How can evidence and perspective challenge even the most well-known of stories? Through primary and secondary source analysis, think-alouds, and discussion, young historians evaluate the historical narrative of Rosa Parks across multiple...

Caring, trustworthiness, and responsibility—these are only a few character traits in focus of a lesson based on stories from the Civil War era. Class members explore several influential lives while reading biographies that highlight...

Did Scopes violate the Butler Act? Why did so many Americans follow the Scopes trial? See analytical reading in action with a fantastic five-day lesson plan in which class members consider the historical context that provoked public...

Why did the United States choose to invade Cuba in 1898? As part of a 3-day lesson plan, your young historians will first develop working hypotheses to answer this question, then work with a variety of historical primary source documents...

Youngsters participate in interactive read alouds about immigration.As they listen to teacher-chosen books that highlight the concept of immigration, they will be provided with opportunities to interact. They can respond to the...

What led to the success of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and how might historians approach this question differently? This rich series of lessons includes a short introductory video clip, analysis of six primary source documents, and...

Nine historical documents, an interactive online notebook, and a fantastic opportunity for historical inquiry await your pupils in this 5-day lesson plan. Class members identify and discuss various causes for the Spanish-American War...

This is a great way to build community in your school, experience process-based art, and explore the critical-thinking process. While quilting as a class collectively (just like a quilting bee) pupils listen to poetry and prose of a...

How can people better understand the human rights that are guaranteed to children around the world? Pupils attempt to answer the question with the second of two lessons explaining the Introduction to the Convention on the Rights of the...

Teach young readers how to compare two texts and select passages that exemplify a specific theme with Lesson 6 from Unit 3. Begin by modeling how an expert reader selects examples from a text, performing a think aloud on how Article 2 of...

Celebrate the arrival of winter with a reading of Jack Ezra Keats' book The Snowy Day. Engaging children by asking them about their own experiences in the snow, the teacher goes on to read the story...

Drawings may be worth even more than a thousand words. Curious scholars query an artist's rendering of troops leaving a ship after they have arrived in Europe to fight in World War I. By zooming in and looking at the entire piece, class...

Learning to craft quality questions is a skill that can be taught. Class members use the Question Formulation Technique to learn how to create and refine both closed-ended and open-ended questions. They then view West of the West's...

Students engage in a lesson that is concerned with the concepts related to writing lesson plans for the elementary Social Studies class. They are introduced to the lesson planning template and create an initial lesson. Then students...

Students read a book called It's Mine! In this lesson about three frogs and sharing, students explore how what they do affects everything around them. Through a series of seven different activities, students interpret the frogs and their...

Students evaluate various approaches to spending money.In this spending money literacy lesson, students broaden their financial goals by reading "Alexander Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday" and "A Chair for My Mother."Students use a Venn...

Here, young historians compare their early lives to that of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s. They listen to a read aloud of a story by Dr. King's sister, and then write in the provided reflective journal template. Lastly, they share their...

"Without concerned citizen action to uphold them (human rights) close to home; we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world. . ." Eleanor Roosevelt's comment is used to set the stage for the conclusion of a five-lesson unit...

Students investigate the uses of images, shapes and colors in classic art sculptures.  In this art analysis instructional activity, students observe Malagan Figures, a type of sculpture from New Guinea, and describe the different...

Connect the geography and history of Illinois using an art-centered instructional activity on the railroads. The railroad connected once-distant places, particularly in the Midwest. Using research, class members create postcards of...

Students analyze data from the 2000 census to learn how the census works. In this civics lesson plan, students read a story to find out about the census, then use a map and census data to analyze changes. Lesson includes related...

Encourage your class members to consider what points they are really emphasizing when they are making an argument, whether in writing or in speech. Watch out though, as this activity may just leave your learners eager to debate you!

Today, many young people find it hard to understand why it took over 150 years for women in the United  States to get the right to vote—why there was even a need for the suffrage movement. As they read a series of primary source...

Focus on a passage about the new year with your English language learners. You can start with reading the passage aloud to your class, and then launch into the related activities. Pupils match phrases, complete cloze-style activities,...