As part of their exploration of the American dream, class members examine primary source materials to compare immigrant experiences of those arriving early in our country's history to those arriving in the US after World War...

A carefully crafted three-day lesson integrates poetry and visual art. By analyzing and comparing Langston Hughes' poem "Mother and Son" and Romare Bearden's collage "The Dove," readers explore the theme of hope. The lesson activates...

Fifth graders carefully analyze the artwork, Les Emigrants, and explore the reasons that people emigrated to the United States, and what life was like for new arrivals. They discuss what things immigrants were able to bring with them and...

Students explore the concept of landmarks.  For this landmark lesson, students brainstorm different landmarks around their community and nationally.  Students then identify the patterns in Georgia O'Keeffe's paintings or...

Students identify and interpret issues of Nativism and Protectionism in early 20th Century America. They analyze the roots of anti-immigrant movements in the Post-World War One United States. Finally, students identify and explore the...

One, two, three. One, two, three. Invite your language learners to practice the steps for researching and presenting information. Each small group has the task of explaining one Latin dance in full detail.

Anita's iconic rooftop ode to American life in West Side Story is the focus of a instructional activity on immigration. As class members listen to "America," they follow along with printed lyrics, and discuss whether they agree with...

Five segements from Ken Burns' documentary series Prohibition, easily accessed on the PBS website, are at the center of a terrific short unit on the roots of America's ambivalent relationship with alcohol. Engage your secondary...

What's the most popular music style in Brazil? What about Cuba? Or the Dominican Republic? An immersive project teaches young learners about the salsa, the samba, and the merengue with research assignments and dance performances.

Students investigate the dramatic elements of The Crucible. In this drama lesson, students explore the elements and themes of the Arthur Miller play as they read the play and watch performances of some of the acts. Students then...

Students explore the present and juture of jazz. They identify terms associated with jazz and listen to contemporary recordings. They participate in a class discussion regarding jazz's contribution to and reflection of American culture...

Thor, Loki, Iron Man, and Captain America. As part of their study of Greek and Roman gods and heroes, middle schoolers compare the characters in The Avengers to Greek counterparts. Individuals then create their own superhero,...

Eleventh graders examine political, cultural, and social movements through music. In this 1960s American history lesson, 11th graders explore the music of the decade in order to better understand the complexity of the time period....

Students explore the effects of culture through the story Running by Peter Hessler. In this geography and cultural lesson, students act as newspaper reporters covering the story of the race. Students write newspaper articles as reporters...

Students explore the idea of movements in the visual arts and differentiate between some of the most well known movements in Western art. The lesson focuses on what makes a painting an example of a particular movement.

Explore U.S. geography with your class by viewing a documentary. Show a portion of the Ken Burns documentary "The National Parks," and identify the individuals responsible for keeping the parks in order. Elementary and middle schoolers...

For many people, Barack Obama's presidency was the next step in Martin Luther King, Jr's dream of America's future. Explore the dreams of Americans past and present, as well as the young Americans in your class, with a set of activities...

Students explore events and causes that led to American Revolution and examine popular pro-Patriot renderings and texts of these issues created both at that time and in later years. Students then prepare and deliver oral presentations...

Art can express acts of injustice and move society to action. Upper graders analyze contemporary art relating to specific moments in history. They discuss propaganda, anarchy, sociology, and violence as activism. After researching and...

Young scholars examine the theme of independence in American history by participating in a class-wide paper quilt project. Each student creates three quilt squares representing the past, present and future of independence in the United...

Fifth graders explore the current jazz scene and how it reflects American culture. They listen to jazz recordings of current artists and speculate on which direction jazz is likely heading.

Students become familiar with who the Vikings were and what they accomplished. In this Vikings lesson, students locate the Scandinavian countries. Students will record information about the Vikings in a Viking notebook. Students will...

The backbone of Latin American music is the beat! Young musicians work on blending Afro-Latin rhythms and beat patterns before incorporating the major pentatonic, minor pentatonic, and blues scales in their own compositions.

Two lessons focus on making a beat. Using popular African American music of its time, scholars listen and analyze the rhythm then recreate it with hands drums, and cups.