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Art of Cynicism
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...
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Propaganda
Students discuss wartime propaganda after viewing the World War II film "Christmas Under Fire." They answer discussion questions, identify passages of propaganda from a transcript of the film, and write a brief from the Ministry of...
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Viewing Guide for The Ponder Heart
Students conduct research through library and Internet resources. They research in a multidisciplinary fashion, and make creative leaps in their analysis and interpretation of the novella.
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How Transportation Transformed America
Eleventh graders focus on the role of transportation. In this transportation lesson, 11th graders look at the lives of Americans at the turn of the centuries. They compare and contrast 2000 to 1900.
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Bob Dylan: No Direction Home
Students hold panel discussions on selected topics about the 1960s and their impact on modern-day events. As visual reinforcement, they watch the film about Bob Dylan and research the music of the period as well as his musical...
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"Jazz is About Freedom": Billie Holiday's Anti-lynching Song Strange Fruit
Working in small teams, learners analyze a variety of primary source materials related to lynching (news articles, letters written to or written by prominent Americans, pamphlets, broadsides, etc.) in order to assess the effectiveness of...
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Lincoln, Douglass, and Black Emergence (Literature and Politics, 1840-1865)
Students examine the ideas of Lincoln and Douglass. In groups, they compare and contrast writings from each man and how they formed the nation with their ideas. After watching "Glory", they discuss how people like Lincoln and Douglass...
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Motion Capture and Analysis
Students capture the serve motion of a tennis player with a digital or video camera. Using transparencies or a software package, analyze the speed, acceleration, displacement and time of the racquet head and ball in the tennis stroke.
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Data Gathering: Vietnam
Students study the Vietnam Era by interviewing people and writing a questionnaire to gather data on the attitudes, feeling, and experiences of the interviewee during this era.
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Teaching Acting Technique and Building a Character Through Cinema
Students review the style techniques related to the American Method Acting and practice using them in groups. Using various scenes from films, they try to recreate the scene using props. In groups, they discover the proper way to get...
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The Wealth In Poverty
Students investigate the social problem of poverty. They view a film in order to create context for the lesson. Students evaluate different quotations about the issue. Classroom discussion is used to find the definition of being...
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Case Study: Manzanar
Eleventh graders investigate Japanese-American internment. In this World War II lesson, 11th graders conduct research from the Manzanar National Historic Sites and then write essays based on their findings.
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Civil Rights Methodology Martin Luther King, Jr. – Stokely Carmichael
Students compare and contrast the visions of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Stokely Carmichael. In this African-American history lesson plan, students read speeches by each of the men and summarize the arguments made by each of them about...
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Dangerous Straits
High schoolers view a film and read articles that explore controversial Chinese and American relations. They conduct interviews, participate in class role-plays and develop policy recommendations for government agencies.
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From Sea to Shining Sea
Students study the geography of the United States of America. Students write letters, create travel brochures, make maps, graph population numbers, read fiction and nonfiction selections, complete KWL charts, and watch films.
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The Codex Comes Home: Leonardo Lives in Seattle
Students complete a unit on the life of Leonardo da Vinci and the content of the Codex Leicester. They write an encyclopedia entry, watch a film, complete a data sheet, conduct Internet research, and write a letter to Bill Gates about...
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Les Mis'rables
Young scholars read, understand, and enjoy Les Miserables. They improve their skills in literary analysis, writing, and listening. Through the study of biblical and historical allusions, symbols, metaphors, and other figurative language,...
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Twain: Icon and Iconoclast
Students examine work by Mark Twain in the context of pre- and post-Civil War America. In this cross curricular lesson, students gather biographical information about Twain, use a Venn diagram to compare and contrast him with Lincoln and...
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Radiation
Students distinguish between natural and man-made radiation. They measure radiation using a Geiger counter and investigate footprints of radiation.
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Nationalism and Conflict-Two Fronts, Two Perspectives!
Learners examine the major conflicts of the 20th century. After watching a video, they discuss the various types of technology and how they were used in World War I. They watch excerpts from films covering different wars and view them...
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A Cultural Palette
Students examine pieces of music and art that represent who they are. They study Haitian culture and traditions by performing the musical production "Once on the Island." They watch and discuss the film "The Nature of Music."
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I'm Gone
Students plan a mock mission to Mars. For this space science lesson, students work in cooperative groups and select one experiment to take on their mock mission. Students create a mission plan form and send a proposed experiment to NASA.
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The Cuban Missile Crisis
Students reflect on the events that lead up to the Cuban Missile Crisis in the early 1960s. In this history lesson plan, students explore the conflicts between the United States and the Soviet Union revolving around missiles in Cuba,...
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Active Viewing: Eyes on the Prize "Awakenings"
Dive deeper into the Montgomery Bus Boycott with this multi-stage lesson, centered on the essential question: Why did the boycott last so long? Historians investigate the Jim Crow south through a video clip (not included), then analyze...