Curated OER
Measured Opinions
Students read "Public Is Wary but Supportive on Rights Curbs," at the New York Times online. They explore how opinion polls are created and conducted, focusing on the wording of questions and the methods of sampling a population.
K12 Reader
Public Education
Your pupils may not know that school was not always required. Teach them a bit about the history of public education with a reading passage and related questions.
Facing History and Ourselves
The Impact of Identity
How does identity influence the way people respond to events? That is the central question class members grapple with as they examine a political cartoon, read a vignette by Sandra Cisneros, watch of video of police officers discussing...
Ms. Effie's Lifesavers
Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man in the Spotlight
Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man is the most frequently cited novel for the Advanced Placement Literature and Composition Open Response Question. Those new to using the book and and veterans as well will find the teaching strategies, the...
Curated OER
Activism or Slacktivism? The "Stop Kony" Campaign as a Teachable Moment
Engage your learners in global events. The makers of the film Invisible Children began the Kony 2012 Campaign to bring awareness to the Lord's Resistance Army. You can show your class the video Kony 2012 and spark discussion with the...
Curated OER
'Hunger Games' Science: Investigating Genetically Engineered Organisms
In The Hunger Games novel and movie, a futuristic, dystopian society is the setting. In it, a genetically engineered bird escapes control of the government. Using this as a starting point, teenagers examine the realistic possibility of...
Scholastic
The Class Election from the Black Lagoon Storia Teaching Guide
One of my favorite things about this resource is that they use a standardized lexile to help you determine who should be reading what book. I also love this great teacher's guide for the book, The Class Election from the Black Lagoon. In...
Rockefeller Archive Center
Understanding Mass Media News
In an age of fake news and photoshopped images, it is vital that 21st century learners development the skills they need to evaluate mass media and assess its validity. A great way to launch such a study is with a carefully crafted lesson...
EngageNY
Conditional Relative Frequencies and Association
It is all relative, or is it all conditional? Using an exploration method, the class determines whether there is an association between gender and superpower wish through the use of calculating conditional relative frequencies. The last...
CCSS Math Activities
Smarter Balanced Sample Items: 6th Grade Math – Target A
Only in math problems do people buy 18 cans of tennis balls and no one wonders why. Scholars solve for the number of total tennis balls given the ratio of balls per can. This and other ratio word problems in a PowerPoint from Grade 6...
Teaching Tolerance
The True History of Voting Rights
Explore what voting rights really are in an intriguing instructional activity that explores the history of American voting. The resource examines the timeline of voting rights in the United States with group discussions,...
Curated OER
The Old Electoral College Try
Students examine defining issues in the race for the White House and evaluate important issues in several of the swing states. They create and administer a poll in their community and make predictions by analyzing the data.
Curated OER
Painting versus Photography
Young scholars consider the nature of objectivity and subjectivity in photography as an art form by taking a class poll, discussing the results and writing a one-page paper.
Curated OER
Genetics PowerPoint
If mom is bald, will her babies be bald? Here is a practical presentation that can answer that question. Viewers can take notes on the difference between dominant and recessive genes, mutations, and heritability. A large portion of the...
Carolina K-12
Making First Vote Your Vote: Designing a Schoolwide Election
Encourage pupils to design an election plan for the entire school. They participate in a Board of Elections, create polling rules, discuss election controversies, write questions about the issues, run the election through an online...
Teaching Tolerance
My Voice, My Voter's Guide
Class members may be too young to vote, but that doesn't mean their voices are silent! After researching key information, such as policies for registering to what to expect at the polls, young scholars create and present election guides...
Curated OER
Pictographs
What do these pictographs show? Scholars analyze three sets of data organized into pictographs, filling in several comprehension questions about each. The first one is done for them as an example, but consider going over it together to...
Curated OER
Bar Graphs
What are these bar graphs depicting? Novice data analyzers examine two basic bar graphs and answer three comprehension questions about each. The first graph shows tickets sold per date and the next is distances run per member of a cross...
Curated OER
Bar Graphs and Pictographs
How are bar graphs and pictographs different? As you begin this concept, use these simple graphs to help get learners started with data analysis styles. There is one bar graph and one pictograph, each accompanied by four or five...
Curated OER
Reading Comprehension 1
Bring this non-fiction text into your eleventh and twelfth grade classrooms. Your high schoolers will read the long passage provided, and use the information to complete eight multiple-choice questions. The answer sheet details where one...
Reading Through History
Flag Day
Why is the United States flag such an important symbol to America that it gets its own day to celebrate it? Pupils read a passage that discusses the symbolism and significance of the American flag. Following the reading, they answer quiz...
Curated OER
Voter Turnout
Explore politics by analyzing the voting process. Pupils discuss the purpose of casting votes in an election, then examine graphs based on the data from a previously held election's turnout. The lesson concludes as they answer study...
Curated OER
Cartoons for the Classroom: Presidential Candidates
Build critical analysis skills with this cartoon for the classroom. Upper graders answer three critical thinking questions to help them analyze a political cartoon, which depicts how Presidential Candidates are judged and chosen. Put...
Curated OER
Using Bar Graphs
What's your favorite pizza topping? Scholars analyze two bar graphs, one depicting a math club's favorite pizza toppings and the other ice cream sales per flavor. As they examine the graphs, learners answer a few comprehension questions....