Great Books Foundation
Discussion Guide for 1984
George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, published in 1949, can seem strangely prophetic when compared to modern news events and politics. Readers of Orwell's dystopian classic sharpen their critical thinking skills by engaging in a shared...
Great Books Foundation
Discussion Guide for Handmaid's Tale
Great literature discussions are a consequence of carefully crafted questions, interpretative questions that permit more than one response, and responses supported by specific evidence from the text. The discussion questions in a guide...
Curated OER
Animal Farm, Chapter 1 Discussion Notes
If you are just starting out with Animal Farm by George Orwell, consider this resource. Titled as discussion notes, you might use these questions in a variety of different ways. The questions and prompts start out simple and gradually...
Macmillan Education
A Wrinkle in Time Discussion and Activity Guide
As you work through Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time, try out some or all of the 20 questions and activities included here. Useful for discussion questions, group assignments, or individual projects, this resource covers plot as...
University of Pennsylvania
Using Political Postcards to Teach a Revolution of Political Thought
Discuss how political postcards affected everyday people's thoughts and beliefs. Pupils continue a unit on the Dreyfus Affair as they engage in class discussion, watch a video, view a PowerPoint presentation, and fill out worksheets to...
C-SPAN
Political Polarization
Dive into the political breach with pupils and explore the reasons for political polarization. Using clips from C-SPAN that include discussions from reporters and scholars, class members consider what is causing the political fault lines...
C-SPAN
Big Data and Politics
Movie selection means more than entertainment. Learners consider what information Netflix gathers to understand the concept of "big data." Resource includes clips of experts talking about corporations that harvest the details of our...
Curated OER
Political Asylum Talk Show
Learners view videos, visit websites, and read about the nature and changes made to the idea of political asylum. Beginning with Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany, they will explore policy change throughout the years. The lesson...
University of California
Equal Rights? The Women's Movement from Suffrage to Schlafly
If you've never heard of the Equal Rights Amendment, it's probably because there isn't one in the United States Constitution. Delve into the contentious history behind the ERA, its founders and supporters, and reasons for its political...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Special Order 40
The city of Los Angeles' 1979 Special Order 40 states: "LAPD officers shall not initiate police action with the objective of discovering the alien status of a person." After reading a fact sheet that details the history of Special Order...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Refugees From Vietnam and Cambodia
The United States may have pulled its troops from the Vietnam War in 1973, but the conflict was far from over for the citizens living in Asia at the time. An informative resource lets learners know about the wave of over 220,000...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Refugees from the Caribbean: Cuban and Haitian “Boat People”
Should refugees fleeing poverty be allowed the same entrance into the United States as those fleeing persecution? High schoolers read about US foreign policy in the late 20th century regarding refugees from Cuba and Haiti, and engage in...
Curated OER
Political Humor
Though slightly dated (around the 2008 Presidential election), the information and discussion points in this presentation about political humor are solid. Use the slides in your language arts class in a lecture about semantics, or in a...
Curated OER
Philanthropic Behavior
Youngsters create class rules by determining the environment they would like to have in their classroom. They come to a consensus about how to have a safe, fair, fun learning environment by discussing the rules in the Karla Kustin poem,...
Social Skills Central
Photo Cartoons: Being Polite
Have you ever been left out of plans your friends were discussing? This photo cartoon will help your learners recognize that being polite can go beyond just saying please and thank you by making sure others feel included and welcomed.
California Department of Education
What’s A Hot Job?
What jobs are the next best thing? Curious career scholars explore their options in lesson three of a five-part series. Pupils research job trends and labor statistics before discussing the factors that influence occupation trends.
Curated OER
South Africa
Have your class learn about South Africa and prepare for a discussion using this resource. Learners read a 3-page article about the nation and then note details about apartheid, Afrikaners, Nelson Mandela, and more on the provided...
Teaching Tolerance
Consuming and Creating Political Art
A picture is worth a thousand words, but political art may be worth even more! After examining examples of political cartoons, murals, and other forms of public art, class members create their own pieces to reflect their ideals and...
Carolina K-12
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission & the First Amendment
Should Congress limit how much a corporation spends to support a political candidate? Here is a fantastic lesson plan and activities to help young citizens approach this question.
Brown University
Considering the Role of Values in Public Policy
Strong opinions come from deeply held values. Young citizens explore the values that are most important to them in a class discussion and activity. As they prioritize a list of values cards that include freedom, justice, and democracy,...
PBS
The Black Panthers
Stanley Nelson's acclaimed film, The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution uses interviews, archival footage, and images to document the story of the radical political party established in 1966 by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale. A...
C-SPAN
What Makes a Good Campaign Ad?- Advertisement Analysis
In the time of a hotly contested presidential election, campaign ads are almost ubiquitous—but what makes them good? Using ads from the 2018 midterm elections, learners consider the various strategies candidates use to get the vote....
Curated OER
Political Issues and Opinions
The emergent adults in your US Government class can become informed, self-aware voters. This activity enables them to form an opinion about particular political issues then identify themselves on the political spectrum. Informed and...
City University of New York
Urban Politics: Machines and Reformers
What were political machines and whom did they serve? As part of a study of US immigration patterns and how these patterns influenced politics, groups investigate how Tammany Hall and other political machines gained support from voters.