How are elections really run and won? Learn about special interest groups, super PACs, and lobbyists with an engaging lesson about the caucus process. Young voters research specific interest groups and analyze their part in previous and...

How do interest groups try to influence elections? As part of their study of the election process, groups view 30-second advertisements produced by advocacy groups and use the provided worksheet to evaluate these ads. They then craft...

What defines a woman as empowered, and how does this definition compare to the ideas and actions of a group of Muslim women in Syria? After watching a series of video clips from a documentary film about a school for girls in Damascus,...

What famous children's author and illustrator created World War II political cartoons featuring such subjects as fascism, the war effort, discrimination, and the dangers of isolationism? The who in this story is Dr. Seuss, and what...

Unauthorized immigration is a complex and hotly debated topic. Class members read an article that examines the issues that motivate unauthorized immigration. Teams then assume the role of special interest groups and present their...

Eighth graders take a stand on a variety of controversial topics with a lesson on argumentative writing. As they view an informative presentation and work with collaborative groups, they decide which side of each argument they want to...

Money talks! And it can reveal a lot about political candidates. An 11-slide presentation examines how candidates raise and spend money on an election. The slides, using data from the 2016 Presidential election, reveal how much it costs...

The fourth installment of the seven-lesson unit focused on African Americans elected to and serving in the US Congress looks at the period from 1971 through 2007. Class members read a contextual essay that provides background information...

As part of a unit centered around a reading of Uglies, a 2005 young adult dystopian fiction novel by Scott Westerfield, Steven Cummings, and Devin K. Grayson, class members engage in an activity that asks groups to come to a...

What began as an effort to show a movie by an interest group has impacted financing of federal elections. Did the Citizens United case lead to more "dark money" in politics, or did it shine a light with more speech? Using video clips...

Here's a must-have packet for your curriculum library. If you are interested in Fahrenheit 451, if you are interested in Ray Bradbury, if you are interested in censorship, if you interested in programs that make a difference, then...

Is there a bank for the banks? Pupils analyze the complexities of the Federal Reserve system by breaking it down into easy-to-understand sections. Step-by-step investigation using flow charts and graphs of how the monetary system works...

George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, published in 1949, can seem strangely prophetic when compared to modern news events and politics. Readers of Orwell's dystopian classic sharpen their critical thinking skills by engaging in...

Five governmental regulatory agencies are tasked to respond to market failure. Groups investigate the roles of each of these agencies as well as the social, economic, and political impact of their actions.

The Olympic Games are indeed a significant and far-reaching cultural component in our international community today, but from where do they originate? Where do our traditions stem from, and how do we choose the sports that constitute...

As part of a unit study of The Hobbit, class members engage in an activity that asks group to practice the skills needed to reach consensus in a discussion.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" serves as an exemplar for a mini-instructional activity on semicolons. Working alone or in small groups, class members first circle all the semicolons in the letter, and then...

The war on drugs doesn't have definite results. An interesting lesson examines the social, political, and economic effect of the war on drugs. Academics learn how the war on drugs has led to mass incarcerations and negatively affected...

What if you had no choice but to leave everything behind and seek asylum elsewhere? Do countries have an obligation to accept refugees? To gain an understanding of the complexity of the issues of refugee rights, class members first...

In theory, at least, indentured servitude and slavery were two different practices in the American colonies. Class groups conduct a close reading of two primary source documents, one written by a slave and one by an indentured servant,...

Are learners heavy sighing at the idea of reading a primary source, written in a language that is difficult to understand and in cursive? Look no further, because the resource breaks down the Declaration of Independence in an...

When slavery ended, what did the government do to help African American during Reconstruction? An interesting instructional activity uses primary sources such as newspaper articles to help scholars analyze Reconstruction policies and how...

While the Progressives never formed a political party they did develop an ideology. Provide viewers with an interesting, yet challenging presentation on the Progressive Movement that introduces key individuals and highlights key events...

An interesting lesson plan explains the last battles of the war and the terms of the Articles of Surrender. It also analyzes the election of 1864 with copies of the Baltimore and Chicago platforms. To conclude the lesson, academics...