The television and interstate highways both came of age in 1950s America. Scholars use film, text, and discussion to explore how these and other cultural icons shaped the literature of the time. Pupils also create a family history...

West Side Story and Romeo & Juliet—two classics in their own rights that help young literature lovers better analyze different works. Learners research and compare the characters and story elements of West Side Story and Romeo...

In the 1950s, how did the Red Scare and the actions of Senator Joseph McCarthy affect the American people? Your young historians will analyze primary source documents on the Red Scare, participate in a "find the...

How do writers use words to protest injustice, challenge the status quo, and shape their own identities? Individuals watch and discuss a video, read author biographies, write poetry and journals, develop a slideshow, and complete a...

Cover the 1980s in your class with a brief informational text and seven related questions. The one-page reading passage includes general information about jobs and skills, population patterns, and the AIDS epidemic. 

How do you talk about things that have already happened? What about things that happened in the past and are still happening? Explore past, past perfect, and past progressive verb tenses in a helpful slideshow presentation.

For many people, Barack Obama's presidency was the next step in Martin Luther King, Jr's dream of America's future. Explore the dreams of Americans past and present, as well as the young Americans in your class, with a set of activities...

Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt is a classic novel that readers have enjoyed for years. Resources within the study guide such as discussion and guided reading questions, extension activities, and graphic organizers aid...

Mrs. Who, Mrs. Whatsit, and Mrs. Which would not be so confused if they had a study guide as great as this. Scholars increase their comprehension of A Wrinkle In Time through many supports such as guided questions, background...

A lesson challenges scholars to analyze editorial cartoons created by Fred Seibel, illustrator for the Times-Dispatch, during the Massive Resistance. A class discussion looking at today's editorial pages and Jim Crow Laws leads the...

Looks at what life was like for women in 1950s America. Examines the tension between the expectations of conformity and domesticity and an emerging discontent as many women chose to continue working after World War II. Meanwhile, African...

Looks at the paranoia of the 1950s when Americans lived in fear of communism. The House Committee on Un-American Activities created blacklists of people working in Hollywood, McCarthyism flourished, and the Rosenberg couple were tried...

This quiz will test your knowledge of the Cold War and the 1950s.

This is an informational article about how Martin Luther King Jr. worked toward changing America in the 1950s and 1960s. It includes a short bio of Dr. King and a reading purpose: As you read, take notes on the problems that African...

The play "Fences" explores the complex relationships of a 1950s middle-class, African American family and how they deal with issues of financial hardship, infidelity, and insecurities. Selected (7) reading passages (grades 7-11) to pair...

Looks at the nuclear arms race in the 1950s as the United States and the USSR both stockpiled nuclear weapons. Includes 1951 propaganda video showing schoolchildren how to 'Duck and Cover' in the event of a nuclear attack. [9:15]

This tutorial looks at eight famous cases that were heard in the Supreme Court in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. It examines each case, the results, and the ramifications of each decision. A PDF file of the tutorial is available.

Discusses the domestic and foreign policies of President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

A quick comprehension check over the early steps in the Civil Rights Movement.

CommonLit.org is a wonderful resource to use in a Language Arts classroom. Each story or article is accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. In addition, students can click on words to see...

This video and support materials detail the Hollywood blacklist and House Un-American Activities Committee, chronicling the fear of Communism and resulting blacklist based on political ideology. The video is from the American Masters...

This is a collection of eight video lessons about Lorraine Hansberry and her famous play "Raisin in the Sun."

This extensive learning module examines the United States' response to the global uncertainty and instability that followed World War II and the ways that marginalized groups challenged discrimination, and the counter-responses to their...

Read about the Congress for Racial Equality (CORE) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), two groups that played pivotal roles in organizing nonviolent protests during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s.