Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Decisions That Changed Our Lives: A Look At the African American Quest for Freedom and Rights

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students are introduced to the goals of abolitionists throughout history. In groups, they use the internet to discover the purpose of the Underground Railroad and why there were bus boycotts in the 1960s. They compare and contrast the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Just-Us and Kindness: A Voice for Children: King Day

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders investigate philanthropy. In this service learning lesson, 8th graders read human rights literature and use information gleaned to discuss children's rights around the world. Students discuss scenarios meant to prompt...
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Our Group Readers Theater: Revision, Conclusion, and First Rehearsal

For Teachers 5th Standards
Revision is the key to great writing. Individuals revise their readers theater scripts and write a group conclusion. Scholars then perform their scripts for another group and receive feedback.
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

End of Unit Assessment: Individual Sections of Readers Theater Script

For Teachers 5th Standards
Let's play! Pupils create titles for their readers theater scripts and act them out in a fun game of charades. Next, as part of their end of unit assessment, they write final copies of their individual scripts.
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Drafting Individual Readers Theater Scripts for a Specific Scene: Rephrasing, Narrator Introduction, and Identifying Characters

For Teachers 5th Standards
Read, revise, refine! Scholars refine their readers theater scripts by rephrasing some of the lines. Next, they write drafts of their narrator introductions and share their work with peers to give and receive feedback. 
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Drafting Individual Readers Theater Scripts for a Specific Scene: Narrowing Text for our Readers Theater Scripts

For Teachers 5th Standards
Let's focus. In small groups, writers narrow text selections to produce a narrative script based on the novel Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan. Next, pupils plan their reader's theater scripts based on the text.
Lesson Plan
PBS

Eleanor Roosevelt: First Lady, Diplomat, and Activist

For Teachers 3rd - 7th Standards
Scholars analyze the impact Eleanor Roosevelt had on not just the nation, but also on the world. Primary sources and video clips help form a picture of the First Lady and her accomplishments. As a final activity, individuals create...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Education Evaluation

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders examine their human right to an education.  In this American Law instructional activity, 11th graders evaluate how well the world is doing when it comes to providing a free, equal, quality education to our...
Lesson Plan
2
2
National Endowment for the Humanities

Courage “In the Time of the Butterflies”: A Common Core Exemplar

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The courage of Las Mariposas, the Mirabal sisters, is the focus of a series of activities designed to accompany a reading of In the Time of the Butterflies that ask readers to consider what it means to be courageous. Beautifully crafted...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Classroom Charter

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students compare and contrast rights and responsibilities in a written paragraph. They create a charter of rights to be applied in the classroom, and identify four of those rights in written form.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

When is Humanitarian Intervention Justified?

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Learners analyze different foreign policies to derive their own idea of what constitutes appropriate intervention by a government. They complete a detailed proposal for their own Declaration of Human Rights.
Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Women's Equality: Changing Attitudes And Beliefs

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students analyze archival materials contemporaneous with the birth of the Women's Rights Movement, and begin to appreciate the deeply entrenched opposition the early crusaders had to overcome. They discuss whether or not such attitudes...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas: Anticipation Guide

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Let your learners voice their opinions on morals and human rights with an anticipation guide for Asa Butterfield's The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. Before reading the novel, kids read several statements that encourage them...
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Mid-Unit Assessment: Evaluating a Novel Versus a Script

For Teachers 5th Standards
How are novels and scripts alike and different? As part of the mid-unit assessment, scholars complete a Venn diagram to compare two types of writing: a novel and a script. Next, they respond to short-answer questions, evaluating passages...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Exploring the 1981 United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students are introduced to the United Nations Declaraion on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerence and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief. Using the document, they discuss issues raised about the source of rights linked...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Our National Documents

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Students explore the significance of National Documents. In this National Documents lesson, students read handouts regarding the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and Bill of Rights. Students complete the provided...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Getting To Know the Activists Among Us

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students discuss what it means to be an "activist." They identify various types of activist organizations and brainstorm the names of local people and organizations that might fit these categories. They research one of these...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Glorious Revolution, the American Revolution, and the French Revolution

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students relate the Glorious Revolution, the American Revolution, and the French Revolution through web based research and scenarios.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Change: Just a Matter of Time

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students analyze the Declaration of Independence and primary sources to explain civil rights. Then, students write a Declaration of Change to express the grievances of African Americans, and their desire to participate fully in the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Immigration and Surveillance

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Learners investigate the history of surveillance in the United States and its impact on immigration populations via the document Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They view a variety of testimonies and required questionnaires for...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Introducing the 1981 United Nations Declaration on Freedom of Religion or Belief

For Teachers 12th - Higher Ed
Students examine the United Nations Declaraction on Freedom of Religion and Beliefs. As a class, they distinguish between the definitions of worship, observance, practice and teaching. In groups, they evaluate the definitions of...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

"Martial Law in Hawaii After the Attack on Pearl Harbor"

For Teachers 8th - 9th
Students explore the concepts of martial law, writ of habeas corpus, due process, discovery and human and constitutional rights during World War II. They assess the roles and responsibilities of government leaders and citizens during...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Freedom of the Press Around the World

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students research press freedoms in various countries such as Iran and North Korea. They create a freedom of the press report card for the countries examined.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

VS.6b

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders explore, analyze and identify the ideas of George Mason and Thomas Jefferson as expressed in the Virginia Declaration of Rights and the Virginia Statue for Religious Freedom. They list and declare the responses stated in...