Students identify different viewpoints in society. They describe the characteristics of some of the individuals involved in the march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. They listen to a historical narrative and identify issues of...

Learners plan a service project. In this service learning instructional activity, students demonstrate their understanding of philanthropy as they plan a stone soup party.

Students examine how people grow and mature at different rates. They create a graph and a timeline to organize the data they collect.

Here is a two-part lesson that introduces learners to genealogy by having them create family trees, and map the movements of their ancestors. While this resource is designed for kids who live in Arkansas, it certainly can be adapted for...

How have the women's share of the labor force and chosen occupations evolved in the United States over the last century? Using census reports, graphs detailing the gender makeup of the labor force, and analysis of the careers of...

A picture is worth a thousand words, and this activity is worth so much more! Learners closely analyze a series of photographs from World War II, matching them with their appropriate captions and sequencing them into a correct...

You won't just get a lesson when you click on this resource. As you click on the related resources located to the left of the screen, you'll find, a professional development video, teacher/student notes, lesson plan, and related...

Learners investigate the use of cloth-based art forms intended to pass down traditions and history. They research types of quilts, quilt characteristics and then identify how Freedom Quilts were historically used in the US.

Using a variety of online resources, learners study life and society in California during the gold rush. They use a map to identify area where gold was located, explore pre-selected websites, describe mining practices, and create an...

Imagine a lesson that models for learners how to separate facts from opinions. How to detect bias. How to evaluate a source of information. How to identify propaganda. Although designed for middle schoolers, the activities in this packet...

As part of their study of Things Fall Apart, class members conduct a close reading of a section of Chinua Achebe's essay, "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness." Jigsaw groups then compare the voice in the essay...

"Eneke the bird says since men have learnt to shoot without missing, he has learnt to fly without perching." As part of their study of Things Fall Apart, class members read Paul Hernadi and Francis Steen's essay, "The Tropical Landscapes...

Class groups bring feeling words alive by creating a poster that illustrates with images and colors, but not words, the feeling conjured by the word. The posters are then combined into a mural for the classroom wall.

Set the stage for discussion in a thought-provoking instructional activity on racism. An informative resource prepares scholars to discuss the history of race and racism with a quiz, vocabulary, and guidelines. Academics discuss topics...

The transition between rebellion to reunification was not smooth after the Civil War. Young historians compare primary and secondary source documents in a study of the Reconstruction era in Virginia, noting the rights that were not...

A "Magic Minute" activity asks class groups to develop a commercial to advertise a way to turn a time-waster into a time-saver. Ad groups begin by brainstorming time-wasters and then problem-solve was to turn them into time-savers. After...

El Nino, La Nina ... and the Santa Maria? The 11th installment of a 23-part NOAA Enrichment in Marine sciences and Oceanography (NEMO) program explains the mechanism of El Nino/Southern Oscillation. Pupils use previous data to determine...

What are the effects of competition in an academic environment? The competition between the main characters in A Separate Peace motivates a series of activities that asks readers to take a stance on competition, and then to develop a...

Pupils turn into investigative reporters throughout history to learn what it takes to balance different primary sources on the same topic. They use what they learn to create a narrative based on their own interpretation of a historic...

Someone finds a time capsule 100 years from now, and it includes your family photo album. What would the photos tell that person about you and your place in history? Scholars investigate how artifacts tell stories. Using photos, maps,...

Readers apply Sigmund Freud's theories of the unconscious mind and the psychological approach to literary criticism to analyze and evaluate the relationship between two characters in A Separate Peace.

How affected is Thinks Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe's personal biography? Using a four corners strategy, and evidence from their readings, class members debate the degree of biographical influence in Achebe's novel.

Even though American slaves were officially emancipated in 1865, the effects of slavery perpetuated throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Middle and high schoolers learn about the ways that discrimination and the Jim Crow laws...

Build understanding of theme with an activity designed for The Cay and the Common Core. Small groups or pairs use graphic organizers to determine themes, find and record related details from the text, and formulate theme statements. In...