Seesaw for TK-2 Students

The California Indian History Curriculum Coalition (CIHCC) is a group of educators, tribal scholars, and native activists who promote the creation, adoption and implementation of California Indian-vetted curricula.

The resources on this page support our commitment to public/private school educators focused on infusing a California Indian voice into the content of what our children learn in school. Please use the Curricula & Lesson Plans provided below, organized by tribal identity.

This unit is written and provided by our partners in the Indian Education Program for 4th grade teachers. However, 3rd grade teachers may want to take a look at it as the focus addresses 3rd grade standards. Any questions regarding this unit should be sent to MaryHelen Sherman shermanm1@sfusd.edu

Established in 2006 by Dr. Debbie Reese of Nambé Pueblo, American Indians in Children's Literature (AICL) provides critical analysis of Indigenous peoples in children's and young adult books. Dr. Jean Mendoza joined AICL as a co-editor in 2016.

Article and link. As you talk about different places in our region, state, country in Social Studies, you can refer to this map to see the Indigenous Lands where landmarks, states, cities and countries occupy. This map is one way to continue the conversation of  the sovereignty of Indigenous people throughout the world. For example, when teaching the symbol of the Liberty Bell, you can show students that it is located on Lenapehocking (Lenni-Lenape) lands that extend over parts of the states of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware. 

Native Knowledge 360° (NK360°) provides educators and students with new perspectives on Native American history and cultures. Most Americans have only been exposed to part of the story, as told from a single perspective through the lenses of popular media and textbooks. NK360° provides educational materials, virtual student programs, and teacher training that incorporate Native narratives, more comprehensive histories, and accurate information to enlighten and inform teaching and learning about Native America. NK360° challenges common assumptions about Native peoples and offers a view that includes not only the past but also the vibrancy of Native peoples and cultures today

Guide provided by Library Department. Well before planning to use this book with students, read Born on the Water and study the companion Educator’s Guide. This book can be used K-5, but you will need preparation. Page 18 of the guide gives a good example of questions and reflections that may be presented in grades K-3 vs. 4-8. 

CCC provides essential arts access for school groups and the community. Explore our educational programs below!

For information about our tours for school classes and private groups, please visit our TOURS page.

​

Visit our EVENTS page for upcoming events and programs!  

Lessons that focus on LGBTQ+ history in California and aligned to the current CDE Framework. Most lessons are geared towards 4/5th grades, but there are are 2 lessons that could be used with 1st/2nd. 

This site has various lessons with varying degrees of success by grade level, but is a good site to pull primary sources and images.

Here is a library that can be used for Native American History month, but should be used throughout the year. These books have been recommended by the SFUSD American Indian Resource Guide and the American Indians in Children’s Literature List.

Here is a collection of read alouds that have been compiled for Filipinx Heritage Month, but could be used throughout the year. This bookshelf is based on the books recommended in the SFUSD Filipinx Heritage Guide. 

Here are some read alouds and links to help you teach about Diwali in your classrooms. They can be used now and throughout the year as we discuss holidays, traditions, cultures, and families.

Diwali Bitmoji Classroom submitted and compiled by Ekta Kumbhani (1st grade teacher @ Grattan)

Here is a collection of read alouds that have been compiled for Día de los Muertos, but could be used anytime during the year to discuss holidays.

A virtual library that features Latiné authors and characters that can be used throughout the year

Titles taken from the Latinx Heritage Guide to use for read-alouds throughout the year.

This is a collection of read alouds that have been compiled for AAPI Month, but could be used throughout the year. 

This is a collection of read alouds that have been put together for Jewish American Heritage Month, but can used throughout the year.

This is a collection of read alouds that have been compiled for Arab American Heritage Month, but could be used throughout the year.

Here is a collection of read alouds that have been compiled for LGBTQIA+ Month, but could be used throughout the year. 

This is a collection of read alouds that have been compiled for Women's History Month, but could be used throughout the year.

