Militaries throughout history have used topography information to plan strategies, yet many pupils today don't understand it. Scholars use Legos and a contour gauge to understand how to construct and visualize topographic profiles. This...

The second instructional activity in a historical fiction series encourages pupils to develop a character profile of a colonial person using research acquired in the previous unit. Learners prepare their historical fiction narrative by...

To demonstrate their understanding of characterization in The Winter's Tale, groups create a Facebook profile for one of the characters in Shakespeare's play.

Should Turkey be admitted to the European Union? Before debating this question, class members research the background and stated purpose of the EU, read articles of Turkey's bid to become a member of the EU, and the concerns other...

Everything old is new again. The Los Angeles J. Paul Getty Museum presents a lesson plan on how Greek black-figure painting influenced eighteenth century Neoclassical artists. After looking at a series of examples, class members create...

Your parents were both in different countries. You were born in the US. Documents and application forms ask you to identify your racial or ethnic classification. Which box do you check? Class members collect documents...

Time to make some real world decisions in an interactive digital citizenship game. Choose a story and help the characters make the right decisions regarding Internet safety, cyberbullying, copyright, media literacy, appropriate online...

As part of their exploration of the American dream, class members examine primary source materials to compare immigrant experiences of those arriving early in our country's history to those arriving in the US after World War...

A must-have resource for classes that engage in debate, this packet contains 20 detailed plans for debate games and activities. Everything from how to select evidence to support a position, to structuring a debate on which candy bar is...

Imagine if Sigmund Freud or Charles Darwin had a Facebook page. As part of a study of major historical figures in the field of psychology, class members are assigned a psychologist and design a mock Facebook page that includes...

Did Bernie Madoff fit the profile of a Ponzi schemer because, as Diana Henrique contends in an excerpt from her The Wizard of Lies: Bernie Madoff and the Death, he “did not fit the profile of a Ponzi schemer”? Huh? Groups begin their...

Teach teens how to protect themselves from hackers, scammers, and online predators. First, class members examine their own digital footprints think critically about their online profile. Groups then generate lists of "do" and "don't do"...

Even those experienced teachers of Hamlet can find much to like in a guide that offers many fresh ideas for activities. Class members may take on the role of FBI profilers that investigate Claudius and Hamlet as murderers, or...

The Election of 1912: an election with four competitive opponents. Pupils get to know the candidates with informative reading passages that provide context to the election. Then, the class engages in a debate and answers questions as one...

A thought-provoking resource guides learners as they interview agents of social change and share their findings. Scholars select an individual, create questions, conduct the interview, and create a profile of the person they selected....

Pupils may not be familiar with Bernardo de Gálvez or Juan Seguín, but these Latinx patriots played important roles in American history. Using biographies of the Revolutionary War hero and Texan politician, historians consider how Latinx...

Using a tableau activity, class members consider who they want to include in a Hall of Fame to honor the framer of the Constitution. Other activities include using a tableau to act out the various sections of the Constitution and related...

Trailblazers forge the path into uncharted territory, they establish a precedent for others to follow. Young historians research trailblazers in Congress using primary and secondary sources to profile outliers that changed the face of...

Not all superheroes wear capes. An engaging lesson delves into the world of modern-day heroes and activists for change. Academics learn there are many different ways to be a hero as well as explore what makes a person a hero. The...

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is the focus of three activities designed for readers of the autobiography.  First, class members deconstruct the title to understand Douglass's purpose in writing. Next, scholars...

An engaging resource introduces young historians to Shirley Chisholm, the woman, the Black congresswoman, the activist, and the candidate for President in 1972. Class members study primary sources, watch a video of her announcing her run...

Timshel! Thou mayest! is the big idea in a lesson that reminds learners that they have choices about how they present themselves to others. To begin, individuals rate the degree to which the choices they make each morning are influenced...

A 10-page interactive explains different facets of implicit bias, demonstrates how implicit bias works, and how people can counteract its effects. The interactive tools permit users to save their information in "My Work" folders, to take...

Connect the geography and history of Illinois using an art-centered lesson on the railroads. The railroad connected once-distant places, particularly in the Midwest. Using research, class members create postcards of fictional cross-state...