Students research the Great Depression Era and its effect on the world. They create a multimedia presentation over the Great Depression from many angles.

Students examine struggles for freedom. In this Underground Railroad activity, students listen to "Follow the Drinking Gourd" and "Freedom" to lead them into a discussion regarding freedoms . Students watch the video "The...

Learners practice the skill of photo analysis. In this Great Depression lesson plan, students analyze photographs from the era and write fictitious diary entries based on the images. 

Eleventh graders explore the life and writing of F. Scott Fitzgerald. They examine the youth culture of the 1920's and compare it to their own. They practice using some of the biographer's or archivist's tools for studying a person.

Pupils engage in a professional development workshop for teachers in the delivery of curriculum about the era of the 1960's. The emphasis of the workshop is using popular culture of the time in order to launch investigations that are...

Fifth graders divide themselves into groups of 3 or 4, research 4 different generations, and answer the questions on the handout provided. They then work in cooperative groups to create a poster illustrating their generation.

Students explore the implications of the draft during the Vietnam War. For this Vietnam lesson, students analyze the lyrics of songs that explore differents opinions of the Vietnam draft. Students particpate in a role-play activity...

In this reading comprehension activity, students read the story Follow the Drinking Gourd and then answer short answer questions about it. Students complete 6 questions.

Students define prejudice. In this cultural diversity instructional activity, students analyze the lyrics of "Carefully Taught," from Broadway's South Pacific and then discuss and debate the attributes of prejudice.

Introducing the topic of cultural diversity and the social issues surrounding it, this presentation will get your students thinking about stereotypes involving race, gender, and sexual orientation. Affirmative action and positive and...

Students explore Puerto Rico.  In this Puerto Rico current events lesson, students conduct a Webquest to answer questions about Puerto Rico's culture.  Students discuss whether Puerto Rico is a country or a state, and defend...

Students research the animals of Brazil. In this animal science lesson, students locate Brazil on a map and discuss the types of animals that can live in its tropical climate. They research a Brazilian Carnaval and see the roll the...

Explore the benefits of physical activity and how it will affect your students' health. Students track their physical activities for one week and then compare their results.  Collaboration with a math teacher woould be useful as it...

Students recognize how chromatic scales create tension and pentatonic scales create relaxation as compositional techniques used to create tonality. Also, students aurally recognize the use of mixed or alternating meter as a means of...

Learners explore African spirituals. In this slavery instructional activity, students listen to and analyze the spiritual song "Wade in the Water" line by line. Learners share their interpretations with their classmates.

High schoolers read an article about the new interest in Harry S. Truman. In groups, they review his foreign policy decisions and how situations might have been different if he had made a different decision. They also examine the...

Students examine and discuss government-imposed censorship of art and artists' methods for counteracting censorship. They view censored artwork, write a persuasive essay, and create an art piece.

Learners become familiar with the achievements of the artist Faith Ringgold. They take notice of the patterns in their environment. They connect the mathematical concept of patterns to create a class quilt.

Fifth graders portray one of the actual framers of the Constitution. They summarize each class period with a journal entry and culminate the experience with the actual framing and signing (or not signing) of the Constitution.

Students analyze the work of Diego Rivera. They participate in a class discussion, critique various paintings, write a short story based on a Rivera mural, and create a class mural.

The students create a personal narrative on their experiences with immigration. In this lesson, students are asked to read and understand examples of narrative writing as well as evaluate lyrics from Ben Folds Five to determine elements...

Eleventh graders discover the poetry of Langston Hughes. In this social issues lesson plan, 11th graders experience the views of Langston Hughes. Students read Hughes' poetry and discuss the basic theme. Students evaluate the political,...

Students examine Edgar Allan Poe's "the Purloined Letter" from the perspective of a profiler. To sharpen search procedures, they examine the text and make lists of items and places in the house that were searched. Then students discuss...

Students perform a folk dance and discuss its cultural and historical meanings. They review the dance and perform it, beginning with four individuals who dance with confidence right from the start.