To the Native American people living on the plains, the buffalo represented culture, art, sustenance, and survival. Explore the history of the buffalo with a social studies lesson, in which learners create a buffalo hide painting in the...

Slavery in India, Sudan, and Mauritania? What about in the United States? Groups research modern slavery in these four countries, collecting factual evidence (What), determine their feelings about this evidence (So what),...

Get the youngest American citizens involved in the presidential election and inauguration with a set of social studies activities. Focusing on the history of presidential inauguration ceremonies, learners draft their own poems, design...

The length of Queen Victoria's reign, surpassed only by Queen Elizabeth II in the modern era, stretched through much of the 19th century and into the 20th century. Explore the many social, industrial, and political shifts that occurred...

The Museum of Modern Art provides this educators' guide to Dada and Surrealism. Featuring the works of such artists as Jean Arp, Salvador Dali, Joan Miro, and Meret Oppenheim among others, the guide is ideal for art history and...

The role women played in the Civil War, especially in relief efforts, is the focus of this seven-page resource. Groups examine primary source materials to determine how this work reflected and expanded the traditional roles women held in...

Explore ethnicity and identity with a research and writing assignment. Class members conduct online research, looking in particular at images and carefully noting down their sources on notecards. They read about identity and compose...

How did free and enslaved blacks work to craft freedom for themselves and their families before the Civil War? Young historians read about the life of Thomas Day, a free black man who also owned slaves and had abolitionist ties in...

Action is the heart of change. Encourage class members to not only identify critical social justice issues in their school or community but to take action as well. As individuals or as groups, they research a situation, develop a...

Learn more about the history and five pillars of Islam with an extensive resource that focuses on the religion's connection to art. Focusing on calligraphy, textiles, and architecture, the packet illustrates the beauty of the artistic...

Scholars develop social awareness by exploring the concept of similarities and differences. Learners examine two beverages and use a Venn diagram to identify similarities and differences. They tally each item to identify if they are more...

Music, writing, and activism all tell the story of history! The resource uses these elements and more in a presentation to discuss the Jazz Age and Harlem Renaissance. Your class views biographies, discusses important events, and...

How does analyzing art differ from analyzing text? Young historians consider a piece of Italian Renaissance art and practice another type of primary source analysis through a close look and discussion of Bernardo Zenale's...

Approach the concept of freedom in United States history from a variety of angles and delve into rich primary source analysis practice. Pupils study the Statue of Freedom, which sits atop the dome of the Capitol building in...

Encourage responsible decision-making while boosting sorting skills with a lesson that looks at safe and unsafe situations. Scholars use two bags, one happy the other sad, to sort scenario cards. After a thorough examination,...

Two puppets open a discussion about comfrotable and uncomfortable touches. Scholars add to the discussion information they remember from a previous lesson, then delve deep into three problem-solving safety rules, and explore...

Have you ever listened to a song that had a deeper political meaning to it? Every examined a work of art with layers of meaning? Pupils analyze the drawings of Arthur Szyk. They research the deeper meaning of several artistic cartoons...

Keep track of what happens before and after an event, moment in a story, and so on, with a clear graphic organizer. Learners can note down four things that happen before and four that happen after on this chart.

Has society progressed to the dream Martin Luther King Jr. expressed in his famous address during the civil rights movement? Learners work with a partner to analyze one excerpt from King's "I Have A Dream" speech and find a current...

Many American writers in the late nineteenth century wanted their writing to reflect real life. Individuals watch and discuss a video, read and explore author biographies, write a journal entry and a poem, and complete a multimedia...

How can something be true even if it didn't happen? Invite your classes to investigate the truths found in the world of magical realism as they analyze short stories, poems, informational texts, video, and art from this genre.

The history of ancient Egypt can be traced through its art and architecture. Here, each dynasty is defined by its style of art and architectural changes. The resource is intended to accompany a lecture and contains no text. 

Model for your class members how to use a definition map to make connections between new words and prior knowledge. Although the strategy is designed for social studies classes, the approach can be use at any grade level and in any...

After a class discussion about celebrations and customs, class members draw pictures depicting special events from their family cultures. Next, they draw pictures of an event from a different culture and share their work with classmates.