Curated OER
Advanced Critical Reading: Biomimetics
Instruct your class on biomimetics while practicing reading comprehension with this activity. Learners read a passage that describes the efforts of scientists, starting with Leonardo da Vinci, to emulate nature to solve issues in...
Smithsonian Institution
Cuban Missile Crisis
The United States—specifically John F. Kennedy—played a large role during the Cuban Missile Crisis. A history resource poses questions that encourage critical thinking as well as in-depth analysis of images from the time period.
US House of Representatives
“‘The Negroes’ Temporary Farewell,” Jim Crow and the Exclusion of African Americans from Congress, 1887–1929
Despite some advances made during the Reconstruction Era following the Civil War, the period from 1887 through 1929, African Americans serving in Congress suffered severe setbacks due to Jim Crow Laws and voter suppression. Class members...
University of Kansas
Newspaper in the Classroom
Newspapers aren't only for reading—they're for learning skills, too! A journalism unit provides three lessons each for primary, intermediate, and secondary grades. Lessons include objectives, materials, vocabulary, and procedure, and...
Speak Truth to Power
Dalai Lama: Free Expression and Religion
How is religious freedom connected to the conflict between China and Tibet? After reading an online passage of background information, your learners will divide into groups and both read and view an interview with the Dalai Lama. They...
Curated OER
Advanced Art – Cultural Place-setting Still life
Upper graders view a series of films that depict rituals or celebrations as they occur in different cultural settings. They conduct a cultural investigation about one culture, brainstorm and research objects that have cultural or...
Curated OER
Labor Rights
Students examine international labor laws. In this labor rights lesson, students analyze labor laws around the world. Students also read 2 case studies and determine how they do or do not fall into line with International Labor...
NPR
Distracted by Everything - Being Wired at All Times
This multimedia activity challenges media-savvy learners to look at the critical issue concerning the inundation of technology and multitasking in the classroom, and its effects on the education of themselves and others. The tasks...
Curated OER
What do they want? Critical Perspectives on the 1960's in the United States
Students determine that history is a field of study that can help them understand themselves and the people around them. By reading sources by and about people with many of the same interests and concerns that they have and learning to...
Facing History and Ourselves
Laws and the National Community
When it comes to the law, is justice always served? Teach scholars about how law sometimes enables prejudice of entire groups of people with a unit on World War II that includes a warm-up activity, analysis of primary sources,...
Curated OER
Working Collaboratively in the College EFL Classroom
Students focus on the three stages of reading, the pre, while and post reading stage. They apply these to a reading and participate in a post reading discusion.
Curated OER
The Times and Life During the California Gold Rush
Fourth graders read about the era in their history books, write in their journals revolving around the Gold Rush, making crafts such as newspapers, and also play the part of the Forty-niners.
Smithsonian Institution
Mexican War
Did you know that without the Mexican War, the United States would not include the states of Arizona, California, New Mexico, Texas, Nevada, Utah, and even parts of Colorado? Scholars learn a variety of interesting facts about the...
Foreign Policy Research Institute
Categories of Cold War Histiography
While the objective is to provide an overview of the Cold War in preparation for further study, this resource addresses the topic at a rather advanced level, and might need its own introductory lesson. The handouts include terms such as...
Curated OER
Island Survival
Students participate in a simulation of life on a deserted island. They work with their group to develop an island survival plan and summarize it in a journal. Students use a worksheet and challenge cards to earn points. They will be...
PBS
The March on Washington and Its Impact
High schoolers read Martin Luther King, Jr's speech that he gave in Washington. They identify the social conditions that led to the civil rights movement. They discuss the significance of the March on Washington.
iCivics
Why Government?
Why do people create governments? Where did we get our ideas about government? This is a fantastic introductory lesson for your American government class that begins by reviewing the philosophies of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke in...
Stanford University
Beyond Vietnam
On April 4, 1967 Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his speech "Beyond Vietnam." The controversy that followed is the focus of a three-lesson unit that asks class members to consider the political and social implications of King's...
Curated OER
Indian Mathematical Achievements
High schoolers explore how Indian culture and religion prompted Indian advancements in math and science. For this Indian culture lesson, students read "India's Work in Math" and conduct research regarding Indian mathematicians.
Curated OER
The Red Convertible
Students read and discuss the short story "The Red Convertible". They participate in extension activities related to each of the three parts of the story, planning a road trip, researching the Vietnam War, and writing a paper on their...
Curated OER
Dialect Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar
Students examine the life and works of Paul Laurance Dunbar. In groups, they read various poems of his and use a database to examine the covers of his books. They also discuss the criticism he faced during his life and how he dealt...
Curated OER
Invasive Species in the News
Students explore how invasive species can change an environment. In this critical thinking lesson, students study how invasive animals can change an environments population. They will discuss the implications of an invasive species and...
Curated OER
Native American Literature: A Paradigm Shift
Learners explore Native American literature. In this cultural diversity lesson plan, students read selected Native American books and analyze the themes of the books and familiarize themselves with the vocabulary used in the books.
Curated OER
Synthesizing Content on a Continuum: Developing Effective Communication
Students take a short quiz on what they already know about HIV/AIDS. In groups, they read an article on the disease and place the information from it on a timeline. They role-play different scenerios in which they have written the...