Hedy Lamarr led a double life. Best known as an actress, Lamarr was also a brilliant inventor, responsible for the technology found in Wi-Fi, GPS, and Bluetooth. After studying primary and secondary source materials, groups conduct an...

Help the class uncover the story of Frankenstein. Learners answer questions and complete activities to respond to the text Frankenstein as they read. Scholars learn new vocabulary, respond to personal and text-dependent questions,...

As part of their study of the women's suffrage movement, groups analyze political cartoons and drawings. They create a caption for an image from the time, add an exhibit label that provides a context for their drawing, and post as part...

Finding good primary source materials to support any study of history can be a challenge and time-consuming. A set of 11 primary source letters, images, and text excerpts provide young historians with an opportunity to sharpen their...

Why did African American voters switch from the Republican Party to the Democratic party during the Depression Era? That is the question young historians attempt to answer as they study primary source documents from the period. The focus...

Young historians use primary source materials to investigate the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor and the sinking of the USS Arizona. After reading background articles and studying maps and images of the attack, class members consider whether...

Journal writing can be a fun way to bring history to life. Upper graders read a series of journals from the time of the westward expansion, specifically the pioneer journey along the Oregon Trail. They compose an ongoing journal from the...

Second graders create a multimedia painting using warm or cool colors expressively. They demonstrate multimedia techniques in a drawing using pencil, oil pastel and tempera paints. They recognize and discuss mood created by warm and cool...

Approach the concept of freedom in United States history from a variety of angles and delve into rich primary source analysis practice. Pupils study the Statue of Freedom, which sits atop the dome of the Capitol building in...

Whether you are viewing a landscape painting of a farm, examining a still-life portrait of a bowl of fruit, or reading a descriptive poem about cultivating food, you can't deny that agriculture plays a major role in visual and language...

Shakespeare can be a challenge to the most skilled high school readers. This selection of short answer questions helps increase understanding of the character, Katherine, by addressing dialogue, tone of voice, making inferences, and...

As part of their study of how advertisers use various techniques to influence consumers, kids examine the design, the promotions, and the product placement in the packaging of their favorite foods. 

What tactics are used in civil disobedience? Learners study the conditions in Alabama that led to the establishment of the Atlanta Student Movement, as well as consider the nature and effectiveness of civil disobedience.

Designed for a Christian Sunday school class, this unit includes eight lessons for introducing youngsters to the Easter season and its connection to Jesus Christ. 

As Ken Jennings said, "There's just something hypnotic about maps." Certainly, the longer you look at them the more you can learn. In this project-based learning lesson, individuals study both historic and present-day maps of...

Twenty insightful questions follow a read aloud of the story, Amos and Boris by William Steig. Scholars then show what they know through completion of a cause and effect chart, reading fluency assessment, and a written...

What's the difference between being a phony and being a conformist? At what point does conforming to alleviate loneliness lead to insincerity? These are the questions at the heart of this unit plan that uses The Catcher in the Rye...

An engaging resource provides many primary source materials to inform a study of the Women's Suffrage Movement. Suggestions include building a timeline of the fight, using the documents as the basis of a DBQ, and/or using a Venn...

The right to public education was not always so clear in American history. Readers study several primary and secondary source documents, including property deeds, maps, and photographs, about the founding of local schools during the...

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...

Considering a unit study of American Musical Theatre? What better way to start than at the very beginning. Eight pairs of cards provide class members with background information about the genre from 1893 through 2004. The cards are...

Young historians conclude their study of the events that lead up to and the planning for the March on Washington. After examining videos and primary source documents, they consider the civil rights objectives that still need to be...

Identify and analyze the use of figurative language used in select pieces of writing. These pieces of literature will represent at least two pieces by one writer and at least two pieces by different writers. This lesson plan would be a...

Engage your middle schoolers with Pastor Martin Niemoller's famous poem that begins, "First they came for the communists." Now that you have their attention, send learners to the various work stations you created to have them explore...