Forming Nation States Lesson Plans

Learners explore the history of Labor Day while learning how to cite Web sites in correct MLA bibliographical format.

Explore caves with your class. They will participate in scientific observation, research, inference and deduction, reading, vocabulary, and writing about caves.  They participate in follow-up activities for each reading selection. Compare and contrast the differences between the various reading selections included in the packet.

Analyze the issues that affect the state of economies. Have your class explore media reports about recent economic recessions, the housing bubble, and loan defaults in order to chart information about recessions and participate in an activity based on the labor market. This activity is a good way to practice evaluating claims in a text. All links and handouts are included. Use this resource to emphasize textual evidence to support an argument.

Students analyze and debate, through writing and discussion, the politics and ethics behind the ability of governors to grant clemency to inmates sentenced to the death penalty.

Students consider satire in the news by exploring various sources of "fake news," and then creating their own political satire in the form of a skit, news article, or cartoon.

Students analyze the Constitution's wording regarding impeachment and discuss the impeachment process. They then design a survey based on student-generated questions about the charges against President Clinton and write a letter to the President expressing their opinions and offering advice.

Students define the qualities for a hero and identify a historical figure as heroic. In this hero lesson plan, students list the qualities of a hero and find examples of national, state, and local heroes. Students research historical figures and present them as heroes in an oral presentation.

Students research inventions and inventors. In this American influences lesson, students begin to understand how some inventions have changed our world. Students create PowerPoints and write reports to show understanding of this concept. Students write a persuasive advertisement for a product and present it to the class.

Students examine different global issues and share their learned information with others. Students choose a topic to research, write a research essay, conduct a survey about knowledge and attitude toward chosen topic, and create an oral and visual presentation of their researched information.

Students reflect on the responsibility of newspapers to act as vehicles for citizens to voice their opinions. Using an article to gain factual info. about gov't strategies in dealing with current events in Kosovo, students write Voices articles modeled af