There are some historical events that may warrant greater reflection and more in-depth analysis, and the decision to intern Japanese-Americans in the United States during World War II, as well as to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and...

High school pupils research online to complete a family tree and explore their ancestry. They view a sketch of a family tree, and brainstorm questions to ask their parents about their heritage. They also diagram their own family tree. In...

Help your class create collective poetry following a simple, engaging model from Teaching Tolerance (tolerance.org). Each young poet writes five things on an index card: sayings from others, favorite sound, favorite place, favorite...

Students create a family tree. In this ancestry lesson, students research a country that one of their ancestors is from. Students interview a grandparent and map out a family tree.

In this evolution worksheet, students read the article, answer true and false questions, complete synonym matching, complete phrase matching, complete a gap fill, answer short answer questions, answer discussion questions, write, and...

What better way to celebrate eclipses than across cultures? Explore myths of solar and lunar eclipses from ancient cultures like the Chinese, Ancient Greek, Mesoamerican, Incan, Egyptian, Ancient Babylonian, and Middle Eastern. Learners...

Tenth graders explore the self through a study of autobiographies. By writing daily in their journals, they improve their writing skills and write reflection pieces at the end of the year. Through a series of writing assignments, 10th...

Young historians research the connections between their personal histories and the histories of our country to gain a deeper understanding of who they are. To begin, class members write about an object that they consider significant to...

Young scholars explore prehistoric times by completing web activities in class. In this human ancestry lesson, students identify the archaeological discovery of the "Lucy" skeleton and what it meant for science. Young scholars...

In this human ancestry worksheet, learners will answer questions about hominids, "Lucy", and the emergence of modern humans. Then students will compare the characteristics of Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons. This worksheet has four short...

Young scholars interview a family member about their heritage. They listen to and record part of their family's oral history. Students also create and label a family tree going back a minimum of two generations and compare and contrast...

It's important for young people to learn about their ancestry and the role of storytelling as a means of passing along traditions, information, and lessons. Based on what they already learned about Native American oral tradition,...

Using the book Bandits, Bears, and Backaches, learners develop an understanding of the pre-history of Arkansas. They follow the trail ofthe giants mastodons and paleo Indians who lived there long ago. The emphasis on this lesson is on...

Young historians discover African stories associated with a royal altar tusk from the Kingdom of Benin in Nigeria, read myths illustrated on the tusk, and write a story about the life of an oba using figures depicted on the tusk.

Jamie Ford’s historical novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, explores the relationship between a young Chinese American boy and a Japanese American girl set against the backdrop of Seattle during World War II. The teaching...

Students trace their family history back to their great-grandparents and examine where their family is from and what types of jobs their ancestors had. They also define different terms used to describe family relations such as...

Students recognize that history can be easily altered and changed, and consider ways to prevent deceptions about the Holocaust. They create class quilt that shows how to create harmony, understanding and tolerance of others.

Here’s the overview for a series of lessons about the Japanese American internment introduced by the resource entitled “A Fence Away From Freedom.” Included are the link to the Smithsonian website on which the lessons are based, a list...

Students break into groups of 4 or 5 and choose an option to demonstrate a different cultural perspective in a fairy tale or other folklore that they are familiar. Possible choices are: PowerPoint presentation, video, digital...

Being a historian requires serious sleuthing. They examine primary source documents and look for evidence, for clues that reveal who wrote the document, when, and why. After watching two historians model the process, young history...

Young scholars examine world history by writing an essay in class. In this World War II lesson, students identify the attack on Pearl Harbor, the response from the U.S and the effect it had on Japanese-Americans. Young scholars define...

Students review the Bill of Rights. They interpret how the American Government violated these rights with regard to Japanese Americans during World War II. They write down the violations of the Bill of Rights during Japanese ...