Here is a collection of read alouds that have been compiled for Black History Month by Tamara Fields from Sherman Elementary, but can be used throughout the school year

Here is a collection of read alouds that have been compiled for Lunar New Year, but could be used throughout the year. We have tried to attach bilingual versions when available. Please feel free to email me if you know of other bilingual books or video read alouds to include at romerom@sfusd.edu

Here is a collection of read alouds that have been compiled for SFUSD Inclusion Week, but could be used throughout the year. This bookshelf is based on the books recommended in the SFUSD Inclusion Resource Guide. 

Here is a collection of books to use at the beginning of the year or anytime you want to do some community and identity building in class.

Holi Bitmoji Classroom submitted and compiled by Ekta Kumbhani (1st grade teacher @ Grattan)

In the Land of My Ancestors celebrates the living legacy of Ann Marie Sayers, an indigenous Ohlone elder. Ohlone people are not federally recognized as indigenous nations in the San Francisco Bay Area. This documentary short reveals the resilience and tenacity of Ann Marie as she reclaims her ancestral land, culture and spirituality in the face of a dehumanization narrative that erases the stories and histories of the First Peoples of the San Francisco Bay Area. This film is produced by photojournalist, Rucha Chitnis, with the brilliant cinematography of Jason Taylor of the Source Project.

From the Museum of the American Revolution: Living history interpreters Jordan Smith (Mohawk, Bear Clan) and Kehala Smith (Tuscarora Nation, Turtle Clan) currently reside on the Tuscarora Indian Reservation but travel the world to educate on Native American culture, history, song, and dance, from pre-contact to modern contemporary Indigenous culture with emphasis on historical material culture for 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. Jordan and Kehala discuss their work and the importance for all people to explore Native stories. 
 

Long before Europeans arrived in the U.S., Native Americans had sophisticated governments. In this episode, we explore the societies of three nations: The Iroquois, Muscogee, and Pueblo. These tribes have upheld progressive principles for centuries: from matriarchal leadership to rights for ex-convicts, and the founding fathers used these ideas when creating the U.S. government.

This is the latest and most up-to date version of the California Department of Education History-Social Science Framework K-12

The Social Justice Standards are a set of anchor standards and age-appropriate learning outcomes divided into four domains—Identity, Diversity, Justice and Action (IDJA). The standards provide a common language and organizational structure: Teachers can use them to guide curriculum development, and administrators can use them to make schools more just, equitable and safe. The standards are leveled for every stage of K–12 education and include school-based scenarios to show what anti-bias attitudes and behavior may look like in the classroom.

Educators can use the Social Justice Standards as the basis for building custom learning plans on tolerance.org. Free registration is required.

Mabuhay!

The SOMA Pilipinas Filipino Heritage District is a celebration of the love, pride and people power of generations of Filipinos in San Francisco and beyond.

(This information is taken from their website

Japantown Cultural District works to preserve a culturally-regenerative, economically-vibrant, and authentic neighborhood who welcomes all, and aims to serve Japanese and Japanese American communities for many future generations to come.

(This information is pulled from their website)

Calle 24 is in the center of San Francisco’s Historic Mission District. It runs along a tree-lined street known as “El Corazón de la Misión”, or “The Heart of the Mission.” The stretch of 24th Street running from Mission Street to Potrero Avenue boasts a vast number of colorful and unique specialty stores, restaurants, taquerias, Mexican bakeries, fresh produce grocers, butchers, cafes, and art galleries, as well as the greatest concentration of murals and Latino Businesses in the city. We are the birthplace of Latin Rock and the birthplace of the San Francisco mural movement We host Carnaval, Dia De Los Muertos, Baile en La Calle, The Cesar Chavez Parade and Festival, and Fiesta de las Américas.

(This information pulled from their website)

The vision of the San Francisco African American Arts & Cultural District (SFAAACD)  is a robust, economically vibrant Black community that adds to the rich cultural tapestry of San Francisco.  Our mission is to advance, cultivate, enrich and advocate for African-American equity, cultural stability, vibrancy, and economic vitality in San Francisco’s African-American Arts & Cultural District. 

(This information is  provided by their website)

Founded on March 31st, 2020, the American Indian Cultural District (AICD) is the first established Cultural District of its size in the United States dedicated to recognizing, honoring, and celebrating the American Indian legacy, culture, people, and contributions.

(This information is provided by their website)