Students conduct research on a German anti-Nazi group named "Die Weisse Rose", the White Rose, that eventually lost their lives for their resistance to Nazi rule. They view films, access the Internet, prepare responsive narratives to the...

Here is a complex lesson plan that interweaves the history of the Jim Crow South and the Great Migration with the study of poetry, art, and blues music from the Harlem Renaissance. The plan helps young historians develop a deep...

Students explore the Latin American film industry. In this Latin American film lesson, students compare Latin American films to American films as they watch segments of "Que Viva Mexico!" Students research the painters on the film and...

The television and interstate highways both came of age in 1950s America. Scholars use film, text, and discussion to explore how these and other cultural icons shaped the literature of the time. Pupils also create a family history...

Fourth graders compare and contrast the literature of Japan as they study the culture, history and geography of the island nation. They read various genres of literature, describe geographic and landform features of Japan, and find...

High schoolers read texts, view film and video and conduct research in an analysis and comparison of Shakespeare's "Hamlet" and the Kabuki piece "Chushingura". They focus their analysis on the theme of revenge.

Fifth graders are introduced to different aspects of African-American history through literature, art, and films. As a class, they are read a story about the Underground Railroad, identify the main characters and put the events into...

Students create their own museum exhibit. In this museum creation lesson plan, students research their local history so they can decide on a theme for their exhibit and what objects they will use in order to design a museum exhibit. A...

Kids use poetry and contemporary art to start thinking about logic and personal expression. They read Sylvia Plath's poem "Metaphor," and critically examine the art of Urs Fischer. After working though a few logic problems they write...

Integrate history, math, and art into a study of The Grapes of Wrath with a series of activities that ask learners to investigate the social, political, economic, and environmental factors at play during the 1930s. Designed to be used...

Use a series of extension activities to enhance your class reading of Chris Van Allsburg's holiday classic, The Polar Express. From a biography of the author to filmed book reviews and research about the railroad, kids can take...

Students work as partners to study Dr. Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech. In this African American history lesson, students work with their cross-grade partner to study, understand, and memorize the speech. Students meet with...

Art can express acts of injustice and move society to action. Upper graders analyze contemporary art relating to specific moments in history. They discuss propaganda, anarchy, sociology, and violence as activism. After researching and...

The length of Queen Victoria's reign, surpassed only by Queen Elizabeth II in the modern era, stretched through much of the 19th century and into the 20th century. Explore the many social, industrial, and political shifts that occurred...

High schoolers conduct oral history interviews and research primary resources to explain changes in immigration and migration over time.

Here are eight ideas to celebrate National Hispanic Month! Scholars have the opportunity to read and discuss literature, include people and events in history, examine art, watch and discuss films, listen to and dance to music, explore...

Jazz and the City, Jazz and the Civil Rights Movement, Jazz and Gender, Jazz and Literature, Jazz and the Arts, Jazz and Film. Here's a packet of unit plans organized around themes that reflect American culture. Each unit examines how...

Students trace Joan of Ar's history from early childhood through her death and on to her nullification trial. Joan's place in the history of the Hundred Years' War, what motivated her, enabled her, and brought about her demise is the...

Learners explain how international politics, religion, and cultural beliefs influenced the life of Mary Queen of Scots. They watch a film about Mary, Queen of Scots and participate in a discussion and variety of extension activities.

Students explore the diversity of European festivals. In this cultural diversity lesson, students visit selected Web sites to research ancient festivals, the Edinburgh Fringe, and the Glastonbury. Students may organize their own festivals.

Eleventh graders compare experiences of their families to those living through the Great Depression using famiy interviews, photographs, films and document from the Library of Congress.

High schoolers use the internet to track the growth of the King Arthur legend from the Dark Ages to its arrival on the silver screen.

Students analyze selected pieces of art and infer how they reflect a sense of disillusionment, and/or cynicism in American society in the aftermath of the Vietnam War and Watergate scandal. Then they identify and place cultural attitudes...

Students examine fossils to understand how they are formed and how they give information about geological history. In this fossil lesson plan, students research and write about fossils and make models of different fossil types.The PDF...