An engaging biography of "Hoosier" poet James Whitcomb Riley serves as a springboard for study of his unique dialect-based verse. Several activities illuminate differences between spoken vernacular and formal language. Learners record...

Students examine the various roles Washington Irving had in his lifetime. Examining the situation in Europe and the United States, they are encouraged to relate Irving's experiences to different events. They examine themselves in many...

Personalize history through genealogy. Get your scholars examining their family's past by utilizing resources at your local genealogical society. Learners complete family pedigree charts and choose to do one of the following: research...

Students gain insight into human behavior from the study of literature. They read a poem and respond by creating a poem of their own. After a lecture/demo, students utilize a worksheet imbedded in this plan to help them compose an...

Students read African folktales. In this literature lesson, students share prior knowledge about South Africa, Morocco, and Nigeria. Then students work in groups to read an assigned African folktale and answer response questions about...

Students read and analyze the Robert Frost poem, "The Road Not Taken." They identify the meter and rhyme, describe the purpose, and write a paragraph about what kind of job they plan to have and why they have chosen it

Students identify different types of literary terms in poems. They read different poems and create a packet summarizing them. They write a poem of their own and a biography of one of their favorite poets.

Young scholars analyze political cartoons. In this colonial America lesson, students examine the provided political cartoons and respond to analytical questions about each of them.

Students examine the emotion of anger through the poem 'A Poison Tree'. In this poetry analysis lesson, students identify and decode unfamiliar vocabulary they encounter, engage in groups discussions and complete several writing...

Students examine the experiences of American prisoners of war to begin their discussion on the Holocaust. They read and view primary source documents and discuss. They discover the importance of the Holocaust as well.

Students examine the philosophy of government. In this types of  government lesson, students explore literature and movie clips to determine the value of rules in lawless societies.

Students analyze how Emily Dickinson perceived herself as a poet. Students read correspondence between Dickinson and her preceptor, Mr. Higginson to determine the depths of their relationship. Students interpret several of her poems.

Students examine the paintings of various Indiana artists. Using the internet, they relate the landscapes shown to the history of the state and how it affected Native Americans. Using the information they gathered, they write story...

Students explore the interaction and consequences of contact among different ethnic groups. Students examine a timeline and the important historical events in American History. They discuss immigration and migration.

High schoolers identify literary elements in each selection while learning about diversity and the struggle for equality in the United States. They use their knowledge to express the emotion and key literary elements in each piece...

Students research various Latin American countries and reflect on the different ethnic communities represented in that country and their contributions to the region. They make posters, perform skits and write letters about their research.

Young scholars read and analyze the novella, "Raise the Red Lantern," by Su Tong. They compare/contrast the story with other works of literature, answer discussion questions, conduct research, and in small groups develop oral presentations.

High schoolers analyze mood and voice in Emily Dickinson's poem, "There's a Certain Slant of Light." After the analysis, students write a poem of their own emulating the Dickinson poem, and then write a one-page essay describing what...

Learners recognize how chromatic scales create tension and pentatonic scales create relaxation as compositional techniques used to create tonality. Also, students aurally recognize the use of mixed or alternating meter as a means of...

Students read and analyze a poem about a speaker's posthumous view of war, assess the purpose of an author's note and evaluate the effect of the point of view on the reader's response. They work in groups to discuss and analyze the poem.

Students consider slave culture during the time of Andrew Jackson. In this activity on slavery, students watch a PowerPoint presentation, take notes, then analyze an extensive list of primary sources in order to understand what and how...

Learners read and analyze the anti-slavery poem, "Christmas Bells" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. They discuss the content and form of the poem, write an essay, write an original poem, examine how this anti-slavery poem was converted...

Learners explore development of jazz music in the 1930s by forming imaginary jazz bands which tour several cities in Depression-era America. Jazz band members create imaginary identities for themselves, develop publicity for their tour,...