With new leadership comes new hope! After years of violence, the people of Colombia elect a new president ... could this mean an end to conflict? Civics scholars take part in a large group role-playing exercise designed to illustrate the...

Though often used in shows of patriotism, Bruce Springsteen's 1985 song "Born in the U.S.A." is critical of America's role in the Vietnam war and its treatment of American veterans. High schoolers analyze the song's lyrics in an activity...

It's the American way to put one foot in front of the other and march. Using images of protests from the civil rights and women's suffrage movements, young historians analyze similarities between the two watershed moments of social...

After comparing and contrasting non-violent and violent social movements, your young historians will take a closer look at the work and influence of John Lewis on the civil rights movement. They will then choose a current social...

What is the best way to get a point across: a petition or a protest? Using primary sources, including a petition from Susan B. Anthony and a photo of a White House protest from the early 1900s, young historians examine what women did to...

Does the Westboro Baptist Church have the protection of the Constitution when protesting military funerals? High schoolers examine the 2011 Supreme Court case of Snyder v. Phelps before comparing the situation to a fictional...

Which right does the Constitution weigh more heavily: the sanctity of the American flag as a symbol of national unity, or the right to burn the flag in protest? The 1989 Supreme Court case of Texas v. Johnson explores a...

A Students Power Elections resource guide provides would-be voters with the guidance they need to become voters. Included in the packet is information about voter registration and voting, how to research candidates and ballot measures,...

From the time of its publication, Uncle Tom's Cabin has been controversial. To better understand the debate, class members first examine a broadside decrying the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, and then two newspaper reviews of the...

Stanley Nelson's acclaimed film, The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution uses interviews, archival footage, and images to document the story of the radical political party established in 1966 by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale. A...

Where does tradition fit in a divided community with violence on both sides? Scholars learn about the marches in Northern Ireland and the many issues surrounding them. They take on roles in the community and try to convince others of...

Was Puritan society governed as more of a theocracy or democracy? After comparing and contrasting a series of primary source documents, middle and high schoolers form small groups and debate the question.

After investigating the Black Lives Matter movement, class members do a close read of Roger Reeves' "Black Laws." They write down words and phrases that rhyme, consider the kinds of rhymes used and their function in the poem. Scholars...

Students research Depression-era art and WPA arts programs. They discuss the purposes of representational art, list topics that would make good representational art today, and produce a work of art representing a current theme.

This activity allows students to explore the elements of traditional folktales in folk music.

Great literature discussions are a consequence of carefully crafted questions, interpretative questions that permit more than one response, and responses supported by specific evidence from the text. The discussion questions in a guide...

Article with questions for writing and discussion on the social protests of the Civil Rights Movement. Students analyze the strengths and weaknesses of various strategies used during the 50s and 60s to challenge segregation and improve...

Two Protestant clergymen discuss the morality of wealth: William Graham Sumner defends it and the practices that create it, while Walter Rauschenbusch questions its impact on society and calls for its Christianization.

Three cross-curricular lessons that pair art projects with world issues related to propaganda, violence, and cross-border tourism.