As part of a study of the issues raised in the 2020 presidential election campaign, class members investigate and then create a pro-con comparison chart that reveals each candidate's position on a variety of issues.

Victor Laredo's painting "On the Beach" and Ella Wheeler Wilcox's poem "Thanksgiving" allow young scholars to use their noticing skills. Class members identify elements of the painting the artist uses to create the feeling of...

The first lesson of 12 in a poetry unit asks class members to develop their own definition of poetry. After crafting a response, they examine a variety of examples and decide if the resources are or are not poems.

The role of women before and during the American Revolution changed dramatically. To gain an understanding of these changes, middle schoolers analyze primary source documents, including letters from women that supported the patriot cause...

A set of 14 primary sources provides background for a study of Lorraine Hansberry's drama, A Raisin in the Sun. Featured are images from stage productions of the play, white supremacy protests, a clip from a television interview, and...

After class members brainstorm a list of current social and political issues, groups each select a different topic from the list to research. Teams create a portfolio of at least 10 examples of stories about their issue, stories that...

Future job seekers interview adults who love their work and ones that dislike their work. After reflecting on what they learned in a whole-class discussion, participants create a mission statement that details what they want and don't...

Young journalists use the E.S.C.A.P.E. (evidence, source, context, audience, purpose, and execution) strategy to evaluate historical and contemporary examples of bias in the news. The class then uses the provided discussion questions to...

A free write, an image of magnolia leaves, and the Ed Roberson's poem "Once the Magnolia has Blossomed" ask scholars to use their noticing skills to reflect on the lesson beauty teaches about loss and grief.

Arthur Sze's poem "Crisscross" launches a lesson plan that asks scholars to use their observation skills. They first draw an image that reflects what crisscross means to them. They then examine a photograph of a lightning strike and list...

Numerous people from China immigrated to the US during the era of industrialization and expansion. Provide your class with a glimpse into the life of a Chinese immigrant through the poetry they left behind. They then compose a poem of...

In need of a quick set of ideas to use on a wintery day? Why not analyze Winter Landscape with Skaters with your class? After a thorough discussion, learners compare and contrast two paintings, research what curators do, draw landscapes,...

Money talks! And it can reveal a lot about political candidates. An 11-slide presentation examines how candidates raise and spend money on an election. The slides, using data from the 2016 Presidential election, reveal how much it costs...

Any classroom study of Toni Morrison's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Beloved requires careful planning and scaffolding. A primary source set that includes a video, illustrations, photos of artifacts, and a broadside of the Fugitive...

Despite the passing of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments, as well as the passing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the struggle to ensure fair voter registration and election procedures continues. Young historians...

Is Antigone relevant to today's readers? After reading Sophocles' tragedy, scholars must decide if the themes are universal and timeless. Class members engage in a series of activities designed to have them closely consider the...

The Olympic Games are indeed a significant and far-reaching cultural component in our international community today, but from where do they originate? Where do our traditions stem from, and how do we choose the sports that constitute...

A band of brothers or the Devil's agents? Nobel warriors freeing the oppressed or mercenaries working for the military/industrial complex? Groups examine poems from the Civil War, World War I, and World War II to determine the poets'...

Wonderful worksheets and activities complementing six sequential lessons are what you'll find in this unit on folklore. Pupils create folktales using literary devices and included story starters, compare and contrast different...

Inquiry-based learning and investigations form the basis of a deep understanding of quadratic functions in a very thorough unit plan.  Learners develop recursive and closed methods for representing real-life situations,...

Assess your young scientists' understanding of the difference between observation and inference with this 20-question multiple choice quiz. It reviews a variety of physics and astronomy concepts, such as solar eclipses and sunspots, the...

What is your car worth? How much do you owe? Individuals create their personal cash flow and balance sheets. They learn the difference between an asset and liability using their personal information to complete the activity.

Students investigate their tracks to determine the number of footsteps it takes to travel the entire length of their bodies. Then they determine the taller of two children and the shorter of two children with their tracks. Students also...

A passage from Mark Twain's The Prince and the Pauper provides readers with a chance to demonstrate their ability to select evidence that shows the contrasts between the setting of Tom's real life and that of his dream life.