A good diplomat needs to know how world events can affect their country. First, class members examine the Papal Bull that excommunicated Queen Elizabeth I from the Roman Catholic Church. Then, learners playing the role of diplomat from...

It's the American Dream! A house of your own, a better life, freedom to be who you want. But what happens when the dream withers? Lorraine Hansberry's award-winning drama, A Raisin in the Sun, offers some powerful answers to these...

Scholars complete their study of the collective fear in Arthur Miller's "The Crucible" by conducting a mock trial to determine how many witches are in the class. Groups then analyze sections of the play for the literary devices used and...

The punishment must fit the crime, even for a king. Sophocles' Oedipus the King meets its grisly end with a lesson that focuses on the conclusion of the play and Oedipus' self-assigned punishment. Learners connect the symbolism of his...

During a drama circle, scholars closely examine the play created in the play A Midsummer Night's Dream. The pupils read Act 3 Scene 1 and turn and talk to their partners about the scene. They then complete a handout and discuss the...

Music has been used to convey thoughts, feelings, and the human condition for thousands of years. Your class will analyze several songs hear in the animated classic, "Charlie Brown." They will listen to several jazz pieces from the show,...

Upper graders view the animated short, "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" and analyze how the music score was chosen to express the scene. They create an animation as they listen to a classical recording to experience the connection between...

High school learners examine primary source materials on history and the supernatural which relate to Julius Caesar. They then act out a scene based on different historical understandings and identify facts, theories, and similarities in...

It's wonderful to see a lesson that incorporates art, movement, and writing. These three forms of creative expression are explored as learners dance to music from the Gullah people of West Africa. They analyze several paintings, listen...

Kids make big artistic gestures, just like the abstract artist, Lisa Signal. They use her work as inspiration for making simplistic, abstract, statements in an artistic way. They analyze her work, then walk through an unfamiliar...

Third graders and their teacher work together to understand cause and effect relationships in texts. The I do, we do, you do method is used as learners discuss and determine the cause and effect relationships found in several short...

I do, we do, you do is the method and delivery of this lesson on cause and effect relationships in text. Second grade readers work with their teacher, then their peers, and finally on their own to read, identify cause and relationship,...

Start by defining the word sitcom with the goal of launching a discussion. What exactly is a sitcom? How is a sitcom different from sketch comedy, drama, and reality television? Class members give examples, remember storylines...

It can be difficult to refer back to a text when analyzing it, so annotation is a great tool for kids to track what they are reading. A thorough and well-organized lesson plan guides learners through the process of annotating William...

Don't melt away! Pairs investigate different insulation materials to determine which one is better than the others. Using a low-temp heat plate, the teams insulate an ice cube from the heat source with a variety of substances. They...

Young readers learn how to get at the root of new vocabulary with this fun language arts activity. When working in pairs, children begin by matching unknown vocabulary words to their Greek or Latin roots. When all the vocabulary cards...

Looking for a way to keep AP learners engaged after the exam? AP Psychology class members engage in self-analysis and present themselves to their colleagues by choosing one of two interesting project choices. Individuals may prepare a CD...

It takes exactly one to win. Pupils calculate the probability of rolling five dice and having only a single die come up with a one. Learners calculate the number of expected wins out of a series of games. The interactive provides...

Explore the advantages to using a stem-and-leaf plot using an online lesson. Learners manipulate an animation to create a stem-and-leaf plot. They then calculate statistics for the data using their display. Guiding questions help them...

How the Kansas-Nebraska Act created Bleeding Kansas is complicated—until scholars research and examine documents from the time. After completing activities that include mapping, photo, document analysis, and discussion, learners...

Pupils may not be familiar with Bernardo de Gálvez or Juan Seguín, but these Latinx patriots played important roles in American history. Using biographies of the Revolutionary War hero and Texan politician, historians consider how Latinx...

Primary and secondary sources are the focus of a lesson that showcases the important role women played during the American Revolution. Pairs review sources and discuss their findings. A close-reading of an informational text leads the...

While Joshua Chamberlain's name is not as iconic as Abraham Lincoln or Robert E. Lee, he still played a pivotal role in the military engagements of the Civil War. Using two secondary sources—including one that draws heavily from his...

Revolution and counterrevolution. Protest and counter-protest. Collaborators and bystanders. The focus of the fifth resource in the Reconstruction Era and Fragility of Democracy series is on the political violence that followed Radical...