Curated OER
Thomas Jefferson
Students explore the accomplishments of world leaders. In this Thomas Jefferson lesson, students list the accomplishments achieved by Jefferson and read his epitaph. Students then write epitaphs for recent world leaders or celebrities.
Perfection Learning
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
A revolutionary work of literature requires a revolutionary assessment project. A series of activities on Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings includes discussion questions, a plot synopsis, and a selection of both short and...
Curated OER
Watergate
High schoolers are asked to think about their attitudes towards politicans. They describe the character of Richard Nixon and the attitude of his White House. Students are told about the Watergate scandal. They discuss the effects of the...
Curated OER
Skepticism Toward Government
Young scholars explain how the media portrays certain events and its effects on public opinion of government. They focus on Watergate, the Vietnam War, and the Clinton impeachment. They write essays about skepticism promoted by the media.
Curated OER
Leaders in a Media Age
Students identify ways in which the president can use various media to communicate his messages and intent. They demonstrate ways in which the news media can create public opinion.
Curated OER
Secretary of State Powell
Students study the life of Colin Powell who was Secretary of State during President Bush's first term. They investigate the workings of the US State Department by researching a number of websites.
Curated OER
Energy Efficient Appliances
Students use the Internet to research energy efficient appliances. They discover tips on how to save energy in the home and how to read the EnergyGuide labels. They also examine ways to reduce the amount of water that is used.
Curated OER
Opinion Poll-arities
Young scholars explore the mathematics behind opinion polls, as well as provides a framework for interpreting trends in opinion poll graphics.
Curated OER
Press Review
How can word choice affect a political speech? Middle and high schoolers examine the text of the 1999 State of the Union Address, and then determine how newspaper articles and television reports describe and analyze the event. Use this...
Curated OER
The U.S. Trade Embargo on Cuba
Students examine perspectives for and against the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba, develop a position on the embargo and articulate viewpoints in a public forum.
Dick Blick Art Materials
Artist’s Challenge Coins
Make 'em, trade 'em, share 'em. Kids create artist's challenge coins to celebrate personal achievements, as mementos, or as encouragement. Originally designed for service personnel, these coins are a great way to recognize achievement.
Balanced Assessment
Presidential Popularity
Media often misrepresent data and statistics to their advantage. This lesson asks scholars to analyze an article with misleading statistics. They use margin of error and mean data in their studies. Once they complete their analysis,...
ProCon
Electoral College
The Electoral College's role in elections is sometimes confusing and controversial. Pupils use a debate topics website to research the pros and cons of the practice to debate whether the United States should still use the Electoral...
Curated OER
Constitution/Impeachment/Reconstruction
Eleventh graders analyze a chart comparing U.S. census data from 1850, 1880, 1900, and 1920. They read a handout summarizing immigration legislation from 1882-1996 and create a graph charting how open / closed U.S. immigration is over time.
National First Ladies' Library
Trouble in Little Rock: The Desegregation of Central High School
Middle schoolers study one aspect of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States; the battle over desegregating the public schools. They study the desegregation of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas by producing a newspaper,...
Curated OER
How are People Portrayed by Different Media?
Your 9th - 12th graders can hone their analysis and critical thinking skills by studying the way a subject is portrayed across media types. They examine how various print, visual, and online sources have portrayed key players in the 9/11...
Curated OER
Sunken Millions for People in our Past
This multiple choice review covers famous historical figures from all walks of life. each slide has a scoring set up in the corner which assumes two teams and allows for hints and lifelines etc. but it is not clear how to use this...
State Library of Ohio
Tuck Everlasting
A great toolbox of ideas for any teacher preparing to teach the novel Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt, this resource includes a short biography of Natalie Babbitt, several discussion questions that could double as writing prompts,...
Curated OER
Immigrants Who Built America
Students research the lives of ten famous immigrant Americans. They conduct research, and match names with the accomplishments of famous immigrants on a worksheet.
Curated OER
Cartoons for the Classroom: Invasion of the Superdelegates
What are superdelegates? Use this political cartoon analysis handout to explore this informal term with your scholars. Background information gives brief context to help high schoolers examine the featured cartoon, and three talking...
Curated OER
Cartoons for the Classroom: Politics of Change
Empty rhetoric in Washington timelessly inspires political cartoons. Examine this concept through an analysis handout, which features a cartoon by Pat Oliphant (archived work is linked for possible extension activities). Although this...
Council for Economic Education
Jokes, Quotations, and Cartoons in Economics
Humor offers a great tool teach the basics of economics to scholars via video clips, satire, and political cartoons. Individuals create their own economic humor to present to the class—with the assistance of Daryl Cagel's online...
Curated OER
Grammar Practice: Restrictive vs. Non-Restrictive Clauses
Go over the basics of restrictive and non-restrictive clauses with this grammar worksheet. After reviewing the concepts, as well as the definitions of parentheticals and appositives, young learners label ten sentences as restrictive or...
Curated OER
Analogy: Reasoning by Comparison
"Life is like a box of chocolates. . ." "Barack is a Mac, Hillary is a PC." Literal and figurative analogies are featured in a presentation that models how to use analogies to bolster arguments.