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Lesson Plan
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Facing History and Ourselves

The Challenge of Confirmation Bias

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Confirmation bias makes it difficult to overcome our preconceived notions of others. That's the big idea in a lesson that teaches learners strategies to recognize and question their biases.
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Activity
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Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL)

Examples of Social and Emotional Learning in Elementary Mathematics Instruction

For Teachers K - 6th
A 12-page document lists an abundance of math-related activities that boost social and emotional topics; self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making.  
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Lesson Plan
1
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Curated OER

The Ethics of Outsourcing to China

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
After viewing clips from a documentary on factory work in China and US outsourcing, learners have a fishbowl discussion. They work in groups to build both personal points of view and strong arguments on the effects of outsourcing in...
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

The Way I See It: Point of View

For Teachers 9th - 11th Standards
Robbers see a house from a different perspective than real estate agents. That's the big idea in a lesson about point of view. Groups assume the role of either robbers or real estate agents, note important details in a description of a...
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

The Power of Poetry: Perspectives in Poetry

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
What do Abraham Lincoln, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Amanda Gordon have in common? They all believe in the power of words—the power of words to create change. After analyzing the rhetorical strategies in several poems and speeches,...
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

The Sirens: Is It a Bird or Is It a Fish?

For Teachers 9th Standards
Fish, fowl, foul fish, or foul fowl? Just what is a siren? Young scholars listen to a video clip and draw what they imagine when they hear the word "siren." After watching several videos depicting sirens, class members read "The Sirens'...
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Ichabod and Brom - Two Wild And Crazy Guys: Characters' Differing Perspectives

For Teachers 9th Standards
After reading Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," class members compare the characteristics of Ichabod Crane and Brom Van Brunt. Next, they read an article about ghosts that supposedly haunt the campus of Oklahoma...
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

But What About Me?: Teaching Perspective In The Social Studies Classroom

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
How would the story of the discovery of America be different if indigenous people told it through their eyes? Individuals compare the conventional account of this moment in history to an account given by one of the native peoples. After...
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Activity
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Facing History and Ourselves

First Chapter Fridays

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Fridays can be a challenge with learners already dreaming about their weekends. Here's a routine that will bring their minds back to the classroom. Read aloud the beginning of a story, sure to engage your listeners.
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Activity
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Facing History and Ourselves

Take a Stand

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Whole-heartedly agree! I sort of agree. Disagree! Class members indicate their stance on a controversial statement by participating in a Barometer activity.
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Lesson Plan
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National Endowment for the Humanities

Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Pain and suffering do not have to be inevitable in a study of Crime and Punishment. A carefully scaffolded lesson introduces readers to the divided natures of the characters in Fyodor Dostoevsky's complex novel. Groups use the provided...
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Connecting Post-Civil War Mob Violence and the Capitol Hill Riot

For Teachers 11th - 12th Standards
Anti-democratic violence is not new in the United States. Learners watch videos and then compare and contrast the 1873 Colfax and the 1898 Wilmington massacres. They then watch a video about the Capitol Hill insurrection of 2021 and...
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

Persuasion Portfolios

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
After class members brainstorm a list of current social and political issues, groups each select a different topic from the list to research. Teams create a portfolio of at least 10 examples of stories about their issue, stories that...
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

Weighing the Arguments

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
To understand how personal perspectives can affect policy and politics, scholars examine the woman suffrage media map and historical artifacts to analyze arguments for and against women's suffrage. Class members then take on the role of...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Reading about the Author’s Perspective: Why Do Authors Write about Natural Disasters?

For Teachers 5th Standards
It's all about perspective. Scholars view a note from the author in Eight Days. They determine the gist and discuss what they can learn about the author's background based on the note. They then complete a fishbowl activity in which they...
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Lesson Plan
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Health Smart Virginia

Wrinkled Heart

For Teachers 6th
Contrary to the old saying, words, like sticks, can hurt. That's the central idea in a lesson about the importance of considering another person's perspective, stopping, thinking, and listening before responding in anger to a conflict....
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Lesson Plan
2
2
Health Smart Virginia

Social Awareness: Empathy

For Teachers 7th
As part of the unit on social, emotional health, seventh-graders examine the difference between a growth mindset and a fixed mindset. Pairs then engage in an activity that analyzes a scenario and role play resolution strategies that show...
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Lesson Plan
Jane Addams Project

Woman Suffrage

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Suffragettes, suffragists, and anti-suffragists. A two-day, richly detailed lesson plan has young historians investigate the twentieth-century suffrage movement. Groups examine primary and secondary source materials about Jane Addams and...
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Unit Plan
Crabtree Publishing

The Genius of the Ancients

For Teachers 5th Standards
It is said that necessity is the mother of invention. Fifth graders prove this with help from three lessons that examine how ancient cultures used their needs to drive innovations. In lesson one, pupils identify main ideas and supporting...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Illustrating Carl Hiaasen’s Perspective of Florida in Flush

For Teachers 6th
Put it in a picture. Scholars complete the worksheet Illustrating a Scene Showing Perspective by completing a drawing to show the perspective they gained about Florida from the text Flush. The whole group carries out a critique of the...
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Lesson Plan
Scholastic

The First Thanksgiving Feast for Grades 6–8

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
It's time for the feast! Young historians complete their study of the First Thanksgiving by completing an online activity, watching a slideshow, and examining a First Thanksgiving timeline. After answering text-dependent questions to...
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Lesson Plan
Teaching Tolerance

Thanksgiving Mourning

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Two primary sources, a speech, and an article provide tweens and teens with different perspectives of the American Thanksgiving holiday. After analyzing Wamsutta James' suppressed speech and Jacqueline Keeler's article, class members use...
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Lesson Plan
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Nemours KidsHealth

Getting Along: Grades 9-12

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Wouldn't it be lovely if we could all just get along! Fortunately, the skills needed to build and maintain healthy relationships can be learned. Two activities help high schoolers build these skills. First, a class member reads a series...
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Activity
Thoughtful Learning

Using Perspective Shifting to Persuade Readers

For Students 4th - 12th Standards
One of the key competencies of social and emotional learning is social awareness and being able to see things from another's perspective. This ability to shift perspective is particularly important when crafting an argument to persuade...