Students survey bebop, cool jazz, and hard bop. They explore how bebop, cool jazz, and hard bop reflected American culture and society in the 1940s and 1950s.

Students survey free jazz and fusion. They explore how free jazz and fusion reflected American culture and society in the 1960s and 1970s.

Students explore jazz's primary elements. They identify the basic definitions of terms associated with jazz. In addition, they listen to Song for My Father.

Students explore the debates over American slavery and the power of the American federal government for the first half of the 19th century and how the regional economies and political events produced a widening split between the states.

Young scholars examine how religion affected arguments justifying American independence. They read and analyze primary source documents, and write an essay analyzing how Americans used religious arguments to justify revolution against a...

Students utilize primary sources to explore the national climate concerning Native American Indians during the Andrew Jackson administration. They are presented with opinions for and against the Indian Removial Act of 1830 as they...

Students explore events and causes that led to American Revolution and examine popular pro-Patriot renderings and texts of these issues created both at that time and in later years. Students then prepare and deliver oral presentations...

Bring a time machine into your classroom with this writing lesson, in which young writers project themselves back in time and have a variety of choices from that point forward. They either write a conversation with a historical figure,...

Coyotes in Chicago? Yip. Middle schoolers demonstrate their ability to identify details that support the idea that coyotes are adaptable creatures.

Your young historians will compare and contrast the details of the American flag today with an an image of the nation's flag from the post-Civil War era, and identify the flag's importance as a national symbol through analysis...

From a flag-raising ceremony to a poster contest, there are many ways for learners to pay respect on Veteran's Day. Class members participate in one or many activities to honor those who served our country. 

How bad is the opioid crisis in America? Has it gotten worse in the last few decades? Why? High schoolers delve into these questions with a thorough and thoughtful lesson plan from The New York Times on heroin prescription opioids....

The Cold War—with its roots in World War II—impacts the world today. Using an extensive curriculum, scholars consider its impact through primary sources, including speeches and propaganda, as well as other skills-enhancing activities. An...

How did the discovery of the Americas change the world? A US history textbook covers topics such as the Americas, changes in European society, and the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Young academics also complete the assessment included in...

The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution propelled America's involvement into a bloody conflict—and it was based on a fallacy. Using the resolution and other documents from the Vietnam War, including declassified documents, young historians...

A series of four activities focuses young scholars' attention on what it means to be an American. They identify key qualities, values, and virtues they consider shared by Americans. Participants then pretend they have been selected to...

To begin a study of what it means to be American, high schoolers first consider their own identities. They draw a picture of what they think an American looks like and share their images. Next, they examine an image of the "Flag of...

Learners complete the end of unit assessment by writing an opinion essay about how Jackie Robinson changed America. They use evidence from the text, Promises to Keep, to support their opinions.

Learners of any age examine the significance of historic sites, how we understand those sites, and what they mean in terms of history and the culture of the past. They look at maps, artifacts, and data taken from archaeological sites to...

Students identify principal causes of the Great Depression. They analyze causes including a decline in worldwide trade, the stock market crash, and bank failures and explain the legacy of the Depression in American society.

Students investigate what constitutes an "un-American" activity and why Soviet espionage was such an important issue in the 1940's and 1950's. Joseph McCarthy's impact on American anticommunism is examined in this lesson. There are three...

Students examine the economic, health and environmental risks of being a one-crop country. They explain the risks of relying on one crop. They also identify the factors that resist change.

Bring multi-cultural experiences and literature into your language arts class with this lesson. Here, young readers explore the points of view of first and second-generation Asian immigrants with a list of various fiction and nonfiction...

Young scholars analyze primary and secondary sources to explore slavery and emancipation, and write letter or diary entry from point of view of slave Hannah Harris or plantation owner Robert Carter. Students then dramatize their creative...