Museum of Tolerance
And Justice for All? Slavery Not Just in the Past
Slavery in India, Sudan, and Mauritania? What about in the United States? Groups research modern slavery in these four countries, collecting factual evidence (What), determine their feelings about this evidence (So what), and consider...
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A Personal Journey
Learners will share ideas about class mobility. They create a timeline that chronicles milestones in their own lives, and synthesize their learning by writing personal essays about their class status and aspirations for the future.
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Keep Heritage Alive
Youngsters share ideas about cultural and/or spiritual rituals by participating in a fishbowl discussion, which explores the ways rituals have changed over time. They write reflective essays about their own cultural traditions.
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Christmas Spirit?
Pupils examine how they greet the holiday season and participate in a class discussion to explore the ongoing debate on how best to celebrate the holidays. They read and discuss an article, and write a personal essay.
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Life in Old Babylonia: The Importance of Trade
Students examine the trade network in Old Babylonia. They analyze maps, explore various websites, develop a list of goods imported to and exported from Babylonia, and write an essay.
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Trekking to Timbuktu: The Geography of Mali -Teacher Version
Learners investigate the geography of Mali. They locate Mali on a satellite map, explore various websites, describe the landscape and climate, label a map, and write an essay about the Niger Riger.
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Hunger in the World
Consider various aspects of world hunger in this writing lesson. After taking a pre-test, middle and high schoolers play a map game, analyze and discuss world statistics, and write a report on an assigned country. The lesson can apply to...
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King Tutankhamun: Was It Murder?
Pupils complete a WebQuest in which they research ancient Egypt and King Tutankhamun. They determine the difference between historical fact and interpretation before using their research to develop an essay or PowerPoint.
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Families in Bondage
Learners examine actual letters writen by slaves and write essays based on these letters describing what it might have been like for an African American family living in the South during that time period.
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Character and Class
Learners connect photographic images with the literary texts of Eudora Welty and William Faulkner. They identify and distinguish narrators and protagonists of literary works. Students recognize patterns of social class as a literary...
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True Admissions
Students examine affirmative action and study the diversity of their own classrooms and communities, then of a particular college or university. They write essays examining how colleges should increase the diversity of their student bodies.
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Sparking History
Students create exhibits about patriotic symbols for a living museum. They write reflective essays exploring the themes and symbols of independence and their influences on social responsibility.
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By Any Other Name
Students examine the differences between the definitions of race and ethnicity defined by the United States government. After reading an article, they discuss the possiblity of the elimination of some races from the 2010 census. They...
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What Do We Owe To Thoreau?
Students use this design as an electronic reading and writing guide to Henry David Thoreau's famous essay, "On Civil Disobedience." They use activities to familiarize students with the political issues of Thoreau's time. Comprehension...
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At the Heights of Conflict
Students examine the historic and present conflict between Israel and Syria over the Golan Heights. In groups students present the class with information on the Golan Heights. They write an essay defending his or her view on the future...
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Love It or Leave It?
Students identify flags by country, then research the symbolism and history of those flags in preparation for writing and delivering oral presentations. For homework, they write essays reflecting on the relationship between flags,...
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At Your Service
Students discuss various volunteer activities and read how New York City organizes its volunteer efforts. They create their own databases compiling volunteer opportunities and write reflective essays on how volunteers help their...
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Law School vs. School Laws
Students discuss the military's "Don't ask, don't tell" policy regarding sexual orientation and restage the debate leading up to the recent decision in Rumsfeld v. FAIR. They write essays evaluating the merits of the decision.
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A New Red Menace?
Students research and analyze the current political situation of North Korea. They read and discuss an article, conduct research, participate in a simulation of an international round table, and write a response essay.
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This Land Is… Whose Land?
Students examine the territorial issues and perspectives surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. They create an outline and point-counterpoint essay illustrating the perspectives surround the Israeli land dispute with the...
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Changing of the Guard
Students reflect on their knowledge of democracy. After reading an article, they examine current plans for the placement of a democracy in Iraq. In groups, they research past regime changes and democratization attempts and discuss the...
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Fighting for Fair Farming
Students consider various economic terms, examine the impact of subsidies on farmers and other industries, write essays explaining the subsidy process, and illustrate through posters how subsidies affect both domestic and foreign markets.
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Guilty to a Fault
Learners consider the moral and legal issues involved in distinguishing a verdict of murder from one of manslaughter (criminally negligent homicide) and write an essay describing the issues involved in the case that was researched.
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Mayoral Responsibility
Learners profile New York City Mayors Rudolph W. Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg and research the actions they took before and after terrorist incidents since 1993. They then write essays about the contribution made by their own mayors.