An article details everything you need to know about celebrating Kwanzaa at your school. An opening-day ceremony starts the seven-day holiday celebration followed a daily routine that includes a greeting, candle lighting, reciting an...

Long considered the symbol of safe harbor and steadfast waiting, the lighthouse gets a mathematical treatment. The straightforward question of distance to the horizon is carefully presented, followed by a look into the...

A 10-page guide to John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men includes a brief plot summary, information about preparing readers for the language in the novel, pre-reading, during reading, and post-reading questions, essay prompts, and project...

Using this activity to explore citizenship, learners evaluate the importance of positive participation in their community, neighborhood and country. The 15 questions in this worksheet relate to jobs in the community.

Using a Smartboard, learners break apart symbolism found in a political cartoon published in 1902. They work to analyze the cartoon in terms of US Imperialism occurring in the late 1890s. All necessary materials are included in this well...

Role-play and simulation exercises are fantastic ways to help learners understand the reality behind many social and historical events. Pretending they are colonists, upper graders choose a location, create a history, establish laws, and...

Explore legendary cartoonist Herb Block's bold challenge of McCarthy-era politics through this analysis activity. Two cartoons are included, along with talking points to prompt analysis and background information to help pupils "read...

Bring the Occupy Movement debate to your classroom. This political cartoon analysis offers a chance for pupils to explore their personal ideas about corporate America and current economic issues. Background information is provided to...

Examine American Indian art and culture by observing contemporary art and creating original pieces. Class members discuss artwork included in the plan and use these images to help inspire their own work, which should represent...

Students create a travel game of one of the United States. They research a state of their choice and create a travel game using a common road map. They interpret map symbols as they calculate map mileage for their games. They create...

High schoolers explore African American history by researching the Jim Crow laws. In this Civil Rights lesson, students define the Jim Crow laws, the reasons they were put into place, and how they were ultimately defeated. High schoolers...

High schoolers analyze paintings to determine characteristics of women and attitudes toward them in different time periods. They create a portrait of a woman and discuss their views of women through their own artwork.

Can you read a map? Scholars use an interactive technology tool to analyze maps of various kinds to gather evidence and data to better understand their meanings and usefulness. Using newly obtained knowledge, they form an interpretation...

Students visit a wetland ecosystem. While they are there, students explore how to read topography maps of Rose Bay.

Learners, in small cooperative groups, are introduced to a lesson concerning the controversy involved in using Native American names and images as sports mascots. They brainstorm mascot names and discuss the meaning behind each.

High schoolers analyze the novel, "The Sound and the Fury," written by iam Faulkner, tracing the changing South. Through the narrative structure, the point of view, and the relationship between change and characterization, students view...

Ninth graders examine how literature connects to real-life and see how irony aids in the development of theme. They read Shirley Jackson's The Lottery, and discuss elements of foreshadowing and situational irony. Then learners will write...

Scary stuff! Whether approached as the first horror story or a "serious imaginative exploration of the human condition," Frankenstein continues to engage readers. Here's a packet of activities that uses Mary Shelley's gothic...

"What's in a name?" Is it irrelevant, as Juliet suggests in Shakespeare's play, or is nomenclature deeply significant? Young scholars weigh in on the debate by examining the controversy over the NFL's Washington, D.C. Redskins. Groups...

The guide to John Steinbeck's The Pearl suggests ways instructors can help readers see below the surface of the novella to the parable beneath. Through a variety of activities, readers come to appreciate the complexity of the tale.

Students explore power and the symbols of power in West African music. They discuss the music of West Africa and compare it to African American music of today. In addition, they investigate musical instruments of Africa, identify the...

Young scholars explore American values. In this American history lesson plan, students read passages from Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea. Young scholars collaborate to conduct research in order to build a timeline of the events...

Students explore the intersection between immigration and America's vision of itself. They examine how immigrant groups view themselves as Americans, and how the American 'mainstream' views these same immigrant groups.

Students explore the concept of symbolic speech. In this case study instructional activity, students read excerpts of Tinker v. Des Moines. Students then complete the provided worksheet activities and determine whether they agree with...