Teaching Tolerance
Talking About Race and Racism
Set the stage for discussion in a thought-provoking instructional activity on racism. An informative resource prepares scholars to discuss the history of race and racism with a quiz, vocabulary, and guidelines. Academics discuss topics...
Teaching Tolerance
The True History of Voting Rights
Explore what voting rights really are in an intriguing lesson that explores the history of American voting. The resource examines the timeline of voting rights in the United States with group discussions, hands-on-activities, and...
Teaching Tolerance
The Truth About Voting
True or False: Only Presidential elections matter. Academics delve into common voting myths to understand what is true and why the election process is critical to democracy. The lesson uses group discussion, activities, and handouts to...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Treaty Negotiations
Let's make a deal! Drawing on work in previous unit lessons, young scholars negotiate favorable trade treaties with other nations during the early Modern Empire Era. Their work relies on previously completed activities, as well as...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Planning for Treaty Negotiations
The party is over. Now it's time to get to work! Learners acting as agents for a country during the modern Age of Empires develop proposals to negotiate trade deals between the rising global powers. Using research from previous lessons,...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Hosting a Diplomatic Reception
The toasts are written, the table is set: it's time to party! Young scholars use a role-playing activity to go toast to toast. After researching and writing toasts for their allied countries during the modern Age of Empires, individuals...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Writing a Diplomatic Toast
Here's to you! Using a role-playing activity and primary source analysis, learners discover the importance of diplomacy. Impersonating a diplomat from a great empire, they write a toast to another empire, analyzing the strengths and...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Analyzing “Intercepted Intelligence”
A good diplomat needs to know how world events can affect their country. First, class members examine the Papal Bull that excommunicated Queen Elizabeth I from the Roman Catholic Church. Then, learners playing the role of diplomat from...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Empire Intelligence Briefings
To trade or not to trade. Young diplomats put their country's best foot forward in a series of briefings for other countries about their nations. The goal is to persuade others to engage in diplomacy and trade. Using a previous lesson...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Learning about Early Modern Era Empires
You are a diplomat during the Age of Empire: prepare a briefing about your country. Young scholars take on the challenge using a role-play exercise to examine various empires during the rise of global interconnectedness. Materials...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Frederick Douglass’s Narrative: Myth of the Happy Slave
The firsthand accounts of what it was like to be an enslaved person in the mid-1800s riveted a nation and the issue ultimately led to civil war. Using excerpts from Frederick Douglass's autobiography, budding historians examine what it...
National Endowment for the Humanities
The Power of the Majority over Thought
While Alexis de Tocqueville mourned a lack of "freedom of discussion" in America in the early republic, today's pupils are concerned about peer pressure. Using excerpts of de Tocqueville's writing and discussion questions, scholars...
National Endowment for the Humanities
The Tyranny of the Majority
In American democracy, majority rules but what prevents the voices of the few from being crushed? Using excerpts from Alexis de Tocqueville's writings, young historians explore cases where minority rights were trampled upon. Extension...
National Endowment for the Humanities
The Omnipotence of the Majority
While the American system is based on the idea of almost-universal suffrage for adults, great thinkers have had concerns about this system of governance. Using classic writings from Alexis de Tocqueville and videos highlighting thinkers...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Chronicling and Mapping the Women's Suffrage Movement
While women's suffrage is often believed to be the result of a single constitutional amendment, the effort of women to secure the vote spanned decades and continents. Using primary sources in online archives, class members explore the...
Teaching Tolerance
Social Media for Social Action
Engage in activism, not slacktivism! Scholars discuss social media and the Internet as tools for social change. Next, they engage in a close reading strategy called Thinking Notes as they read an article about social media activism.
Teaching Tolerance
Digital Activism Remixed: Hashtags for Voice, Visibility and Visions of Social Justice
It's time to discover hashtag activism! Using an engaging resource, learners explore viral hashtag campaigns relating to diversity, identity, and justice. Next, they either design their own hashtag campaigns or respond to existing ones.
Teaching Tolerance
Thanksgiving Mourning
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...
Teaching Tolerance
Slavery as a Form of Racialized Social Control
An engaging lesson delves into the effects of slavery on society. Young historians read text excerpts, complete handouts, and participate in group discussion to understand how slavery was a means to control society and establish a racial...
Teaching Tolerance
Critiquing Hate Crimes Legislation
The high school instructional activity explores what hate crimes are and how the government has responded to those crimes. Academics read legislation, analyze political cartoons, and complete hands-on-activities to understand what...
Teaching Tolerance
Why Local Elections Matter
Uncle Sam wants everyone to vote in local elections! Geared toward middle and high school scholars, the resource explores voter turnout and the importance of local elections. Academics participate in group discussion, complete...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Doing Oral History with Vietnam War Veterans
Get the story from those who experienced it. Engage learners with a structured oral history project involving Vietnam War era veterans. By conducting thoughtful interviews, class members learn what it was like to serve in the...
Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary
Let’s Throw an Electric Science Party!
Are you looking for a shockingly good lesson? Check out one that has middle schoolers recreate four of Benjamin Franklin's experiments. Groups investigate, observe, and draw conclusions about static electricity and electrical current....
Teaching for Change
History Detectives: Voting Rights in Mississippi, 1964
Promises made and promise broken. Spies and activists. Voting rights in Mississippi are the focus of a lesson that has class members research the history of the struggle in Mississippi. Learners take on the role of voting rights...