What does social security reveal about the political and social culture of the 1930s? After beginning with a brief introductory video on the impact of the Great Depression and how various Americans, such as Huey Long and Francis...

The murder of Emmett Till, the Selma to Montgomery march, and the desegregation of Boston schools are the focus of three units that ask class members to investigate why these events were so key in the struggle for civil rights....

Was the Scopes trial more complicated than a simple debate between evolutionists and creationists? As part of a structured academic controversy (SAC) activity, pupils consider multiple perspectives of the Butler Act and engage in close...

Why did many Tennesseeans support the 1925 Butler Act, which forbade the teaching of evolution? Using several primary source documents and a brief video clip, your young historians will draw connections between the broader historical...

Class members meet the original scrooge, the Dickens character whose name has become synonymous with a cold-hearted, tight-fisted, miser. Using the provided worksheet, readers closely examine context clues to determine the meanings of...

Did Scopes violate the Butler Act? Why did so many Americans follow the Scopes trial? See analytical reading in action with a fantastic five-day lesson plan in which class members consider the historical context that provoked public...

Did the New Deal fundamentally shift the role of the American government in the economy? Your class members will examine the interpretations of various historians in answering this question, and use a variety of primary and secondary...

You've heard of the historical moment when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus, but did you know that some historical accounts disagree on where she sat? Investigate this query with your young historians, and practice...

After analyzing newspaper articles portraying different perspectives of the explosion of the Battleship USS Maine, your young historians will take a stand on which position is the most believable in both discussion and writing.

Scholars play a historical version of the telephone game when they analyze the dispatch from the Pearl Harbor attack. The quick activity uses primary sources to help academics analyze an historical event. Young historians also complete a...

What led to the success of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and how might historians approach this question differently? This rich series of lessons includes a short introductory video clip, analysis of six primary source documents, and...

Class members are presented with the image of a painting and asked to record their first impressions and analysis. They then research the time period in which it was painted and discuss how their research impacted their first impression...

Young journalists use the E.S.C.A.P.E. (evidence, source, context, audience, purpose, and execution) strategy to evaluate historical and contemporary examples of bias in the news. The class then uses the provided discussion questions to...

Young historians use the SOAPS (Speaker, Occasion, Audience, Purpose, Subject) method of questioning to determine the historical value of primary source documents. The third in a series of five lessons that model for learners how...

Campaign ads target both timely issues and general themes. Presidential campaign ads from 1952 and 1988 provide class members an opportunity to compare how the topics ads choose to address can dramatically influence election outcomes.

If only a mask could talk! Using the interactive tool along with historical thinking skills, pupils uncover the meaning behind the various materials the resource presents. History becomes more relevant as the artifacts tell their stories...

Reading between the lines helps discover important information! The 11th lesson of a 22-part series on American history has scholars use historical thinking skills to uncover the deeper meaning behind the words on a page. Using backward...

The words of Henry David Thoreau on Civil Disobedience seem particularly relevant today, as are his writings and those of other transcendental thinkers who ask what it mean to live deliberately and what are the responsibilities of...

Let's compare! One pair of scholars adds to the Salva/Nya anchor chart by gathering evidence about the characters from chapters 14 and 15 of A Long Walk to Water. The rest of the class pairs work on adding to the Survival anchor chart....

An environmenta science unit includes three lessons plus a cumulative project covering the ecosystem. Scholars follow the history of the Ford Rouge Factory from its construction on wetlands and how it destroyed the...

Native American Nations ... sovereign entities or removable tribes? A thought-provoking lesson plan explores the relationship between Native American tribes and the United States, including forced assimilation and removal from their...

Seeing is believing when it comes to climate change. An informative activity explores the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and its efforts to document environmental issues with photographs. Academics match images...

The lesson focuses on slavery in the ancient world and asks academics to decide if it was always about race. Scholars view primary sources, participate in a short discussion, and complete a worksheet to understand how slavery in the...

An interesting resource focuses on the cultures of different peoples that have lived in Baghdad and their interactions. Academics view 11 sources to understand how Baghdad has been home to people of many faiths and cultures throughout...