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Unit Plan

Building Evidence-Based Arguments: Grade 9

For Teachers 9th Standards
High schoolers investigate the dilemma of a proportional response with a lesson about the history of terrorism and militant extremists in the United States. As they examine memos from the FBI and speeches from President Bush and Obama,...
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Lesson Plan
Little Kids Rock

The Latin Rhythms of “Despacito”

For Teachers 8th - 12th Standards
When you hear the first few beats of "Despacito," the unrivaled Latin pop hit of 2017, you can't keep your feet from moving! A music analysis lesson plan examines the intoxicating hit by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee and introduces the...
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Unit Plan
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Beacon Press

A Time to Break Silence

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Encourage teenagers to get involved in ending violence among young people. A Common Core-aligned resource and curriculum guide, designed to be used with a reading of A Time to Break Silence: The Essential Works of Martin Luther King,...
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Unit Plan
Bill of Rights Institute

Preserving the Bill of Rights

For Students 8th - 12th Standards
Consider how America's founding fathers and their experiences contributed to the rights we all enjoy today. A collection of reading, writing, and collaborative exercises prompt high schoolers to think about the ways their current lives...
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Lesson Plan
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MENSA Education & Research Foundation

Utopia/Dystopia: The American Dream

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
America was founded by dreamers, and the American dream still resonates in our country today. Track the American dream from its Puritan beginnings to its optimistic descendants with a instructional activity that focuses on speeches by...
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Lesson Plan
American Institute of Physics

Historical Detective: Edward Alexander Bouchet and the Washington-Du Bois Debate over African-American Education

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Young scientists meet Edward Alexander Bouchet who, in 1876, was the first African American to receive a PhD in Physics. This two-part instructional activity first looks at the debate between Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois about...
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Lesson Plan
American Battlefield Trust

Gettysburg Address: Abraham Lincoln's Greatest Speech

For Teachers 4th - 12th Standards
Most Americans have heard of the Gettysburg Address, but may not know what it means and why is it so important. Following guidance and scaffolded prompts, scholars analyze the short document that left an undeniable impact on the American...
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Lesson Plan
American Battlefield Trust

Joshua Chamberlain Lesson Plan

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
While Joshua Chamberlain's name is not as iconic as Abraham Lincoln or Robert E. Lee, he still played a pivotal role in the military engagements of the Civil War. Using two secondary sources—including one that draws heavily from his...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Grade 10 ELA Module 2: Unit 3, Lesson 7

For Teachers 10th Standards
It's time to show what you know. The final lesson asks scholars to reflect on the seven-lesson plan unit and complete an end-of-unit task. Readers consider the claims presented in speeches by Eleanor Roosevelt and Malala Yousafzai before...
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Lesson Plan
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Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary

Franklin’s Philadelphia: Another Point of View

For Teachers 12th - Higher Ed Standards
The impressive story of Benjamin Franklin, including his rise from a printer’s apprentice to a statesman, color upper-level scholars’ understanding of the possibilities of life in colonial Philadelphia. But not everyone had the...
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Unit Plan
Helena-West Helena School District

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Instructional Unit Plan

For Teachers 8th - 10th Standards
Maya Angelou's first autobiography,  I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, demonstrates both the author's exemplary writing and the themes of gender and racial injustice that perpetuate beyond the limits of the 20th century. Use a thorough...
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

Decoding an Editorial Cartoon

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
What advantages do political cartoons have over written editorials? Scholars discuss the topic by exploring editorial cartoons. Working in small groups, pupils analyze an Uncle Sam cartoon and complete a worksheet. As a fun extension,...
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Lesson Plan
College Board

Reading—Synthesis and Paired Passages

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Good readers make connections between texts. The SAT regularly assesses the ability to make those connections using paired reading passages, a topic discussed in an official SAT practice lesson plan on synthesis. During the instructional...
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Lesson Plan
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Social Media Toolbox

Social Media Survey

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Survey says ... social media is here to stay! How do the pupils in your school use social media? Using lesson four from a 16-part series, The Social Media Toolbox, learners study surveys and create their own. The resource includes...
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Lesson Plan
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Social Media Toolbox

Social Media Usage

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Is there a difference in the way organizations present news via social media and in print? The third in a series of 16 lessons from The Social Media Toolbox explores news outlets and their delivery methods. Groups follow a story for a...
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Lesson Plan
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National Endowment for the Humanities

Lesson 4 James Madison: Internal Improvements Balancing Act—Federal/State and Executive/Legislative

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Who has the power? The founding fathers asked the same question when the United States was formed. Learners explore issues that arose during Madison’s presidency that raised constitutional questions. Through discovery, discussion, and...
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Lesson Plan
Prestwick House

Writing Arguments in Response to Nonfiction

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
Emotional appeal or argument? That is the question. An informative lesson helps your class recognize the difference between a logical argument and an emotional appeal and learn how to craft an argumentative response. Writers develop a...
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Lesson Plan
National Society Daughters of the American Revolution

Lesson 3: What Makes Attitudes Towards Education Change over Time?

For Teachers 8th - 12th Standards
The struggle for women's rights is not unique to this generation, or even to the 20th century. Class members explore the conflicting opinions of Alexander Graham Bell and his wife, Mabel Hubbard Bell, regarding women's pursuits of higher...
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Lesson Plan
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Daughters of the American Revolution

Lesson 2: How Do We Determine the Value of Education?

For Teachers 8th - 12th Standards
Have women always had the same educational opportunities as their male counterparts? Young historians read an 1819 essay by Emma Willard on the state of female education in the 19th century before discussing their views regarding women's...
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Lesson Plan
Daughters of the American Revolution

Lesson 1: How Do Society’s Expectations Influence Education?

For Teachers 8th - 12th Standards
The history of women's education can be traced back to the delicate stitching of student samplers from the 19th century. Modern-day pupils examine and analyze four primary sources, three of which are images of embroidered samplers, which...
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Evolution of the Presidency: Theodore Roosevelt to Franklin D. Roosevelt

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
How much power should a president be allowed to exert? Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt exercised their power according to their interpretations of the United States Constitution, and these interpretations affected the...
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Lesson Plan
Prestwick House

Author’s Purpose in Reagan’s “Tear Down This Wall” Speech

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
President Ronald Reagan's "Tear Down This Wall" speech, delivered on June 12, 1987 before the Berlin Wall, provides class members with an opportunity to examine three key aspects of informational text: author bias, the use of facts and...
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Assessment
Fluence Learning

Writing About Informational Text The Berlin Wall

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
On June 26, 1963 President John F. Kennedy delivered his famous "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech close to the Berlin Wall at the Rudolph Wilde Platz. On June 12, 1987 President Ronald Reagan Delivered his famous "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down...
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Lesson Plan
Prestwick House

Rhetorical Devices in Political Speeches

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
Have you ever watched a political speech and felt your heart beat a little faster, and your opinion either solidify or begin to slightly change? Rhetorical devices can be a strong tool in an effective and powerful speech. A short lesson...