The New York Times
Reader Idea | Thinking Like a Historian About Current World Events
Check out this fantastic research project where learners work to see the modern world through the eyes of a historian and analyze a contemporary event of their choice. An in-depth reflection on the project is given by the project...
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Pride and Prejudice: Darcy's Proposal to Elizabeth
Why did Elizabeth refuse Darcy’s first proposal? Was it pride or prejudice? Readers of Austin’s classic struggle with the significance of Darcy’s proposal and Elizabeth’s refusal by crafting personal response journals and sharing these...
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Cold War Roots and Events
Ninth graders examine the causes and major events of the Cold War. They listen to a lecture and fill in the blanks on a handout, and in two groups develop a proposal to deal with the Cuban Missile Crisis.
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Civil Rights Video Essay
Students research an event or a person from a decade in American history when the civil rights movement was an important focus. They create a multimedia project based on the research.
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World Trade Center Design Proposals
Learners explore architectural design. In this critical thinking and architecture instructional activity, students view a number of websites providing proposals for design plans of a new World Trade Center. Learners choose and evaluate...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Guest-Worker Program
The U.S. Guest-Worker Program and the H-2A visa are the focus of a social studies activity. First, class members assume the role of advisors who must present the president with four proposals that would amend the visas given to...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Driver’s Licenses And Unauthorized Immigrants
Should driver's licenses be granted to unauthorized immigrants? That is the question class members grapple with in a lesson that asks them to first read a fact sheet that details the arguments for and against licensing unauthorized...
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The Euro in Crisis
The November 14, 2011 edition of the New York Times included an article about debt and the European economy. Critical readers use the article to answer 13 who, what, when, where, and why questions.
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Cartoons for the Classroom: Gridlock in 2010 Elections
Investigate symbolism within a political cartoon in this critical analysis handout, which outlines issues of the 2010 election process. Background information (on the risk of gridlock in legislation and the challenges of either party...
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What Shall We Remember on 11 November?
Students take a closer look at the proposed British Day. In this current events activity, students visit selected websites to read Gordon Brown's proposal and examine British cultural symbols.
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From the Classroom to the Ballot Box
Learners examine British voting rights. In this current events lesson, students listen to a lecture about the proposal to drop the British voting age to 16. Learners create and distribute surveys about the proposal and debate voting rights.
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Father's Figure
Students examine the concept of paternity leave. In this current events lesson plan, students explore European policies regarding parenting today and compare it with philosophies of the past.
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Euro 2008
Students discover details about the world of British football. In this current events lesson, students browse selected websites to explore the work and history of the game, the Euro 2008, and the business aspects of the game in Britain.
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Giants Stalk the High Street
Students explore consumerism in Great Britain. In this current events lesson, students visit selected websites to determine how shopping habits have changed in Britain throughout the years. They also evaluate changes in market shares of...
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Civil Rights Video Essay
Students investigate a decade of American history when the civil rights movement was a focus of national attention. They create a video essay about a person or event that played an important role in shaping the civil rights movement.
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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...
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A More Perfect Union?
Students read and discuss the article "Bush Insists U.S. Must Not Fail in Iraq." They work in small groups to answer three questions based on their category by searching for the answers in the article read in class.
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History's Mysteries
Students propose a theme for an upcoming program on the History Channel, select a historical theme for the investigation, resarch topics that support the theme, and write a proposal to the producers of a television program.
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Build Your Dream Science Lab
Would your ideal science lab be filled with bubbling beakers and zapping Tesla coils? Or would it contain state-of-the-art computer technology and data analysis? Dream big with an innovative lesson that connects math and language arts...
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Kosovo: A Thousand Year Old Border Conflict
Students present proposals and negotiate with other representatives to bring lasting peace to the area through a simulated "Summit Conference."
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The Kennedy Administration
From his inaugural speech to the Bay of Pigs, major events concerning the Kennedy presidency are discussed. Slides provide an array of images and web links to highlight some of the bigger issues surrounding President Kennedy. The...
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Exploring Building Resonance Phenomenon through a Discrepant Event Demonstration
Ninth graders create a model of a city street with various sizes of buildings on it. They use the model to demonstrate the effect of building oscillation during varying degrees of seismic activity.
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A Modest Proposal
Eighth graders are read excerpts of "A Modern Proposal" by Jonathon Swift. Using a map, the locate the country of Ireland and discuss the type of writing and how it is important to historical events. They practice writing about...
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Middle East Lesson Plan
Students explain the position of both the Arab and the Jewish populations of the Middle East. They use this information to develop United Nations proposals to end this conflict.