Smithsonian Institution
The Suffragist: Educator's Guide for Classroom Video
Class members take on the role of historical investigators to determine why it took 40 years for women in the United States to get the right to vote. Sleuths view videos and analyze primary sources and images to gather evidence to answer...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad
While many have heard of Harriet Tubman, few are aware of the many ways this remarkable woman was involved in the United States Civil War, the abolitionist movement, and the Underground Railroad. Young historians examine primary source...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Themes in Lord of the Flies
William Golding's Lord of the Flies is the anchor text for a lesson that teaches readers how to distinguish between a literary topic and a literary theme. Using the provided worksheets, groups first chart some themes and propose a...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Characterization in Lord of the Flies
Readers of  Lord of the Flies hunt down direct and indirect examples of how William Golding brings his characters to life. After instructors guide learners through the process of collecting evidence of these two types of characterization...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Symbolism in Lord of the Flies
Readers of Lord of the Flies examine the four main symbols William Golding develops in his novel: the island, the conch, the Lord of the Flies effigy, and fire. Partners select one of the major symbols and create an image by adding words...
Learning for Justice
Marian Wright Edelman
Marian Wright Edelman's 2014 Commencement Speech at Lewis and Clark College serves to inspire young scholars to investigate a problem in their community, to determine why the problem is important, and then to develop a plan for one thing...
Learning for Justice
Mary McLeod Bethune
Young historians conduct a close reading of the text of an interview with Mary McLeod Bethune, the daughter of former slaves who taught herself to read, grew up to establish schools for other Black women, and went on to become an advisor...
American Institute of Physics
The Physicist's War: Dr. Herman Branson and the Scientific Training of African Americans during World War II
The mobilization of soldiers for World War II resulted in a worker shortage in the defense industries, especially in the fields of physics and other sciences. The Engineering, Science, and Management War Training program (ESMWT) was...
Newseum
Is It Fair?
Young journalists learn how to analyze word choice, context, and counterpoints to judge the fairness of a news story. They practice using these tools to judge a series of headlines for the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. They...
Anti-Defamation League
Sexism and the Presidential Election
Young historians investigate how sexism impacted the 2020 United States presidential election. They examine media coverage of the six women candidates, engage in a four-corners debate reacting to statements about gender and the...
Anti-Defamation League
Student Dress Codes: What's Fair?
The controversy over school dress codes continues. The debate involves questions like, why is there a policy? Who sets the policy? Who enforces the policy? What is a fair policy? Tweens and teens have an opportunity to engage in the...
Anti-Defamation League
Is Olympic Coverage Sexist?
Women Olympians have come a long way since 1900 when 22 women competed for the first time. News coverage of the Olympics has also changed dramatically. What has been slow to change, however, is the language used in the coverage of female...
K20 LEARN
Plantation Life And Slavery: Antebellum Era
Learners evaluate primary sources from the antebellum era to determine the accuracy of textbooks. They examine narratives from enslaved people, then compare them to their own text. Extension activities include the opportunity to write a...
American Institute of Physics
African American Physicists in the 1960s
Physicists Herman Branson and Tannie Stovall provide young scholars with two very different perceptions of the status of African American physicists in the 1960s. After reading and comparing the bios of these two men, class members read...
Learning for Justice
Mary Church Terrell
Excerpts from an 1898 speech by civil rights activist Mary Church Terrell offers young scholars an opportunity to investigate how Black American women fought for civil rights long before Rosa Parks and the civil rights movement of the...
Learning for Justice
Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou's poem, "Still I Rise", offers young scholars an opportunity to consider how poets use literary devices to create powerful messages. After a close reading and discussion of the poem, class members reflect on how they can...
Teaching Women's History
Georgian Women
Britain was and is a stratified nation. History sleuths investigate the Georgian Era (1714-1830) of British history to gain an understanding of how the roles women played during this period were influenced by class, race, and religion....
Anti-Defamation League
The Gender Wage Gap
"Equal pay for equal work!" may sound logical but it is not the reality. High schoolers begin a study of the gender wage gap with an activity that asks them to position themselves along a line that indicates whether they strongly agree...
US National Archives
Susan B. Anthony and the Struggle for Suffrage
Susan B. Anthony was willing to break the law to gain voting rights for women. Young historians investigate Anthony's willingness to go to jail to draw attention to the suffrage movement. They read and discuss primary source documents to...
Teaching Women's History
Medieval Women
Not all the women in the late Middle Ages (1400-1510) lived lives of quiet desperation. Young historians study images and read primary source documents to gain an understanding of what life was like for the elite class of medieval women.
American Institute of Physics
The Physical Sciences at Women's Colleges
After a brief introduction to the history of women's colleges in the United States and a discussion of the resistance such institutions faced, young scientists investigate seven traditionally women's colleges and their physics programs....
American Institute of Physics
Eunice Foote: Scientist and Suffragette
The greenhouse effect and climate change are hot topics in today's news. Young scientists may be surprised to learn that the concept is not a new one. In fact, Eunice Newton Foote, scientist, inventor, and suffragette, discovered the...
Anti-Defamation League
Shirley Chisholm: Unbought, Unbossed and Unforgotten
A 13-page packet introduces high schoolers to a lady of amazing firsts. Shirley Chisholm was the first Black woman elected to Congress, the first Black woman to run for President of the United States, and a leader of the Women's Rights...
Center for Civic Education
Ronald Reagan and Executive Power
Article II of the United States Constitution grants Presidents executive powers in areas of international conflict, domestic and foreign policy. Using examples drawn from Ronald Reagan's presidency, class members are asked to consider...