Scholastic
Pilgrim and Wampanoag Daily Life for Grades 6–8
Two slide shows, viewed side-by-side, permit middle schoolers to compare and contrast the lives of the Pilgrims of the Plimoth colony and the Wampanoags. Four videos take learners on virtual field trips to the Plymouth plantation. And an...
NASA
From Smoke Signals to Cell Phones: Tracing How Technologies Evolve
Explore the science of space exploration. Pupils consider technological advances in propulsion, communication, power, navigation, and imaging. They select one of these areas and create a timeline of historical progress that contributed...
Teaching Tolerance
Introducing 'The New Jim Crow'
When Jim Crow Laws ended, the intent behind them did not. Academics read "The New Jim Crow Laws" and an interview from the author to understand how racism has not ended, but rather changed over time. The lesson explains how prejudices in...
Teacher.org
The History of Thanksgiving
The first Thanksgiving is the focus of a lesson that boosts reading comprehension and interview skills. Half the class reads about Pilgrims while the other half reads about the Native American, Squanto. After answering questions, pupils...
National Endowment for the Humanities
The Spanish–American War
The Spanish-American War propelled the United States to the world stage and helped create the modern super power. Using web-based primary sources and a WebQuest format, young scholars consider the causes and outcomes for the war. Working...
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
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...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Oyez! Oyez! Oyez!: Simulating the Supreme Court
High schoolers have freedom of speech—or do they? Using an actual court case and research materials on the Supreme Court, young legal scholars examine the Supreme Court's role and history. Then, they argue a case the court declined to...
Nemours KidsHealth
Safe and Healthy Summer: Grades 6-8
The pull to sloth can be strong in the summer. The couch and the beach beckon, but the lazy days also provide the opportunity to practice healthy habits. Two activities urge tweens to try something new. First, they research healthy items...
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...
EngageNY
Expert Groups: Research 2
Continue on. Scholars continue the research they began in their expert groups in lesson six. They read text and task cards from their research folders and share what they have gathered in research thus far. Individuals then spend the...
National Endowment for the Humanities
“From Time to Time”: Presidents and Communicating with the Public
While the Constitution requires a "State of the Union" address, it doesn't give many details. In fact, it wasn't until Woodrow Wilson that the periodic update to Congress was given in-person. Using primary sources, recordings and...
Nemours KidsHealth
Media Literacy and Health: Grades 9-12
An essential skill for 21st-century learners is to know how to find reliable sources of information. Two activities help high schoolers learn how to determine the reliability of health-related news from websites, TV, magazines, or...
PBS
Gratitude and the Environment
A class discussion begins a two-part lesson plan about gratitude and the environment. In part one, learners watch a video then share their feelings about its most memorable moment. Delving deep into the meaning of gratitude, scholars...
Nemours KidsHealth
Water Safety: Grades 9-12
Make a big splash with a lesson about water safety. After reading three articles related to water safety, high schoolers first choose one water safety rule to research and write a report summarizing their findings. They then use an...
Nemours KidsHealth
Germs: Grades 9-12
Beware the bugs! Two activities engage high schoolers in the study of germs, what they are, what they do to the body, and what can be done to prevent them from spreading. After reading a series of related articles, groups create a...
Nemours KidsHealth
Sportsmanship: Grades 9-12
The increasing number of unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, red cards, and ejections from games points out the need for activities that help young people recognize behaviors that exemplify good sportsmanship. For homework, class members...
PBS
PBS Electoral Decoder
Imagine being able to explore all the presidential elections from 1789-2016! Being able to examine the key events, how the states voted, and the importance of the Electoral College in each of the elections! A PBS cartogram makes all this...
NASA
The Saturn System Through the Eyes of Cassini
Get a close-up view of Saturn. Pupils read a NASA eBook filled with images of the Saturn system, including the rings and moons of Saturn along with images of the planet itself. Learners become familiar with the planet's system as they...
EngageNY
Gathering Information about Water Management: Assessing and Reading Internet Sources, Day 3
Water is life! Using the informative resource, scholars first read two informational articles about water management in agriculture. Then, they use a Venn diagram to contrast the different types of evidence authors use to support a...
EngageNY
Gathering Information about Water Management: Assessing and Reading Internet Sources, Day 2
Accuracy, credibility, timeliness ... it's time to act on source reliability! Pupils continue conducting Internet research, selecting two questions about water management from their researcher's notebooks that they want to explore...
Facing History and Ourselves
Defining Freedom
The Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves in the Confederate states. The Thirteenth Amendment banned slavery in the United States. However, neither document defined freedom. The second instructional activity in the Reconstruction Era...
Teaching for Change
Stepping into Selma
The 1964 Selma to Montgomery, Alabama voting rights marches are the focus of a lesson designed to introduce learners to people who took part in the Civil Rights Movement. Class members set into the role of one of the participants,...