Discover journalistic techniques by having learners prepare and write their own class newspaper. They discuss the five W's of investigative journalism and conduct interviews with school figures. They utilize video technology, podcast...

Aesop's Fables are the focus of this language arts lesson. Young philosophers study and discuss the morals found in the most famous of Aesop's Fables. They write an original fable that teaches a common moral. A "Fable Listening Library"...

Students examine artwork by Thomas Hart Benton. In this interdisciplinary lesson, students analyze the painting The Sources of Country Music, listen to folk music, and examine how recording technology and the movies shaped the images of...

What are fibersheds and what what do they have to do with environmental protections? A photo essay and audio recordings about Mimi Luebbermann, and her sheep, cause consumers to reflect on how their clothing choices can support local...

Good primary resources, offering different perspectives on important issues and events, are hard to find. A packet of 12 primary source images, videos, audio recordings, records, and newspaper articles related to the 1960s civil rights...

Is your class studying civil rights? Consider taking a look at President Lyndon B. Johnson's voting rights speech. This resource includes an abridged version and three related questions. Pupils consider Johnson's use of language and the...

Designed to support a study of women's suffrage in the United States, a primary source document set from the Library of Congress includes images, song sheets, articles, statistical documents, political cartoon, and audio recordings...

Young journalists learn that how we get our news and information matters in a collaborative social studies activity. The class is divided into three groups with the first analyzing a transcript of FDR's "Day of Infamy" speech, the second...

Students interview someone who has recently visited a country that students are studying. They use iPod and voice recorder to record the interview and use iPhoto to review and orgainze the interviewee's photos of the trip as well as any...

Learners discover the history of Colonial America by creating a class presentation.  In this U.S. History lesson, students utilize the Internet to research one of 20 topics in which they will create a PowerPoint or other type of...

Historians follow FDR's Infamy speech from rough draft to the official address to the Senate. An intriguing activity compares and contrasts FDR's original speech to the official version. Academics also listen to FDR address the Senate....

Students interview a person who recently visited a country they are interested in knowing more about. Using the Internet, they research the country noting the geography and economic situations of the country. In groups, they import the...

Young historians will learn not to fear primary source materials (or fear itself, for that matter) thanks to this resource that uses Franklin D. Roosevelt's March 4, 1933 Inaugural Address to model how to conduct a close reading of such...

Upper graders explore the similarities, differences, and depth of pop music from the Romantic era and the 20th century. They listen to selections that exemplify the Baroque, Romantic, and 20th century periods, then create presentations...

When and how did the Cold War begin? To answer this question, you will not find a better-organized, in-depth, activity- and inquiry-based resource than this! Executing best teaching practices throughout, each portion of this inquiry...

Turn your students into flocks of migratory birds for this fun lesson on animal migration. Prior to the activity, the teacher creates four different migration routes in the classroom or any available open space, labeling nesting...

Three lessons in the Let Freedom Swing concert tour resource guide packed with information, materials, and activities that provide the context for any study of American history.

Why doesn't the Supreme Court hear testimony from witnesses? How do they complete an entire proceeding in less than two hours? A helpful lesson guides scholars of criminology through these and other questions by explaining how appeals...

Students discover the value of oral history by creating their own audio recordings.  In this traditions and customs lesson, students listen to a local historian discuss the idea of preserving history through oral traditions....

Students complete a unit of lessons on a variety of types of American music. They record their impressions of music samples on a worksheet, identify types of instruments, and choose a musical selection for their family to respond to.

Distinguish the difference between primary and secondary sources. High schoolers discover how to conduct an interview using an individual as a primary source, and why it is important to get a real-life perspective. They either video or...

Excerpts from John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath and from John Fante's Ask the Dust, as well as a variety of primary source documents provide the background for an examination of the migrant experience from 1920-1945.

The California missions were built with the hope of converting the local Native Americans to Catholicism, but exactly how different were their beliefs to begin with? Through analysis of a series of primary source documents,...

The firsthand accounts of what it was like to be an enslaved person in the mid-1800s riveted a nation and the issue ultimately led to civil war. Using excerpts from Frederick Douglass's autobiography, budding historians examine what it...