Far From Home

High schoolers work in four different groups to examine the many factors that led to the American Civil War. They research an assigned topic, prepare questions, and finally engage in a class discussion using the Socratic Seminar method.

What if you had no choice but to leave everything behind and seek asylum elsewhere? Do countries have an obligation to accept refugees? To gain an understanding of the complexity of the issues of refugee rights, class members first...

Following brief instruction about the Iran Hostage Crisis during Jimmy Carter's presidency, small groups read three-page sections from the diary of hostage Robert C. Ode. They write editorials from the perspective of either U.S. citizens...

Who was Vasili Arkhipov and how did he save the world? What did he have to do with the Cuban Missile Crisis and Black Saturday? Get the stories behind the story of the 13-day face off between John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev.

For 13 days, the United States stood on the edge of nuclear War. The Soviet Arms buildup in Cuba is the focus of an activity that asks groups to analyze how the governmental role each of John F. Kennedy's advisors played went on to...

Through reading a variety of news articles and other informational texts, learners discover the political turmoil and intense ethnic and religious tensions that envelop the Ivory Coast today. Class members research the historical...

While Thirteen Days is a fantastic film to use in the classroom in reference to the Cold War and the Cuban missile crisis, it is important to take care to effectively and properly incorporate its contents into your curriculum. This...

Using political cartoons, scholars analyze the energy crisis of the 1970s and '80s, comparing and contrasting it to current tensions with oil. Display the 6 cartoons (linked) to the class, and demonstrate analysis using the worksheet...

Class members are challenged to write a neutral news story about the events they observe in a short video. After sharing their stories in groups and discussing the different perceptions, the class concludes with a video of...

What's fair is fair! Using the resource, scholars discuss the key differences between fair use and copyright. Next, in small groups, pupils create and present projects that demonstrate fair use of copyrighted material, such as a song,...