Can there be peace in Cambodia? Immerse your class in a realistic negotiation setting during a riveting simulation. Learners assume the roles of key players in a group sparring with an opposing group to try to achieve peace in the midst...

Get high school historians to step outside their own shoes by responding to JFK's inaugural address from the perspective of a civil rights activist, a soviet diplomat, or a Cuban exile. After a class discussion about the address, the...

Disguises and role playing are the focus of a resource that uses Shakespeare’s As You Like It, Twelfth Night, and Henry IV, Part I, to demonstrate how we all play many parts in our lives; how we all are “merely players.” The many...

Let's make a deal! Drawing on work in previous unit lessons, young scholars negotiate favorable trade treaties with other nations during the early Modern Empire Era. Their work relies on previously completed activities, as well as...

The party is over. Now it's time to get to work! Learners acting as agents for a country during the modern Age of Empires develop proposals to negotiate trade deals between the rising global powers. Using research from previous lessons,...

The toasts are written, the table is set: it's time to party! Young scholars use a role-playing activity to go toast to toast. After researching and writing toasts for their allied countries during the modern Age of Empires, individuals...

Here's to you! Using a role-playing activity and primary source analysis, learners discover the importance of diplomacy. Impersonating a diplomat from a great empire, they write a toast to another empire, analyzing the strengths and...

A good diplomat needs to know how world events can affect their country. First, class members examine the Papal Bull that excommunicated Queen Elizabeth I from the Roman Catholic Church. Then, learners playing the role of diplomat from...

To trade or not to trade. Young diplomats put their country's best foot forward in a series of briefings for other countries about their nations. The goal is to persuade others to engage in diplomacy and trade. Using a previous lesson...

You are a diplomat during the Age of Empire: prepare a briefing about your country. Young scholars take on the challenge using a role-play exercise to examine various empires during the rise of global interconnectedness. Materials...

After watching clips of presidential candidates during debates and speeches, and researching the candidate's position on important issues, young researchers conduct a role-play debate in which they act as one of the candidates.

Four activities conclude a unit through discussion and activities inspired by reflection. Scholars revisit their storybook from the first unit. Self-portraits showcase thought bubbles with written statements. Groups write and perform a...

Using personas ranging from freed African Americans to wealthy plantation owners, young historians consider various points of view around the events in the days leading up to the Civil War including major milestones such as the Dred...

To gain an understanding of what it was like to live under India's caste system, class members engage in a role-playing activity that assigns group members to four different groups, each with different rules for behavior.

Can there be an end to conflict on the island of Sri Lanka? Young peacekeepers explore the decades-old struggle between the three distinct religious groups that call Sri Lanka home in hopes of finding a resolution. The role-play activity...

With new leadership comes new hope! After years of violence, the people of Colombia elect a new president ... could this mean an end to conflict? Civics scholars take part in a large group role-playing exercise designed to illustrate the...

What will become of the giraffes of Amali? Pupils participate in a large scale role-playing activity to study the art of conflict mediation. The lesson engages participants in the struggle between two countries and the animals caught...

War-torn Kosovo is experiencing another crisis—thousands of broken-down cars clogging the damaged highways, making travel impossible. Which local auto shop owner will get the contract to clear the road for progress? After some research,...

After a lesson like this one, your class won't hesitate to negotiate! Pupils pair up and negotiate opposing sides of a conflict during the ninth installment in a 15-part series. Once they determine their wants and needs, individuals...