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William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury: Narrating the Compson Family Decline and the Changing South
Learners 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 the...
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Turning the Tide in Europe, 1942-1944
Students explore the overall strategies pursued by the Americans and their British allies in the initial months of World War II in Europe. By examining military documents, students examine the decision to invade North Africa instead of...
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Oral History: Park City Museum
Bring U.S. history to your language arts class with this lesson. Middle schoolers complete an interview for an oral history project, and discuss the importance of oral histories - and how they embellish written accounts. They write...
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Portrayals of Women in World War I
Students explore the contributions of women to the war effort. In this World War I lesson plan, students examine posters from the era that their instructor has gathered and analyze the message in each of the posters. Students then share...
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Teaching a Short Story
Students work in small groups and prepare an analysis of a short story to be presented to their peers. They research the story and create a handout or a visual aid that cites sources of information and summarizes the main points of the...
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Fugitive Slaves and the Underground Railroad
Eleventh graders consider the impact of the Underground Railroad. In this slavery lesson, 11th graders examine primary documents as they conduct independent research to explore the role of the Underground Railroad during the fight for...
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Childhood in Early 19th-Century America
Students interpret and analyze primary source documents and compare and contrast childhood today with that of the past.
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Leaving Home for the West - Why?
Students examine primary sources regarding American movement to the west. In this westward expansion instructional activity, students create broadside posters based on the Homestead Act primary sources they research.
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The Life Cycle of the Mealworm
Fourth graders provide a habitat for live mealworms and observe their life cycle. In this animal life cycle and scientific inquiry lesson, 4th graders create a habitat for a live mealworm and observe and record related data as it grows....
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People Behind the Parks
Explore U.S. geography with your class by viewing a documentary. Show a portion of the Ken Burns documentary "The National Parks," and identify the individuals responsible for keeping the parks in order. Elementary and middle schoolers...
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Who Do You Know?
Students research and describe the contributions of African-American men and women. They write their notes in a Microsoft Word document. They present their information to the class.
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Comparing Temperatures and Latitudes
Eighth graders collect weather data from a variety of cities at the same latitudes, but on different continents. They organize data using spreadsheet program, generate graphs, and incorporate into a word processing document. Students...
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Guerilla Warfare During The Boer War
Tenth graders define guerilla warfare in relation to the Boer War. Students explain the relationship between the British and the Boers through the analysis of a primary source document, which is included in the lesson.
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Author In The Spotlight
Complete an in-depth study of the works or a specific author. Working in pairs, students read at least four works by the same author. After completing the reading, they create an essay comparing and contrasting the works and create an...
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Lee Chew's Story
High schoolers put themselves in the shoes of a Chinese immigrant to America. In this immigration instructional activity, students read an account from Lee Chew, a Chinese immigrant to America in the 19th century. High schoolers discuss...
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Beowulf Lesson Plan
Students analyze the text of Beowulf. In this epic poetry lesson, students explore the themes and imagery in the text to evaluate their meaning. Students analyze the Old English language and examine the cultural and historical context of...
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Comparing Covenants
Fifth graders investigate what a covenant was and how they relate to contemporary government ideals. In this comparing covenant lesson, 5th graders examine primary source documents that are examples of covenants from 18th century New...
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Birmingham 1963
High schoolers analyze a written document for position of writer and content, synthesize an historical position based upon document analysis and explain the events of Birmingham in 1963.
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Ex-Slave Narratives and WPA Interviews
Young scholars analyze documents related to slave narratives and slave interviews. They complete a document analysis form to analyze the contnet and historiography of the documents. They write a paragraph detailing when and why the...
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"Jazz is About Freedom": Billie Holiday's Anti-lynching Song Strange Fruit
Working in small teams, learners analyze a variety of primary source materials related to lynching (news articles, letters written to or written by prominent Americans, pamphlets, broadsides, etc.) in order to assess the effectiveness of...
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Understanding the Declaration of Independence
Middle schoolers identify and interpret the Declaration of Independence and the rights and privileges demanded in the document. They also identify how those rights and privileges have affected our history. Students then research about...
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Weather Patterns and Severe Weather Planning
Students document weather patterns associated with the region where they live. They collect weather data about severe thunderstorms, hurricanes, and tornadoes, and create safety preparation charts for each.
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Border Forum
Students read, analyze, and synthesize news reports on a current border issues. They prepare an oral presentation and written support documents which must clearly and accurately explain an issue to an audience which may be unfamiliar...
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In Remembrance of George Washington
Students explore the contributions of George Washington. In this early American history lesson, students analyze the provided eulogy for George Washington written by Henry Lee and then write their eulogies for the first president.