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Lesson Plan
University of Virginia

Analyzing Social Commentary in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

For Teachers 11th - 12th Standards
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn continues to be one of the most frequently banned books. The satire and social commentary present challenges when using the book as a core text. Direct readers' attention to how Twain uses plot,...
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Lesson Plan
2
2
Teaching Tolerance

In Our Own Words: A Story Book with a Purpose

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
Academics turn into storytellers in an engaging activity on activism. The activity focuses on promoting social change in local communities with stories. Young historians plan a storybook to target a specific audience and social issue and...
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Lesson Plan
2
2
Curated OER

Civil War Literature Circle

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
Historical fiction can be a valuable asset when learning about the past. Integrate several novels written about the Civil War into your social studies unit, with groups of four working collaboratively to comprehend the novel from...
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Lesson Plan
Literacy Design Collaborative

Author Study: Kate Chopin

For Students 11th - 12th Standards
Four stories by Kate Chopin offer high schoolers an opportunity to demonstrate their understanding of the ways authors use various literary elements and movements to develop their themes and social commentaries. 
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Lesson Plan
Odyssey of the Mind

Odyssey of the Mind Curriculum Activity: Performing Arts

For Teachers 4th - 6th
The classical arts have made a lasting impact on our society and your advanced learners get to find out why. The activity starts as the children create a list of the arts found in society, they discuss how these art forms impact their...
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Lesson Plan
2
2
Pulitzer Center

"Voices from Haiti": Using Poetry to Speak up for a Cause

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Explore a real world use of poetry with your class! Young language arts pupils consider the concept of advocacy and how journalism, photography, and poetry can raise awareness for a cause. They read several poems about individuals...
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Lesson Plan
Alabama Learning Exchange

Good Litter, Bad Litter

For Teachers 2nd - 3rd
Which ones can be thrown on the ground? Discover the difference between natural litter and unhealthy trash, helping scholars by using several examples. Use the information here to give them a basic background, but also encourage prior...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Martin Luther King and Writing as a Tool for Social Change

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students explore writing as an agent for social change. In this Social Studies lesson, students examine the power of writing using Dr. King's Letter from a Birmingham Jail.  Students will practice the technique of persuasive writing by...
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Lesson Plan
Advocates for Human Rights

The Rights of Migrants in the United States Lesson Plan: Traveling Suitcases

For Teachers 3rd - 5th Standards
Two activities bridge English language arts and social studies to take an inside look into immigration. Scholars interview a family member or someone they know who immigrated here. A crafted suitcase features information obtained in the...
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Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Animal Farm: Allegory and the Art of Persuasion

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Introduce your class members to allegory and propaganda with a series of activities designed to accompany a study of George Orwell's Animal Farm. Readers examine the text as an allegory, consider the parallels to collective farms and the...
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Lesson Plan
1
1
Smithsonian Institution

Art to Zoo: Life in the Promised Land: African-American Migrants in Northern Cities, 1916-1940

For Teachers 4th - 8th Standards
This is a fantastic resource designed for learners to envision what it was like for the three million African-Americans who migrated to urban industrial centers of the northern United States between 1910 and 1940. After reading a...
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Lesson Plan
1
1
Curated OER

Basil Heatter, "The Long Night of the Little Boats"

For Teachers 7th - 9th Standards
“It was a miracle.” Basil Heatter’s “The Long Night of the Little Boats,” which details the miraculous rescue of the British army from the shores of Dunkirk in 1940, is featured in a series of exercises that ask class members to read,...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Fighting Fake News

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Fake news. Alternative facts. Internet trolls. In an age of Newspeak, it's increasingly important to equip 21st century learners with the skills needed to determine the legitimacy of claims put forth on social media, in print, and in...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Understanding Tiananmen Square

For Teachers 7th - 12th
William Bell's Forbidden City is used as the basis of a study of China, Chinese culture and government, and especially of the events in Tiananmen Square in 1989. Class members select a topic for Internet research and then prepare a...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

1920s Variety Show

For Students 6th - 8th Standards
To better understand the cultural achievements of the Harlem Renaissance and become familiar with its major figures, class members examine a painting by Aaron Douglas and a poem by Langston Hughes and compare how the artists develop...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Social Studies: Public Service to a Better Image

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students, in a program entitled "Strategies for Success," examine ways to change public perception of their school. In this project-based lesson, they explore local social and environmental issues, develop a conflict resolution...
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Lesson Plan
1
1
Speak Truth to Power

John Lewis: Non-Violent Activism

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
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 justice...
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Lesson Plan
US Department of Agriculture

Agriculture Counts

For Teachers K - 3rd Standards
Agricultural survey and the documentation of livestock or goods was the basis for the first written language. Youngsters discuss sorting and counting, and how these skills have been used for thousands of years. They accent their class...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The American Wilderness? How 19th Century American Artists Viewed the Separation of Civilization and Nature

For Teachers 9th - 11th
The attitudes of European settlers toward the American wilderness, as reflected in art and literature, is the focus of this resource packet designed for teachers. Included in the unit overview you will find lists or paintings and works...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Orville and Wilbur Wong and the Fantastic Flying Machines

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Upper elementary and middle schoolers examine the role of Chinese immigrants in America. They investigate literature, history and cultures of Chinese-Americans. This ambitious plan takes two weeks to complete, and it brings in elements...
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Lesson Plan
University of Southern California

Coming to America After the War

For Teachers 10th - 12th Standards
As part of their exploration of the American dream, class members examine primary source materials to compare immigrant experiences of those arriving early in our country's history to those arriving in the US after World War II. To...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Unlocking New Words: Partner Presentations

For Teachers 4th - 9th
Following extensive modeling about how to apply word analysis and vocabulary skills to learn new words, partner teams create brief word presentations to teach new vocabulary to the class. Preselect words from upcoming social studies,...
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Lesson Plan
Stanford University

Voices of the Struggle: The Continual Struggle for Equality

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
As part of a study of the Civil Rights Movement from 1868 to the present, class members examine first person narratives, the Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education, and other significant events in civil rights history. They then...
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Lesson Plan
Maryland Department of Education

A Raisin in the Sun and Dreams Deferred

For Teachers 10th Standards
To conclude a study of A Raisin in the Sun and to prepare for a visit to the Lewis Museum, class members analyze Langston Hughes' poem "Harlem." Learners then draw connections to characters in the play and to their own experiences by...

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