President John F. Kennedy bought 1,200 Cuban cigars the night before he enacted the Cuban trade embargo in 1962. Should the United States maintain the embargo? Using the website, pupils explore the topic to prepare for a class debate or...

Do school vouchers for private schools improve public school education, or do they lead to worse academic performance? Scholars read the top four pros and cons to decide if school vouchers are a good idea. They also participate in an...

Everyone seems to have an opinion on the status and rights of illegal immigrants. Help secondary learners research each perspective and arrive at their own conclusions with a collaborative exercise. As they read an informative passage...

Is a person's sexual orientation determined at birth? With the informative website, scholars prepare for a debate about the topic. They learn the top pro and con arguments and read through a historical timeline of homosexuality. They...

Churches have been tax-exempt since the founding of America, but should they be? Pupils ponder the question as they browse the website in preparation for a class debate or discussion. They research the history of tax-exemption for...

To conclude their study of immigration and human rights, class members create a civic engagement project centered on an issue of immigration and designed to influence US immigration policy. They examine examples of attempts to...

Voting rights have expanded over time, but some voters are still being suppressed. A thought-provoking resource explores the history of voter suppression in the US and efforts to remove roadblocks to voting. Young historians learn about...

How do you structure oral presentations? Guide your orators with this plan. Groups of English language learners will practice presenting their opinion in response to the question "Do you think the death penalty is justified for some...

Former President Barack Obama reformed the United States' health care system with Obamacare, but is the new legislation good for America? Scholars read a historical timeline about the passage of health care reform laws and compare United...

Eighteen is the age of adulthood in the United States, but 21 is the legal drinking age. Pupils use the provided website to determine whether the age to legally purchase and consume alcohol should be lowered. They weigh the pros and...

The United States Immigration Policy is incredibly complex. To gain a deeper understanding of the criteria, quotas, preferences, and categories of immigrants admitted to the US, class members engage in a role playing activity that...

Animal testing: cruel and inhumane, or innovative and life-saving? Scholars explore the topic and form their own opinions with help from the highly informative website. Pupils read a comprehensive overview of the topic, including...

In this oral presentation worksheet, students practice setting up an oral presentation about the death penalty. They work in a graphic organizer that includes the introduction, main topics and arguments, and conclusion in a format that...

On April 4, 1967 Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his speech "Beyond Vietnam." The controversy that followed is the focus of a three-instructional activity unit that asks class members to consider the political and social implications...

Here is a great secondary source reading that includes the primary ideas and philosophies of the famed Enlightenment philosophers: Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Charles Montesquieu, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. In additional to discussing...

The question of how to balance Fourth Amendment Rights with national security concerns becomes critical in an age of planned terrorist attacks, election interference, and fake news. Get young social scientists involved in the debate with...

Is the right to wear a band t-shirt included in our freedom of speech? Budding historians consider the question by using a video game. After a brief animated video, users drop in and listen to Supreme Court justices as they debate the...

Confederate soldiers saw the Civil War much differently than their Union counterparts. Scholars analyze the perspective of the Civil War from the viewpoint of various key figures in the fourth installment of an eight-part series. By...

Though often used in shows of patriotism, Bruce Springsteen's 1985 song "Born in the U.S.A." is critical of America's role in the Vietnam war and its treatment of American veterans. High schoolers analyze the song's lyrics in an activity...

If your learners are curious about human achievement, superlatives, or esoteric trivia, the Guinness Book of Records is a way to tap into instrinsic motivation and relevance. Here's an informational reading that will grab their attention...

Was the Civil War fought only due to slavery? Using an interactive web tool, scholars investigate the four main causes of the Civil War. Gathering evidence and data to support their claims, they present a final statistical breakdown...

An exceptionally creative approach is taken to assessing your biologists' grasp of natural selection concepts. They are to imagine hosting Charles Darwin for dinner and having, to their surpise, a few other noted scientists crash the...

These guided reading questions accompany several websites on the development of the US Constitution. While some of the links have changed, they are still accessible. History or government classes benefit from reading primary source...

In this Deviance: Functionalist Explanations worksheet, students read five pages, then complete several exercises including creating prompt cards, labeling actions appropriately, and deciding what are strengths or weaknesses of theories.