Investigate the importance of author's point of view. Young linguists study primary source documents related to the Treaty of Casco Bay. The first source is authored by the Native American Chiefs, the second by an English...

How does background and experience influence one's point of view? Dwight Okita's famous poem about the Japanese internment is the text used to explore this essential question. Class members study primary documents to gain the necessary...

Your class hears a Native American Indian point of view of Europeans' arrival in Louisiana. They assess how cultural perspectives (especially an insider's view) and native language can shape a story. Each pupil identifies the...

Read the story Amelia the Pigeon and discuss perspective. Since Amelia is a pigeon with a bird's eye view, use aerial photography to enhance your learners' understanding. Have fun connecting art and literature while talking about...

Despite the passing of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments, as well as the passing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the struggle to ensure fair voter registration and election procedures continues. Young historians...

Budding historians read six documents related to grievances that led to the writing of the Declaration of Independence. They then craft an essay in which they discuss the perspective of both the colonists and the king. This DBQ could be...

After studying the reasons settlers entered the New World, primary learners try to persuade others to enter this new land. Class members present their arguments in a variety of ways including posters, writings, and charts. Richly...

Explore multiple perspectives through a jigsaw activity that will improve your pupils' understanding of the characters in Esperanza Rising as well as their understanding of strikes and human rights. Tapping into prior knowledge, and...

The right to peacefully assembly to protest injustice is a key element of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Class members are asked to analyze two photographs of people confronting what they consider to be unjust...

Taking on the roles of a fiery Boston patriot, a Philadelphia merchant's wife, and a prominent abolitionist, your young historians will consider the reactions of these early Americans to the creation of the Declaration of...

How has your local neighborhood changed throughout recent history? Young researchers evaluate census data, images, and primary source descriptions describing the living situation in the antebellum Five Points neighborhood. They consider...

Introduce your middle and high schoolers to a different perspective on war: that of  soldier's. Read Guisseppi Ungaretti's poem "Vigil" to kick-start this instructional activity. After discussing his perspective, read "The Screaming...

Good primary resources, offering different perspectives on important issues and events, are hard to find. A packet of 12 primary source images, videos, audio recordings, records, and newspaper articles related to the 1960s civil rights...

The class explores and debates, from multiple perspectives, a petition to allow Hopi Indians to take golden eagle hatchlings from a federal wildlife sanctuary for use in a religious ceremony. Pupils defend their personal views on the...

Use a list of environmentally related words to engage learners in a discussion about ecosystem conservation legislation. As a class, read "Aware of Political Ecosystem, Property Rights Advocate Embraces Conservation Plan." Then, present...

Learners examine the arguments for and against suffrage for women in the 19th and early 20th centuries. They explore various websites, read and discuss primary source documents, develop a document from two points of view, and analyze...

Why doesn't the Supreme Court hear testimony from witnesses? How do they complete an entire proceeding in less than two hours? A helpful lesson guides scholars of criminology through these and other questions by explaining how appeals...

Promises made and promise broken. Spies and activists. Voting rights in Mississippi are the focus of a lesson that has class members research the history of the struggle in Mississippi. Learners take on the role of voting rights...

Women's lifestyles before the Civil War made a huge impact as a point of causation. Give middle schoolers the opportunity to view firsthand the lives of women before the Civil War. They analyze primary source documents, view photographs,...

Prompt your young historians to hone in their reading comprehension skills by considering the fascinating perspective that Rudyard Kipling offers in his poem, "The American Rebellion", which provides an alternative...

How did Union General Ulysses S. Grant view the surrender of Confederate General Robert E. Lee in 1865, which effectively ended the United States Civil War? After reading an excerpt from Grant's autobiography, your young historians will...

Use the dystopian novel After by Francine Prose to spark discussion about individual and student rights. Learners read the novel, evaluating how far a school can go to control its attendees. As they read, scholars...

Alternative facts? After watching the We The Voters film, "MediOcracy," viewers compare how cable news outlets CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC report the same story about politics or public policy. After a whole-class discussion of their...

The articles and images in the June 1964 edition of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference Newsletter detail the events in St. Augustine that were instrumental in the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The stirring...