Explore point of view and more with a Common Core-designed instructional activity. Learners experience different points of view by representing one of two characters from Esperanza Rising during a partner discussion. They must use...

Explore multiple perspectives through a jigsaw activity that will improve your pupils' understanding of the characters in Esperanza Rising as well as their understanding of strikes and human rights. Tapping into prior knowledge, and...

Investigate the importance of author's point of view. Young linguists study primary source documents related to the Treaty of Casco Bay. The first source is authored by the Native American Chiefs, the second by an English...

Sometimes a whole story can change based on the perspective of the person telling it. Practice identifying and analyzing point of view in various reading passages and writing assignments with a language arts packet, complete with Common...

Confederate soldiers saw the Civil War much differently than their Union counterparts. Scholars analyze the perspective of the Civil War from the viewpoint of various key figures in the fourth installment of an eight-part series. By...

America's success depends on everyone. Scholars examine the first two paragraphs of Booker T. Washington’s "Atlanta Compromise" speech. They work in groups to answer questions and discuss Washington's perspective on African Americans'...

A lesson on Herman Melville's Moby Dick asks readers to compare the first person point of view of Ishmael in Chapter 1 to Captain Ahab's dramatic monologue in Chapter 37. Readers cite evidence from the chapters to support their...

In this, the third in a series of four resources that use Robert Wise's 1951 version of The Day The Earth Stood Still as the core text, young film makers examine the language of film including shot composition, camera angle, lighting,...

The Boston Massacre may be an iconic event in American history, but perhaps the British soldiers had another point of view. Using primary sources, including reports from Boston newspapers and secondary sources from the British...

Gradually build understanding of author's point of view through a scaffolded set of exercises. Moving from direct instruction, to collaborative work, and eventually to independent practice, these steps will assist your class in...

Designed to help readers recognize the point of view of the author of a primary source documents and analyze how that point of view influences the reliability of a text, young historians examine two personal letters, one...

Is there such a thing as fate/luck? Can one fight destiny? As part of their study of Chinua Achebe's purpose in writing Things Fall Apart, class members answer these questions from Achebe's point of view and then from William...

We live in a time of fake news, alternative realities, and media bias. What could be more timely than an activity that asks class members to research how different sources report the same topic in the news?

After reading through Act II of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, take some time to discuss the references to death in the play. For this fishbowl discussion, learners prepare questions, practice answering individually and with...

Social classes may be explicitly defined as in a caste system or based more informally on such ideas as wealth or education. After reading and discussing an article about one woman's experience with trying to fit into a system different...

How did jazz influence Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man? Class members read some of Ellison's non-fiction writings about blues and jazz, listen to records, watch videos, and engage in student-centered discussions. They then produce podcasts...

Militaries throughout history have used topography information to plan strategies, yet many pupils today don't understand it. Scholars use Legos and a contour gauge to understand how to construct and visualize topographic profiles. This...

To gain a global perspective on immigration, groups investigate and create a map of the migration patterns in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East. Class members then examine the background, immigration history, and...

Point of view, purpose, and tone: three concepts readers of primary and secondary source materials must take into account when examining documents. Class members view a PowerPoint presentation and use the SOAPS strategy to identify an...

Celebrate April's National Poetry Month or enrich a poetry unit with a wealth of language arts material. Class members develop an oral interpretation of a poem and/or develop a podcast interview with a poet. 

The class gets to practice being a mathematician in ancient Greece, performing geometric application problems in the way of Eratosthenes. After following the steps of the great mathematicians, they then compare the (surprisingly...

What famous children's author and illustrator created World War II political cartoons featuring such subjects as fascism, the war effort, discrimination, and the dangers of isolationism? The who in this story is Dr. Seuss, and what...

To gain a deeper understanding of the plight of refugees and asylum seekers, class members read stories written from the point of view of an emigrant, map the individual's journey, and note the human rights affected by each stage of the...

"How does our environment shape our identity?" After researching biographical information about John Knowles and considering how these experiences are reflected in A Separate Peace, class members consider the strengths and weaknesses of...