Curated OER
Time Machine: Drive for the American Dream
Learners view a documentary on automobiles. Americans have always been in love with automobiles. They are a definition of character, and a representation of social status. After viewing, students discuss what they saw and create an...
Curated OER
The American Mosaic
Learners discuss what it would be like to be new to a town. They are then asked questions related to the immigrants coming to America. Extensions of this lesson plan are available.
Curated OER
The Roots of Prohibition: Examining the Effort to Prohibit Alcohol in America
Five segements from Ken Burns' documentary series Prohibition, easily accessed on the PBS website, are at the center of a terrific short unit on the roots of America's ambivalent relationship with alcohol. Engage your secondary class...
Curated OER
Writing With Punch
Students watch the series "Unforgiveable Blackness". They examine the media's response to Jack Johnson in the film. They role-play the role of reporters to compose poems of headlines.
Curated OER
Salem Witch Trials
Students consider the implications of the Salem Witch Trials. In this literature lesson plan, students read Arthur Miller's The Crucible and compare the witch trials to McCarthyism of the 1950's. Students rewrite scenes from the play...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Scottsboro Boys and "To Kill a Mockingbird": Two Trials for the Common Core
Here's a must-have resource for anyone reading To Kill A Mockingbird or using Harper Lee's award-winning novel in a classroom. The packet contains Miss Hollace Ransdall's first-hand, factual account of the trials of the Scottsboro Boys,...
Curated OER
A Differentiated Way through Think Dots
Students examine reasons that led people to explore, identify "West" as defined following Revolutionary War, explain importance of finding natural resources, develop time line of dates and events leading up to Lewis and Clark Expedition,...
Curated OER
Carl Sandburg's "Chicago": Bringing a Great City Alive
Young scholars examine the historical and cultural context in Sandburg's poem. The poetic devices of personification and apostrophe are utilized in the poem and identified by Students.
Curated OER
Southern Puritanism and Tennessee Williams
Students write an essay comparing Arthur Mille's The Crucible and one of Tennessee Williams' plays. In this Tennessee Williams lesson, students discuss the influence of Puritanism on modern American drama. Lesson includes a vocabulary...
Curated OER
They Were All Stars: An Introduction to Leagues Baseball
Students identify the basic knowledge of Negro Leagues baseball.
Students identify and analyze the important individuals and events associated with Negro Leagues baseball history.
Students identify key vocabulary related to this period...
Academy of American Poets
We Sing America
Pair the famous poems "I Hear America Singing," by Walt Whitman, and "I, Too, Sing America," by Langston Hughes, with a more recent poem by Elizabeth Alexander called "Praise Song for the Day" to demonstrate a theme and introduce your...
Curated OER
Do You Prefer Your Children's Book Characters Obedient or Contrary? Opinion Writing
With this New York Times "Learning Network" exercise, high schoolers read an article about the death of Maurice Sendak, author of Where the Wild Things Are and then respond to several prompts that require them to shape their own opinions...
Curated OER
Crane, London, and Literary Naturalism
High schoolers analyze "To Build a Fire" by Jack London and "The Open boat" by Stephen Crane. They write an essay in which they compare and contrast the narrators and plots in each story.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Character in Place: Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path” for the Common Core
How do writers use the interaction between elements like characterization and setting to create meaning? Readers of "A Worn Path" create a series of comic book-style graphics of Eudora Welty's short story and reflect on how Welty uses...
Teach With Movies
Learning Guide To: Gone with the Wind
The film version of Gone with the Wind is the focus of this learning guide that asks viewers to consider some of the issues that the Southern states faced prior to and during the Civil War.
Japan Society
Akutagawa Ryunosuke and the Taisho Modernists
Japan's Taisho Period was a time when authors like Akutagawa and other Japanese modernists began to experiment with point of view and literary form, making the literature produced during this time period a natural choice for teaching...
Curated OER
Coal Camps and Mining Towns
Young scholars should gain a better understanding of the processes involved in extracting coal from the Earth as a result of this instructional activity. They reearch the history of coal mining, look into coal mining towns, and create a...
Curated OER
The New England Fishing Industry:Sea Changes in a Community
Explore New England's economic and cultural past and possible issues New Englanders will face in the future. Middle and high schoolers research the fishing industry and the need for regulation. They analyze the topography of New England...
ProCon
Vaccines for Kids
All 50 US states require vaccinations for children entering public schools. Pupils set out to determine whether these requirements are fair with a thought-provoking resource. They read an interesting history of vaccines, watch pro and...
Curated OER
History of American Child Labor
Learners study the historical and social issue of child labor. They examine the photographs of Lewis Hine to see evidence of child labor and decide how the photographs depict the historical impact of the practice. They write a letter to...
Curated OER
Two American Entreprenuers: Madam C.J. Walker and J.C. Penny
Students identify the attributes that helped Walker and Penney to succeed as entrepreneurs. They compare and contrast Walker and Penney for similarities and differences in backgrounds and business methods.
Curated OER
Modern American Poetry
Students identify different types of literary terms in poems. They read different poems and create a packet summarizing them. They write a poem of their own and a biography of one of their favorite poets.
Curated OER
Lesson 9- Billy Wilder: Film Noir Inventor and Genius
Students study what influenced and inspired Billy Wilder while determining the plot, characters, and historical context of the film Double Indemnity. They investigate the stereotypes of Film Noir and how it shows the media messages of...
Prestwick House
The Poetry of Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan's selection as the 2016 winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, the first songwriter ever to receive the honor, has focused the attention of a new generation on the work of the legendary artist. Class members analyze the...