Classroom Law Project
What should I watch for in the debates?
Prepare your classes for election year debates with a series of activities that model how to watch televised debates and how to evaluate the moderators as well as the debaters.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Upton Sinclair, Theodore Roosevelt, and Harvey W. Wiley
Though Upton Sinclair's novel The Jungle shocked the American public into a thorough examination of the meat-packing industry, the author was disappointed that his book's main argument—the exploitation of American immigrants—was not part...
Curated OER
Case Studies on the Sixth Amendment
High schoolers trace the historical background of the sixth Amendment to the Constitution. They identify the legal issues and legal arguments in the cases studied, and evaluate the court's decisions.
National Endowment for the Humanities
The Victor's Virtue: A Cultural History of Sport
Pupils explore the meaning of the ancient Greek word aretê and the place of virtue in historical athletic competition and modern sports. They begin by reading an informational text on the goal of sports in education, and then evaluate...
Museum of the Moving Image
AdMaker, Obama vs. McCain, “Fundamentals” (2008)
Truth is often left on the cutting room floor when political ads are produced. After viewing the 2012 backfire ad, "Fundamentals" that takes John McCain's comments on the US economy out of context, class groups edit the audio and video...
Curated OER
Statistics Canada
Young scholars practice using graphing tools to make tables, bar charts, scatter graphs, and histograms, using census data. They apply the concept of measures of central tendency, examine the effects of outliers. They also write...
iCivics
Drafting Board: Military Intervention
Should countries use their militaries to stop humanitarian crises in other countries? Learners make claims, organize their reasoning, and provide evidence for their arguments with this rich resource.
iCivics
Drafting Board: Electoral College
Should the president of the United States be voted by the Electoral College or the popular vote? Your young historians will consider the pros and cons of the Electoral College, and make an argument using reasons and evidence provided in...
Civil War Trust
Gettysburg Address
The Gettysburg Address may have been four score and seven years ago, but its message is still as relevant today. Young historians explore the context of the famous speech, as well as its central theme and argument, before discussing the...
School Improvement in Maryland
Affirmative Action
Do the government's affirmative action policies promote equity in the United States? The Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution and affirmative action policies come under scrutiny in an activity that asks class members to...
Curated OER
US Immigration Policy: What Should We Do?
Students evaluate immigration policies. In this global issues lesson, students analyze the long-term goals of divergent immigration policies as they role play the deliberation process.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Kennewick Man: Science and Sacred Rights
"Have respect for the dead!" Scholars investigate how science and religion often clash. As they look into the laws of science and the laws of religion, the legal ramifications at the federal level of both play into an argument they...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Voting Rights for Alabama Women
What were the arguments put forth by those who opposed the 19th Amendment? For those in favor? Class members examine primary source materials that illustrate the intense debate in Alabama about women's suffrage.
ProCon
Fighting in Hockey
At best, fighting in hockey makes the sport more entertaining; at worst, fighting could lead to death. Pupils read background information about the prevalence of fighting in hockey since the 1917 formation of the National Hockey League....
Beverly Hills High School
Congress of Vienna 1815
Europe was changing in the early nineteenth century, and the Congress of Vienna largely sought to slow and contain those sweeping changes. A slideshow presentation illustrates the details of the Congress of Vienna, including its three...
Curated OER
How Are Boundaries Made, Kept, Broken?
Students examine the different perspectives of Igbo women. They simulate a silent debate in response to the question, "Is the Igbo society sexist?" They write their response to the question and exchange papers with their partner as the...
Curated OER
External Shocks To the Global Economy
Students identify at least four types of external shock to the global economy, recognise at least three possible effects of the rise in oil prices on firms and the economy, and prepare arguments both for and against.
Curated OER
The Climate Change Skeptic's Argument: Natural Solar Cycles or Human Activity?
Teachers explore patterns in sunspots and total solar irradiance to understand the counterpoint to the human effect of global warming. In this professional development tool, teachers work through a lesson on the sun's natural patterns to...
Curated OER
Friday Forum (Day 4)
Have your young speakers participate in a discussion/debate with their whole class on their prepared argument. They listen and analyze other student's arguments and refute arguments using logic and not emotion.
Curated OER
Friday Forum
Middle schoolers research a variety of controversial articles to gain knowledge. They form an opinion and defend their position with supporting data. They evaluate opposing arguments and present their viewpoint both verbally and in the...
Curated OER
Smiles Change the World
Students develop speaking and listening skills while evaluating a list. In this consensus lesson, students define consensus and discuss how it might be used at recess. After students understand how consensus works, students review and...
Curated OER
Family Life
What is family? Challenge your scholars to write an encompassing definition of what this word means to them. After reading "It May Be a Family Matter, But Just Try to Define Family," class members discuss the emotional issues surrounding...
Curated OER
Cleveland debates: Port or Park?
Students perform research on the Web and in books or newspapers the planning going on recently in Cleveland. They read the longshoremen's objections. Students choose sides and prepare your arguments, using visual aids and facts and figures.
Curated OER
Free to Speak and Free to Post?
Learners research on the Web and in books with city statutes or call city officials to find out the local ordinance on posting signs on utility poles. If illegal, students explore what has happened elsewhere when citizens decided to...