Trade has always been a global affair. Explore what global trade meant for ancient Mesopotamians, Egyptians, and Kushites using a collection of documents from the historic societies. By examining literary works such as the Epic of...

While much of prehistory is cloaked in mystery, ancient ancestors left evidence in DNA, languages, and materials from their time. Using photographs of items such as cave paintings and ancient tools, as well as maps of linguistic patterns...

Service learning projects provide pupils an opportunity to put the theories they are learning about civics into practice. Scholars investigate the needs of their community and then adopt a project for them to become involved in.

Three activities focus on the need to have rules. Young historians are first challenged to suggest rules for their classroom and then to create their own constitution that balances the need for freedoms and protections. The third...

Three activities focus on the First Amendment, especially the freedom of speech. Scholars craft a letter to the President of the United States and express their views about a topic important to them. Another activity has participants...

A series of four activities focuses young scholars' attention on what it means to be an American. They identify key qualities, values, and virtues they consider shared by Americans. Participants then pretend they have been selected to...

A pop-up video version of FDR's "Day of Infamy" speech engages scholars in depending their understanding of the attack on Pearl Harbor. After watching the video, class members select five new things that they learned and research how...

Why did attackers on December 7, 1941, and on September 11, 2001, choose the targets they did? That is one of several questions young historians try to answer as they compare and contrast the two attacks. They also consider the...

Young journalists learn that how we get our news and information matters in a collaborative social studies activity. The class is divided into three groups with the first analyzing a transcript of FDR's "Day of Infamy" speech, the second...

Young historians use the prompts on a worksheet to analyze President Roosevelt's "Day of Infamy" speech. They identify the intended audience for the speech, the devices FDR used to persuade his audience, the responses promoted, and the...

As part of a study of the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, young historians imagine the feelings of those who lived during the attack by creating a word cloud of 10 words they think express the emotions of people at that time....

Words matter! That's the big idea behind an activity that asks scholars to replace words in FDR's "Day of Infamy" speech with synonyms. They then listen to a recording of President Roosevelt's address and compare his version to their own.

After listening to President Franklin D. Roosevelt's "Day of Infamy" speech, young historians research information about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, possible motives for the attack, and the consequences of the attack. Scholars...

A Reading Adventure Pack invites scholars to start gardening. Following a reading of two books—fiction and nonfiction—young green thumbs repurpose food containers to grow an herb garden in their kitchen, plant seeds in starter pots out...

The mini Reading Adventure Pack takes a close look at the Olympics. After reading a fiction and nonfiction story, scholars research facts about the host country or a country of their choice participating in the games. The research...

Three creative activities follow reading a fiction and nonfiction book about heroes. Scholars build hero action figures out of clay for make-believe play, explain in written form how they show bravery, kindness, patience, thoughtfulness,...

A Reading Adventure pack focuses on the invention of flight. After reading a fiction and nonfiction book, scholars take their newfound knowledge to design a one-passenger flying device, experiment with different types of paper airplanes...

A Reading Adventure Pack showcases a fiction and nonfiction book followed by a series of hands-on activities. First, learners widdle sticks to build a tiny raft, conduct sensory experiments, and create a rap or folk song about rivers and...

A Reading Adventure pack explores the busy life of bees. After reading a fiction and nonfiction text, scholars complete three hands-on activities. Participants invent a robot that can do the work of bees, cheers to hardworking bees with...

Scholars become architects in an engaging unit on building structures. The Reading Adventure Pack features Roberto: The Insect Architect by Nina Laden and Construction Zone with photographs by Richard Sobol and text by Cheryl Willis...

A Reading Adventure Pack takes a close look at birds. After reading a fiction and nonfiction book, scholars craft a thaumatrope, begin a birding journal using their sense of sight and hearing, and build a model bird using supplies from...

A Reading Adventure Pack explores the night sky. Reading Her Seven Brothers by Paul Goble and Find the Constellations by H.A. Rey begin the learning experience. Scholars craft a night sky mobile, go stargazing, and write a mythical story...

A reading adventure pack, featuring a fiction and nonfiction book focuses on the weather. Scholars read Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett and Seymour Simon and then complete three creative activities. Participants craft...

Check out climate anomalies just like NASA climatologists! Investigators use a GISTEMP map from NASA to analyze one month of climate anomalies. Scientists look for data extremes and generate possible explanations for observable...