Explore the structure and content of the US Constitution in the second lesson of this five-part social studies series. A collection of activities, games, and videos complement a class reading of a document summarizing the US...

Young historians climb through the three branches of the US government in the third lesson of this five-part series. While reading the first three Articles of the Constitution in small groups, children write facts on paper leaves...

Caring, trustworthiness, and responsibility—these are only a few character traits in focus of a instructional activity based on stories from the Civil War era. Class members explore several influential lives while reading...

Explore the importance of rules in a community with the engaging first lesson of this series on the US government. To begin, children play a paper clip game that requires them to make up their own rules as they go, after which the...

Young lawyers put Goldilocks on trial as they develop an understanding of the legal system in the final lesson of this five-part series. After learning about key terms relating to litigation, young scholars are assigned roles...

Focusing on the judicial branch of government, the fourth lesson in this series explores the structure of the US courts system. Beginning with an engaging activity based on the short story The Lady or the Tiger, students go on...

Young scholars use a word processing program to create a flyer for an upcoming event at the school. They design the flyer using different fonts, font sizes, and graphics.

Point of view, purpose, and tone: three concepts readers of primary and secondary source materials must take into account when examining documents. Class members view a PowerPoint presentation and use the SOAPS strategy to identify an...

Buying enough candy for trick-or-treaters without spending a lot of money can be the ultimate Halloween trick. Middle schoolers solve two holiday-themed word problems to determine which brand of candy is the better deal, based on cost...

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...

"Words, words, words." Despite Hamlet's opinion, words can be significant. In this inquiry lesson, middle schoolers learn how the words in Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, in the view of many, lead to the American Civil War. To...

Learners examine cyberbullying. In this lesson on democracy, students discuss the different ways to deal with cyberbullying. They then take a position on the question of whether a democracy should allow schools to take action against off...

Are marches and protests an effective form of resistance? That is the question high schoolers seek to answer in this inquiry lesson as they compare the 2020 protests to historical ones. Researchers use Venn Diagrams to compare images...

The Gettysburg Address may have been four score and seven years ago, but its message is still as relevant today. Young historians explore the context of the famous speech, as well as its central theme and argument, before discussing the...

Demonstrate how to engage in a polite and professional conversation with this banking and interfacing lesson. Focusing on explanatory and informaitonal texts, middle schoolers write sentences using banking and finance terminologies....

Stereotyping and discrimination are explored in this social justice lesson.  Students listen to the book Dragon of Brog, in which mythical characters experience discrimination. Then, they sculpt a magical character out of plasticene...

Jackie Robinson's attempt to earn a spot on the 1946 Brooklyn Dodgers provides learners with an opportunity to examine the Jim Crow laws and revisit issues of segregation and integration. "The Unconquerable Doing the Impossible: Jackie...

Is there a correlation between a country's wealth and the extent of its ecological footprint? What exactly constitutes an ecological footprint, and how does one country stack up against the rest? This is a unique lesson to incorporate...

Students investigate how fear can cause problems with policies associated with people with disabilities. In this people with disabilities instructional activity, students study the associated vocabulary, fill in a chart which contains...

High schoolers explore the words of Abraham Lincoln. In this Abraham Lincoln lesson, students analyze segments of "The Gettysburg Address," his annual address to Congress in 1862, and his letter to Mrs. Bixby. High schoolers conduct...

While playing a long-term game of Goal-O Bingo, your class will practice replacing unkind words with kind ones. First, read Casey and Amazing Giant Green Shirt by Margaret Ross. Then have your class write down 25 goals they would...

Through this set of three lessons about Ellis Island, class members will learn about why immigrants came to the United States, find out about the difficulties that went along with coming to America, become familiar with the immigration...

Map out the conflicts throughout history with a graphic organizer. It includes a section for kids to list the participants in an event, the problems or goals, and the theme or lesson learned.

Investigate the fascinating, yet terrifying phenomenon of hurricanes from the safety of your classroom using this earth science unit. Focusing on developing young scientists' spacial thinking skills, these lessons engage...