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...

What makes a source primary or secondary? Middle schoolers read a definition of each term before exploring different examples and applying their knowledge to a research project.

Looking for a new and exciting way to teach young historians the art of primary source analysis? Jazz up your lesson with a resource that asks class members to analyze photos, travel documents, and letters written by some of New Orleans'...

In a lesson on The Metamorphoses, scholars compare how graphic artists use mythic imagery to represent Ovid's tales. Each group selects a work of art paired with Ovid's version of a myth and compares how both present the story.

As part of a case study of U.S. immigration during the first part of the 20th century, class members examine a variety of primary sources that present multiple perspectives of the responses of those in favor of immigration and those...

An open discussion starts this lesson off. The class takes a critical look at five works of art that demonstrate the impact and purpose of identity through collections or archives. They then write a list or draw 10-15 items found in...

Walking in nature is the theme of a unit designed to support English language development lessons. Scholars look, write, speak, and move to explore topics such as camping, woodland animals, instruments,...

Teach pupils how veterans used art to deal with PTSD and shell-shock from trench warfare during World War I. Scholars use graphic organizers, a cartoon analysis sheet, and their own inferences to analyze primary source art work by veterans.

Teach your class about colonial America through an examination of primary documents. First though, start vocabulary notebooks for content-specific and academic vocabulary. Pupils can keep this record during the entire module. Once this...

Engage your pupils in a seres of journalism activities. For this journalism lesson plan, learners practice with AP style, analyze an article, practice writing leads, work with organizing information, and take a stab at writing headlines....

Stories by Edgar Allan Poe and Ambrose Bierce provide readers with an opportunity to investigate unreliable narrators. The lesson plan begins with an activity about different types of point of view and continues as scholars apply their...

Reinforce concepts such as long vowels, spelling patterns, sound clusters, double-final consonants, and syllables with a nature-themed unit. Through a series of extra support lessons, learners compare and contrast using a...

Provide extra support with this collection of animal-themed lessons. Early readers gain proficiency in high frequency words are and he, practice blending short vowel sounds, and substitute initial and final phonemes while...

Enhance a class read-aloud of the children's story Hi! Fly Guy with this reading comprehension activity. Children first listen as the teacher reads the story, stopping along the way to discuss any unfamiliar vocabulary. The...

Scholars take a close look at evaluating sources and the information that comes from them. Learners review their research plans, use a handout organizer to learn how to take notes, and begin annotating correctly. They practice what they...

Wouldn't it be great to live an a community without pain, without danger? Such a society is the goal of the community in The Giver. Using Lois Lowry's dystopian novel as the core text, class members read primary source materials...

Get your class thinking about advertising with this lesson plan. Over the course of 15 days, your class will discuss advertising techniques, study the concepts of pathos, logos, and ethos, and analyze the persuasive techniques of...

Albert Bierstadt's painting Wind River Country shows viewers how a reader progresses through a story. Your class studies the light and dark areas, how the eye moves across the painting, and what attracts the audience to the work, and...

To gain an understanding of Imperialism, class members read Rudyard Kipling's poem, "The White Man's Burden" and Mark Twain's essay, "To the Person Sitting in Darkness." Groups compare these perceptions of non-white cultures with the...

Here is a phenomenal language arts lesson on media literacy for your middle and high schoolers. In it, learners produce a research product in the form of a public service announcement (PSA). First, they view examples of these PSA's to...

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 plan introduces young musicians...

Check those sources carefully. Scholars learn to analyze and critique primary sources with the work they completed in the previous activity. Learners compare and contrast sources that agree and disagree about Japanese-American internment...

Some problems are so big it takes an entire community to solve them. So was the case in the children's book Humphrey the Lost Whale: A True Story by Wendy Tokuda and Richard Hall. This primary grade instructional activity uses a...

Has life changed for American women in the last century, or are there common themes between the lives of 21st century women and the struggle of suffragettes from the 1910s? Explore the ways media reflects the position of women...