Students explore poetry using American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project. They compose their own unque "found poetry" based on the stories found in the collection.

Scholars analyze the impact Eleanor Roosevelt had on not just the nation, but also on the world. Primary sources and video clips help form a picture of the First Lady and her accomplishments. As a final activity, individuals create...

Young scholars read Zora Neale Hurston's essay "Turpentine" and analyze the document using the Document Analysis Worksheet. They determine the author's purpose and point of view and their effects on the text.

Through this series of terrific lesson plans, pupils learn about the extent of poverty in the state of Arkansas during the Great Depression. They read documents from the period which describe how hard times were, view an online photo...

Learners define folklore, folk groups, tradition, and oral narrative. They identify traditional elements in Their Eyes Were Watching God Analyze and understand the role of traditional folkways and folk speech in the overall literary...

Students, in groups, describe a photo to the class. They determine which New Deal program is depicted in each of the images based on the research they conducted.

Students read articles relating to Jackie Robinson's breaking of the racial barrier in professional baseball. This leads to a deeper exploration of racism in the United States. They use a variety of worksheets imbedded in this plan to...

Students examine the Lane Tech murals on the Web or at the school. They conduct interviews with students and professionals as a method of researching the subjects of these murals. They write an article for a special "mural" edition of...

Students investigate the American Revolutionary War era from the perspective of Britain and the American colonists by researching causes, effects, events and people. They compare the views of the Colonists, and the British and recognize...

Students choose Depression era art to print out from the Internet. They write paragraphs about how the artists interpreted facts about the Depression in their art. The paragraphs and prints can become a student art critic book.

Eighth graders view pictures of life in a small town during the Great Depression in Illinois to gain an understanding of living conditions during the era. They read novels based on life of this era.

Learners listen to and use resources to translate an old Oneida story told in the Oneida language by an elder in the community. They then develop an illustrated slideshow of the story.

Eleventh graders conduct interviews with a relative or a family friend who lived in Massachusetts during the Depression. They write an essay based on the interview that shows an intimate portrayal of how the lives of the individuals who...

Students read Zora Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God and explore her life history as well as novel analysis activities. In this novel analysis instructional activity, students identify elements in the novel and its overall literary...