Scholars generally agree on the emancipation of enslaved people in the United States. This inquiry-based lesson asks high schoolers to consider more than the claims of who freed the enslaved people but the significance of the issues...

It is pointed, powerful, and painful! The first of three lessons about laws and practices that support inequality looks at how government policies created and reinforced segregated communities. Young social scientists read excerpts from...

The second lesson in "The Color of Law" shows how government policies supported economic inequality. Scholars read additional excerpts and respond to text-dependent questions from "The Color of Law" text, examine primary source documents...

The final activity in the "Color of Law" series explores the government's discriminatory economic policies. Young scholars watch videos, read primary source materials, and examine images to gather information. They discuss how what they...

Young political scientists investigate the Poor People's Campaign protest held in Washington, D.C., on June 18, 2022. They research how the event was reported in various news outlets and consider their stance on whether...

June 19 is now a United States federal holiday. Young historians examine the background of the first Juneteenth celebrations and why on June 15, 2021, Congress finally approved "Juneteenth National Independence Day" as a federal holiday.

To appreciate the oratory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, scholars examine the rhetorical devices and influences that make the speech so famous. They examine background information, conduct a close reading of the...

Young historians watch a video of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivering his "I Have a Dream" speech and answer questions that test their knowledge of the event. After discussing the fact sheet, they reread the speech, select a phrase or...

High schoolers examine the Reconstruction programs instituted following the American Civil War, the potential for change these efforts offered, and the realities that occurred. Guided by a PowerPoint presentation, class members read a...

Separate and very unequal! An interactive presents learners with two images: a photograph of a boys' bathroom at a school in Gloucester County, Virginia, and a second of a girls' bathroom at a different school in the same county. The...

Young scholars analyze primary source documents and images to determine how African American soldiers were denied their civil rights during World War I.

Why does practice make perfect? Give your class insight into procedural memory, where we learn to do new things — then continue to improve through repetition. By attempting to draw shapes while looking in a mirror,...

Art can enhance the understanding of history. That's the big idea in a lesson that has young scholars read Randall Jarrell's poem "The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner" and an excerpt from John Hersey's Hiroshima, which provide a...

The Civil Rights Movement was only the beginning. Using images and a series of queries, learners consider current fights for equality. After viewing video clips profiling the women's rights movement, the American Indian Movement, and...

Individuals' views of their learning processes largely affect how they learn. An engaging activity provides your classes with tools to analyze their own views of learning. Using an online game, they explore the concepts related to a...

There is a grain of truth in myths. Young historians investigate the truths surrounding the popular beliefs about the First Thanksgiving in Plymouth, Massachusetts. After reading the information in a study guide, they use what they...

An astronaut, a fashion designer, a Secretary of the Interior, an actor, and an Olympic Gold Medal winner! Teens and tweens have an opportunity to be changemakers as they research modern Native Americans and their many accomplishments...

Indigenous Land Guardianship, Settler Colonialism, Racial Capitalism. While the terms may be new to some, they feature in a lesson plan designed for Indigenous Peoples' Day. Young scholars investigate four concepts: Land...

The Kiowa Six, a group of Kiowa artists, are featured in the lesson that asks young historians to consider the importance of art in representing a culture and contributing to a group's legacy. After examining paintings by the group and...

The Global Oneness Project presents a lesson about the power of sport to bring a community together. After watching the documentary film, I am Yup'ik, class members use the provided discussion questions to reflect on the importance...

Your land is my land! Young historians investigate the concept of Manifest Destiny used by the United States government to justify western expansion. Jigsaw groups read primary source documents to gain an understanding of the movement...

Long before European settlers arrived on the shores of what is now the United States, pre-contact Native American cultures thrived. Young scholars investigate the Spiro Mounds Builders' history and learn how archaeologists put together...

The 2016-2017 protests over the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) motivated Camille Seaman to create "We Are Still Here," a photo essay featuring portraits of contemporary Native Americans who protested the pipeline. This eight-page...

Victor Laredo's painting "On the Beach" and Ella Wheeler Wilcox's poem "Thanksgiving" allow young scholars to use their noticing skills. Class members identify elements of the painting the artist uses to create the feeling of...