Shmoop
ELA.CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.2
One way to get your class to evaluate and synthesize multiple multimedia sources is through a research project. The idea here is that class members will watch videos and listen to scientific debates in order to create a casebook about...
What So Proudly We Hail
The Meaning of America: Equality
What if society sought equality by handicapping the gifted and dispelling any traces of diversity? Kurt Vonnegut Jr. offers one possible answer to this question through his incredibly engaging and thought-provoking satirical...
Curated OER
Jon and Charlie's Run
Let's use math to solve an argument. Jon and Charlie are debating about who can run farther, but who is right? That's what your class will figure out as they apply their understanding of fractions to this real-life situation. A simple,...
iCivics
Emphasize Minimize
Encourage your class members to consider what points they are really emphasizing when they are making an argument, whether in writing or in speech. Watch out though, as this lesson may just leave your learners eager to debate you!
Carolina K-12
Loyalists and Patriots
Your young historians will square off as Loyalists dedicated to the English crown or revolutionaries fighting for a new nation in a role-play of a colonial town hall debate before the American Revolution.
City University of New York
Women's Suffrage and World War I
Democracy cannot exist where not everyone has equal rights. Discuss the state of democracy and women's suffrage during World War I with class discussions, debates, and primary source analysis, in order for class members to connect...
Curated OER
Constitutional Convention Simulation
Why did the Founders make it so challenging to amend the US Constitution? To gain an understanding of why the process is so difficult, class members engage in a Constitutional Convention simulation. Groups draft, propose, and debate...
Virginia Department of Education
Biotechnological Issues and Bioethics
Culminate a bioethics unit with the implementation of a lesson that incorporates the Socratic method to encourage class feedback and participation. Pupils participate in a discussion on bioethics and morality, complete a...
City University of New York
The 15th and 19th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution
Who gets to vote? Learn more about struggles for suffrage throughout United States history with a lesson based on primary source documents. Middle schoolers debate the importance of women's suffrage and African American...
National Constitution Center
Town Hall Wall: College Exam
The college that directly affects young citizens' lives is not the university they're applying to. Learn about the Electoral College in a town hall activity in which class members debate the merits of the current system versus electing a...
Goethe-Institut
Life in a Refugee Camp
To raise awareness of the complexity of the immigration debate, class groups examine facts about one aspect of life in a refugee camp and then, in a jigsaw activity, share what they have learned with their new group. Groups then...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Naturalized Citizens and the Presidency
Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution takes center stage in a lesson that asks class members to assume the role of state senators, debate a resolution to amend the U. S. Constitution to permit naturalized citizens to run for...
Minnesota Literacy Council
Introduction to Historical Thinking
Christopher Columbus: hero or villain? Prepare class members for the debate with activities that asks them to think critically about how history is reported.
National Society Daughters of the American Revolution
Lesson 3: What Makes Attitudes Towards Education Change over Time?
The struggle for women's rights is not unique to this generation, or even to the 20th century. Class members explore the conflicting opinions of Alexander Graham Bell and his wife, Mabel Hubbard Bell, regarding women's pursuits of higher...
K20 Learn
What Is It to Be Financially Literate?
What does it mean to be financially responsible? Develop a working definition of financial literacy with your classes. Using six scenarios, learners debate financially literate actions and develop a definition based on their decisions.
Library of Congress
Uncle Tom’s Cabin and the Fugitive Slave Act
From the time of its publication, Uncle Tom's Cabin has been controversial. To better understand the debate, class members first examine a broadside decrying the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, and then two newspaper reviews of the...
C-SPAN
Campaign Endorsement Project
So many politicians, so many endorsements! Learn to differentiate between facts as well as the process of endorsements with an informative resource. Class members watch current endorsement videos, research candidates from three different...
Deliberating in a Democracy
Preventive War
"Those who knocked these buildings down will hear from all of us soon!" - George W. Bush. Scholars investigate and analyze the events of September 11, 2001 in ushering in the Bush Doctrine on foreign policy. Using primary documents as...
Deliberating in a Democracy
Juvenile Justice
Pupils compare and contrast the legal system as it pertains to juvenile and adult crime and punishment. Incorporating primary documents, legal decisions, and video evidence, individuals form an argument debating the treatment of...
Deliberating in a Democracy
National Service
Uncle Sam wants you to serve! Scholars investigate the role of mandatory national service in an open democracy. They research, watch a video, and hold a debate surrounding the issue of requiring one year of service to gain a better...
Deliberating in a Democracy
Youth Curfews
Don't stay out too late! Scholars analyze the need for youth curfews in a democratic society. They examine primary documents, case studies, and short video clips to form their opinions and take a position on the issue. Holding a class...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Puritan Massachusetts: Theocracy or Democracy?
Was Puritan society governed as more of a theocracy or democracy? After comparing and contrasting a series of primary source documents, middle and high schoolers form small groups and debate the question.
Orlando Shakes
West Side Story: Study Guide
Hey, enough frabbajabba about that stool pigeon, Daddy-O! Using the West Side Story study guide, scholars explore the language of the play and read about its historical associations and themes. Pupils also engage in a Spectrum of...
Council for Economic Education
Fall of Rome
What led to the fall of Rome? Scholars have debated the question since the end of the great empire. Young historians consider the same question through an economic lens using an engaging lesson that involves a hands-on evaluation of the...
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