Curated OER
A New Red Menace?
Young scholars research and analyze the current political situation of North Korea. They read and discuss an article, conduct research, participate in a simulation of an international round table, and write a response essay.
Curated OER
Vincent Van Gogh
This worksheet contains three short answer study questions and seven essay topics about Vincent van Gogh, his life and his work. Clearly designed with higher-level learners, these prompts ask the responder to consider how van Gogh's life...
PBS
Stories of Painkiller Addiction: Learning About Opioids
Feeling high is not the only side effect of abusing prescription opioids. Middle and high schoolers learn more about specific painkillers, including Fentanyl, Oxycodone, and Clonazepam, as well as their common brand names and extensive...
Curated OER
Brainstorming Time
Young scholars brainstorm a list of possible topics for their essay. As a class, they review the characteristics of anecdotal writing and the form they take in newspapers or autobiographies. To end the lesson, they decide on their...
Curated OER
Maven Makeover?
Students reflect on the role of prisons and discuss how they believe sentencing should be handed down. After reading an article, they discover the experiences Martha Stewart went through while in prison. In groups, they share their...
Curated OER
A New NATO?
Students read and interpret NATO's mission statement. After reading an article, they discover incidents in which NATO has deviated from their original purpose. In groups, they research the opinions of the countries of NATO. They write...
Curated OER
The Political is Personal
Students examine their own political party affiliations and political beliefs. After reading an article, they discuss how students at Duke define their political philosophies. They brainstorm events, people and experiences that have...
Curated OER
Fighting for Fair Farming
Students consider various economic terms, examine the impact of subsidies on farmers and other industries, write essays explaining the subsidy process, and illustrate through posters how subsidies affect both domestic and foreign markets.
Curated OER
Law School vs. School Laws
Students discuss the military's "Don't ask, don't tell" policy regarding sexual orientation and restage the debate leading up to the recent decision in Rumsfeld v. FAIR. They write essays evaluating the merits of the decision.
Curated OER
A Delicate Balance
Students reflect on racial balance in their own schools, debate merits of policies that seek to create and maintain school racial diversity, and write essays on whether their school should promote racial balance.
Curated OER
Always Remember, or Eventually Forget
Students examine one writer's opinion about how different generations of Japanese citizens have been influenced by the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Curated OER
Darwinist Dogma?
Students debate whether teachers should be mandated to present theories challenging evolution in their classrooms. For homework, they write letters to their local school board expressing their own opinions.
Curated OER
Can Peace Prevail?
Students examine terrorist attacks in Amman, Jordan, and consider how events like these affect the global war against terrorism. They write reflective pieces exploring their own opinions about terrorism and the state of current affairs...
Curated OER
The Martian Chronicles: Anticipation Guide
Begin your unit on Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles with an anticipation guide about literary themes. Class members read six statements about time, rules, and mortality, and note they believe each statement is true or false.
Mikva Challenge
Why Vote?
Elections are supposed to represent the will of the people. So why don't 100% of registered voters line up at the polls on Election Day? High schoolers study the last few elections and the voter turnout for each, according to race,...
Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment
Safety and Managing Risk
Teenagers love to take risks to test their personal boundaries, but many risks are too dangerous to try. The set of exercises in this packet teach your class about the ways they can stay safe and protect themselves while still having fun.
Mikva Challenge
Political Forum Viewing Guide
Is there a way to determine a winner of a political debate? Use a helpful rubric to evaluate the issues, specificity, evidence, reasoning, and delivery of candidates in a debate. After assessing each person's performance, high schoolers...
Curated OER
Dred Scott and the Constitution
Students investigate the outcome of the Dred Scott case. In this human rights instructional activity, students read Justice Taney's decision about property rights and citizenship. Students write essays about the outcome of the case and...
Curated OER
The Separation Problem
In this mixture separation activity students problem solve a variety of ways to separate mixtures. After generating solution ideas to separating mixtures of solids prompts on the one page sheet students are prompted to respond in short...
Curated OER
Counting Calories
Students evaluate the health of breakfast foods. They create and solve word problems using cereal nutrition data. They solve additional problems formulated in class and write short essay on what they learned.
Administrative Office of the US Courts
Snyder v. Phelps
Does the Westboro Baptist Church have the protection of the Constitution when protesting military funerals? High schoolers examine the 2011 Supreme Court case of Snyder v. Phelps before comparing the situation to a fictional scenario of...
Curated OER
The Life of the Party
Students research and deliver oral presentations discussing how state governors' attitudes reflect those commonly associated with their national party leadership. They synthesize their knowledge by writing essays on centrist politics.
Curated OER
Noteworthy?
Why do we have CliffsNotes? SparkNotes? Middle and high schoolers examine arguments for and against the recent influx of book notes, or study guides. They stage a debate in which they represent Advocates For or Critics Against the use of...
Curated OER
Nonfiction Genre Mini-Unit: Persuasive Writing
Should primary graders have their own computers? Should animals be kept in captivity? Young writers learn how to develop and support a claim in this short unit on persuasive writing.