Harry Potter, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, To Kill a Mockingbird. Kids view a slide show and then discuss the seven banned books featured in the presentation and the reasons why the books may have been banned.

Why do books end up on the banned book list? How do these banned books contribute to the literary canon? Start by showing the photo slide show, and discussing notably banned books. Then focus on some of the most popular objections:...

Discover the family histories that make the classroom with a family tree activity. Scholars locate information about their family, construct a family tree, and work together to tally where family members are born.  

Celebrate Black History Month with this lesson, in which middle schoolers create an essay about a famous African-American. Writers conduct research online, take notes to write an essay in proper format, and use ideas, text, and graphics...

Use the well-known KWHL chart as a tool for building up to a research project and oral presentation related to Willa Cather's My Antonia. Starting with a class brainstorm, pupils research and gradually narrow down topics relating to...

Students discuss the basic ideas about the government of the English colonists. They identify three kinds of colonial government developed in the thirteen colonies.

How would you use census data from 1880-1900? Here are a set of ways you can incorporate the book Little House on the Prairie and US census data from that time period. Learners will research the validity or the book based on factual...

Eighth graders describe the basic ideas of government and arguments supporting the separation of the colonies from Britain in the Declaration of Independence. They actively participate in class discussion and then review, answering all...

Discover colonies! Young historians will listen to a primary source journal entry read aloud with a backdrop of wave sounds. They discuss the entry, add historical facts to a chart and personal insights to another. Then they listen to...

Students think critically about their perceptions of terrorism and examine the motivations, goals and actions of countries against whose "state-sponsored terrorism" the United States State Department has issued sanctions.

Young scholars consider the challenges facing Iraqi voters and various attitudes toward the election. They research topics related to the January 2005 election, then write segments for a television news hour.