Curated OER
Rewrite, Revise, Recycle
Learners examine different pieces of literature that have a similiar theme. They read an article about reusing ideas for television shows. They work together to create their own program proposals. They also create backstories for one of...
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
Yankee Doodle: How Has It Changed over Time?
Grab your feathers and your hat! And perhaps some macaroni! It's time to investigate the evolution of "Yankee Doodle Dandy." Groups do a close reading of sheet music covers, lyrics, and even YouTube videos to see how this political song...
Artgig Studio
Mystery Math Town
You know you have stumbled on something interesting when you launch this app. You are suddenly taken into a world of mystery and intrigue, and of course, math-skills practice.
Curated OER
Homeschooling through the Holidays
Use your unique flexibility to help your family explore the holiday traditions of various cultures.
Curated OER
Is Social Media a Trustworthy News Outlet?
Examine the role of social media in social and political uprisings. Pupils listen to NPR audio clips about social media and the Arab Spring and read an article that proposes the idea that revolution will not happen through social media....
LABScI
Catapult: Flight of the Marshmallows
Watch your marshmallows fly. The engaging STEM activity has groups create a catapult to launch marshmallows. After testing their prototypes, they consider improvements and redesign their catapults.
Curated OER
After the Test: Activities for Worn-Out Afternoons
Finish the day strong with these ideas for the post-testing let down, while still keeping the focus on academics.
Curated OER
Story vs. Plot
Students, after reading and discussing the two texts by Flannery O'Connor, "Good Country People" and "Greenleaf," analyze the plot, tone, characters, themes and setting in each story. They write their own short stories dealing with a...
Curated OER
Picture Writing Prompt
For this picture prompt worksheet, students look at a picture and try to imagine what is being said, where people are going or have come from and choose a character to write a story about.
Curated OER
In Trouble in Islamabad
Students create a podcast about a current event in global politics. After reading newspaper articles concerning the state of emergency in Pakistan, students, working in groups, conduct an interview style podcast segment to be edited...
Backstory Radio
Backstory Radio: Scales of Justice: A History of Supreme Court Nominations
BackStory Radio episode discussion of the Supreme Court nomination process past and present exploring media influence and whether or not the process has become more politicized. No audio; transcript only.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Cuneiform Tablets: Backstory
The looting and illegal sale of important historical artifacts is detrimental to global cultural heritage for many reasons. This article explains the ramifications of this illegal activity using the Hobby Lobby case as an example.
Backstory Radio
Back Story Radio: Degrees of Freedom: Higher Education in America
BackStory podcast with the American History Guys discussing the history of higher education in America including struggle over the purpose and nature of college and what the debate is about today. Audio and transcripts are provided in...
Backstory Radio
Back Story Radio: Grand Old Parties: A History of Partisanship
BackStory Radio explores the history of partisanship and asks whether it is tearing us apart in this country or serving to keep us together. This episode has no podcast; it is a brief article on the topic and transcripts of the comments...
Backstory Radio
Back Story Radio: Looking for Work: A History of Unemployment
BackStory Radio episode in which historian Alexander Keysar takes a look at unemployment over the years and discusses with callers to the show how it had shaped our national character and perceptions of joblessness. This is the...
Backstory Radio
Back Story Radio: Teed Off: The Tea Party, Then and Now
BackStory episode about the Tea Party movement and its relationship to the American populist movement of the past. The transcript is provided, no audio.
Read Works
Read Works: The Inside Scoop
[Free Registration/Login Required] This passages shares the backstory of a couple who own and work on an ice cream truck. This passage is a stand-alone curricular piece that reinforces essential reading skills and strategies and...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: The Paracas Textile
One of the most extraordinary masterpieces of the pre-Columbian Americas is a nearly 2,000-year-old cloth from the South Coast of Peru. View detailed pictures and read the backstory of this textile in this essay.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Eakins, the Gross Clinic
Thomas Eakins' most well-known and ambitious work is "The Gross Clinic" which spotlights a local physician. View pictures and read the backstory and criticism of this painting in this essay.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Eakins, the Champion Single Sculls (Max Schmitt in a Single Scull)
Thomas Eakins' "Champion Single Sculls" was his first major success by demonstrating his remarkable technical skill. View pictures of this tranquil scene and read the backstory of this painting.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Catlin, the White Cloud, Head Chief of the Iowas
George Catlin's paintings and illustrations show Native-Americans as real people as opposed to noble savages as Europeans often viewed them. View examples of his paintings and read their backstory in this essay.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Richard Caton Woodville, War News From Mexico
Richard Caton Woodville's "War News From Mexico" is an example of an American genre painting. It depicts a group of people reacting to news about the Mexican-American War. View pictures of this painting and read the backstory in this essay.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Leutze, Washington Crossing the Delaware
"Washington Crossing the Delaware" by German Emanuel Leutze is one of the most recognizable images in the history of American art. Read the backstory and view pictures of this painting.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Utagawa Kunisada I, Visiting Komachi
"Visiting Komachi" by Utagawa Kunisada I is one of the images in the series "Modern Beauties as the Seven Komachi". Each scene in Kunisada's "Seven Komachi" series relates a story or anecdote associated with Komachi's life. View pictures...