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History: I'm Watching You 24/7
Students examine the growth of authoritarian societies. Focusing on North Korea, they watch video clips looking for examples of totalitarianism and identify the problems there. They write letters to the editors of local newspapers...
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Breaking Up is Hard To Do
Students study the geographical issues related to the conflict in the Caucasus while identifying and discussing other key issues. They investigate methods of conflict resolution while analyzing both sides of the conflict including those...
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JAPAN, IMAGES A PEOPLE
Young scholars interpret Japanese and American paintings; evaluate paintings as sources of cultural and historical information
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Climate and Cultures of Africa
Students gain an understanding of the relationship between climate and culture in the sub- Saharan Africa. Students will complete short exercises pertaining to the various cultures of Africa and the climate in which they live....
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Teaching With the Power of Objects
Students define value of an object. In this value lesson plan, students identify reasons for collecting objects, compile a personal inventory of items they find valuable, and then define why those items are valuable to them. In step two...
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Building Bridges: Living in a Diverse Society
Students participate in various activities that help them build esteem, and explore racism. In this multicultural lesson plan, Students increase their awareness of, and appreciation for, cultural differences and similarities. This...
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History Close to Home: Creating Your Own Special Museum
Students create their own museum exhibit. In this museum creation lesson plan, students research their local history so they can decide on a theme for their exhibit and what objects they will use in order to design a museum exhibit. A...
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Learning from Letters and Other Mail
Students explore the history of our mail system. In this postal lesson plan, students evaluate mail as a means of communication, create a mail system in their classroom where they can send and receive mail. Once the students receive...
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Playing Historical Detective: Great Grandmother's Dress and Other Clues to the Life and Times of Annie Steel
Students draw conclusions about an mystery person based on documents and artifacts provided. In this drawing conclusions lesson, students become detectives by reading and analyzing evidence provided. This lesson includes information on...
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The Pennsylvania Turnpike: Then and Now
Students study the history of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. For this Pennsylvania history activity, students use primary documents to study the history of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. In a culminating activity, students create an...
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Persistent Paths: Trails, Tracks and Turnpikes Across the Alleghenies
High schoolers study maps to determine barriers associated with the Pennsylvania mountains and the Native Americans. In this investigative lesson high schoolers study the routes used by Native Americans, explain physical features of the...
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History of Miss America
Students make a time-lines of of decades using images from Miss America.  For this history lesson, students looks at the country's beauty pageant and how it changes the lives of women in America.  Students debate issues such as size...
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The Fall and Rise of the White-tailed Deer Population: Conservation Success Story?
Students analyze the problems that have come along with the conservation movement and the fall and rise of the white tailed deer population. In this conservation lesson plan, students see how important the deer were to the Native...
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East Asia--The Asian Holocaust
Ninth graders study the effects of the Asian Holocaust by comparing it to the Nazi Holocaust. They view a Power Point and discuss the comparisons between both Holocausts. As they compare and contrast both, they discuss their reactions...
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Lewis and Clark: The Language of Discovery
Students replicate some of the trailblazing methods of Lewis and Clark on a fifteen-minute "writing journey" through the school or neighborhood.
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Animal Encounters
Students use their visualizing and interpreting skills to produce original writings and artwork.
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Stories of the Wrights' Flight
Students examine and compare primary and secondary source accounts of the Wright brothers' first flights on December 17, 1903.
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Letters from the Japanese American Internment
Students make deductions about life in an internment camp by reading and comparing letters written to Clara Breed. Along the way, they consider the advantages of looking at a historical event from the multiple points of view of...
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Baga Drum
Students examine a Baga Drum in order to explore the history of the Baga people of West Africa. In this art history lesson, students recognize figures used in Baga Drum design that represent aspects of Baga culture. They also design and...
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Good Brother, Bad Brother
Students are exposed to the writings of John Wilkes Booth. They discover that fanaticism is not just a modern phenomenon. They examine four periods in American history when treason was at issue.
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Carbondale: The Biography of a Coal Town
Students use a brief history of the growth and decline of the anthracite region in the state to create a photograph and map "peak shaped" time line. They practice map and photo analysis strategies to "read" photographs and maps.
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Lessons from a Holocaust Survivor
Students investigate the life of a prisoner in the concentration camps of WWII during the Holocaust by performing research. The lesson plan helps students to "put a face" on prisoners of the concentration camps.
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The Rise of the City States in Greece
Sixth graders examine Ancient Greece and its development of democracy. In this Greek History lesson plan, 6th graders explore the rise of city-states in Greece and its overall effect on the development of democracy. The class continues...