FDR's December 7, 1941 address to the nation is the focus of a reading comprehension exercise that asks middle schoolers to read an excerpt from the Pearl Harbor speech and determine the president's purpose.

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...

Help your high schoolers navigate the cross-curricular text Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass with this reading guide. The questions guide learners through composing a summary of any given chapter in the text. In addition,...

Sometimes all kids need is a little guided practice and then they can be on their way. They can use an analysis worksheet to help them analyze a primary or secondary source document. They answer several questions describing the type of...

Zora Neal Hurston, Toni Morrison, and Maya Angelou are featured in a guided inquiry unit. High schoolers research the lives and works of these and other Black women writers and craft an argument, using evidence from their research, to...

The second volume of the Core Knowledge History of the United States ebook begins by asking young scholars to consider the impact immigration, industrialization, and urbanization had on the United States in the late 1800s. The text ends...

Break an article down with a SOAPSTone chart. Class members determine the speaker, occasion, audience, purpose, subject, and tone. The chart includes a question for each of these elements, provides some clarifying text for each, and...

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...

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...

Students inquire about the Holocaust. In this Holocaust lesson plan, students read books and discuss their thoughts. Students also collect current event articles from newspapers. Students investigate ghettos, Pearl Harbor and Navajo Code...

Who were the absolute monarchs of Europe and what effect did they have on their countries? Young historians begin by naming qualities they believe are important for a monarch to possess. They then take notes on four key factors...

A group of citizens in North Canada has decided to leave their country, and they are asking for help in setting up an American-style democracy. Using a carefully structured activity, pupils lay out the principles in the American...

To protect young people from questionable content, many schools limit access. This resource suggests that because learners can so readily avail themselves to unrestricted Internet access, it is vital for 21st century...

The power of a picture. During the events surrounding World War I, propaganda posters were widely distributed in American society to sway the emotions of its citizens. By analyzing World War I propaganda posters in the first installment...

Capitalism, socialism, communism ... these may seem like a whole bunch of isms to your scholars. High schoolers won't  confuse them after completing an informative resource. Your class masters how to use primary sources to...

High schoolers explore the election process by researching politcal platforms, inviting candidates to speak, surveying registered voters, and running a mock election.

Young scholars discover how to find authoritative resources. In this research skills lesson plan, students examine strategies for using the Internet effectively to research global development issues.

Introduce learners to allegorical art with four bronze sculptures by Francesco Bertos. After modeling how to recognize bias and allegory in Bertos' Africa, class groups examine the other three sculptures in the series before creating...

How did the Emancipation Proclamation lead to the Thirteenth Amendment? Middle schoolers analyze primary source documents including the text of the Emancipation Proclamation, political cartoons, photographs, and prints to understand...

Create classroom community with this Bingo icebreaker, which has the group finding out interesting details about one another. For this version, individuals have a 25-square grid, each square containing one multicultural experience or...

Middle schoolers are likely very familiar with the concept of bullying and cliques. Discuss their experiences and brainstorm ways to handle peer conflict and feelings of exclusion with a poem that focuses on bullying, and a second lesson...

As part of a study of saving choices and opportunity costs, class members listen to a reading of Lois Lenski's Cotton in My Sack, and then evaluate the spending choices made by the Hutley family.  

Get your message across. Scholars use their prior knowledge and artistic skills to create public service announcements. The project is designed to explain the importance of civic harmony and the responsibility of all citizens to...

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...