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...

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 Presidents Bush and Obama,...

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,...

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...

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...

Young scientists meet Edward Alexander Bouchet who, in 1876, was the first African American to receive a PhD in Physics. This two-part lesson first looks at the debate between Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois about the type of...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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,...

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 lesson,...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...