New ReviewA 17-page Educator Guide is designed to support classroom discussions of Ken Burns' documentary on Ernest Hemingway. The guide includes background information on Hemingway's life, the themes found in his works, essential and discussion...

Bass drum, snare drum, tom-toms, cymbals. Perched behind their drum sets, wielding their drum sticks and wire brushes, drummers lay the grove and are the heartbeat of a band's performance. A dynamic lesson introduces young musicians to...

What does the data say? Using provided voter data from the 2016 presidential election, scholars describe the data and identify questions they could answer by analyzing it. Learners then construct tables and use them to determine whether...

Are you looking for a timely, engaging project-based learning activity for 21st-century learners? Here's a fine one. A carefully scaffolded, richly detailed plan asks scholars, working individually or in small groups, to create original...

The Paradise Papers, a year-long research project from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalism (ICIJ) exposed how political leaders, business people, and wealthy individuals used offshore entities to avoid taxes and hide...

Using the announcements of presidential candidacies, pupils consider how contenders make their initial arguments to the public. A worksheet helps structure collaborative work to analyze 10 video clips. Writing prompts allow for extension...

It's that time of year, and the year. Once again the race is on for the White House. It's important that young voters, and would-be voters, understand the process for becoming the United States President. Class members research the...

Confirmation bias makes it difficult to overcome our preconceived notions of others. That's the big idea in a lesson that teaches learners strategies to recognize and question their biases.

The focus of the second lesson in the Standing Up for Democracy unit is on the power of assumptions based on a single experience or point of view. Class members begin by journaling about assumptions others make about their identity based...

Famous as a horror story, as the first science fiction novel, Frankenstein is also a tale of ambition, a warning about unbridled science, and responsibility for actions. Readers consider what the tale says of the consequences of creation...

Identifying the tone of a piece of writing or the author's attitude toward the subject matter can be difficult for learners. Simplify the process with a instructional activity that begins with skits, moves to songs and their lyrics, and...

Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man is difficult to read and difficult to teach. The novel is so highly regarded that it is one of most often listed as an option for the AP Literature and Composition exam. The materials in this packet from PBS...

Toni Morrison's powerful and painful Pulitzer Prize winning novel Beloved is not easy to read or easy to teach. Here's a teaching guide, loaded with primary source materials, that gives readers the background they need to understand the...

Dream or nightmare? Class members craft a synthesis essay with textual to determine to what extent the United States has fulfilled the ideas embodied in the America Dream.

The framers of the United States Constitution felt a free press was so essential to a democracy that they granted the press the protection it needed to hold the powerful to account in the First Amendment. Today, digital natives need to...

Understanding the US government's role proves very important in the American economy, especially for consumers. Scholars learn about how varying government agencies help them when facing an issue. The third and final resource in the...

Simply understanding consumer rights may not help people solve their problems. Understanding who to turn to becomes key in many different scenarios. Teach the value of various organizations that fight for consumer rights through...

Whether new to the Socratic seminar format or an experienced veteran of the popular discussion technique, you'll find much to like in a five-page, richly detailed packet that not only details the prep necessary, the process, and the...

Accuracy, transparency, trustworthiness, and impartiality are four unspoken rules of journalism. Scholars delve deep into the subject by discussing the pros and cons of relying on social media for news. They also play an online game to...

Rather than a whodunit, "The Masque of the Red Death" is the perfect story to analyze how Poe combines literary devices to create the suspense that grips readers. The richly detailed instructional activity is carefully scaffolded, moving...

Contemporaneously known as The Great War, World War I had never seen its match on the global stage—until World War II. An engaging set of resources designed to extend a viewing of the History Channel's The World Wars features discussion...

How much intervention is appropriate for America to take in cases of human rights violations? Class members ponder a question that has lingered since the birth of America with a series of primary sources that reflect the degree to which...

According to the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC), the stigma of mental illness is often worse than the actual disorder. With the lesson plans, pupils discover the myths and stereotypes associated with mental health disorders....

Is identity defined by genes, cultural standards, personal feelings, a combination of these, or something else altogether? Scholars learn about the complex topic of identity with a presentation, a game, and with a series of discussions....