US Citizenship and Immigration Services
Thanksgiving 3—Traditions
Thanksgiving is a treasured national holiday, but it can look different from table to table. Through a reading passage, real-world images, and class discussion, scholars take a look into Thanksgiving's importance to the...
Oxfam
Sweatshops - Exploitation Is Never in Fashion
Here's a resource that brings home the idea that we are all part of a global community, that our actions have far reaching consequences. Class members examine the labels in their clothes, create a list of the manufacturers, the countries...
US Institute of Peace
Defining Conflict
Before there can be peace, we have to understand conflict. Introduce the concept of conflict through a two-part activity that combines discussion, collaboration, and writing. The first in a 15-part series examines the multiple meanings...
Curated OER
What is Democracy?
Learners explore the facets of democracy. In this civic responsibility lesson, students create a definition of democracy and discuss the difference between a spectator and a participatory citizen. Learners discuss whose responsibility...
Curated OER
The Front Page: Asking Geographic Questions
Students examine how to ask geographic questions. They read an article with details omitted, list possible geographic questions, and write a summary of the article.
Personal Genetics Education Project
Genetics and Reproduction
Disease prevention or designer babies? Use a set of slides to introduce the growing practice of preimplantation genetic diagnosis, or PGD. Teens read related articles and then break into groups to address different scenarios. Afterward,...
Orange County Department of Education
Nights of the Pufflings
Third graders read the story to identify the problem and solution that occurs in Night of the Pufflings. They identify problems within the story that are solved through the characters' responsible actions. Students describe in their...
Curated OER
The Right Ideas
Students investigate the Bill of Rights and explain how non-profit organizations take care of those rights. In this Bill of Rights lesson, students work in groups to look at the rights that are included in the Bill of Rights. They...
Curated OER
Documents of Natural Rights: The Declaration of Independence and The Plan of Delano
Eighth graders analyze the philosophy of government in the Declaration of Independence. As a class, they discuss how this philosophy has caused other revolutions in history and how well it supports our natural rights. In groups, they...
Curated OER
Dred Scott and the Constitution
Students investigate the outcome of the Dred Scott case. In this human rights lesson, students read Justice Taney's decision about property rights and citizenship. Students write essays about the outcome of the case and President...
Curated OER
Eugenics Lesson Plan: Button or Bumper Sticker
Learners investigate how fear can cause problems with policies associated with people with disabilities. In this people with disabilities lesson, students study the associated vocabulary, fill in a chart which contains policies that are...
Curated OER
Enduring Understanding
Fourth graders explore indigenous people of rainforest and examine their customs and ways of life. They discuss how rainforests should be protected not only for their plants and animals, but also for indigenous people who live in them,...
Curated OER
The Sixties Protests and Social Change
Students identify, examine and analyze photographs of the sixties to determine the forces of social change at work in America during this decade. They determine the goals of each movement and the methods used by each to achieve those goals.
Curated OER
The Cold War and Development of Post-War America
Young scholars view examples of political advertisements during the years of 1952 through 1964. After viewing, they discuss how the Cold War and the threat of Communism affected the development of the United States. They compare the Cold...
Curated OER
Your Land is My Land: A Look at Bootleg Coal Mining During the Depression
Students examine the extreme conditions of unemployment during the Great Depression. In this multiple perspectives lesson, students analyze photographs of coal mining, research and adopt the perspective of a person affected by...
Generation Nation
Propaganda
How does propaganda influence our vote? Through grand conversation, scholars gain information about what is and how to identify the different ways propaganda is used in a presidential election. Using their new-found knowledge, citizens...
iCivics
Why Government?
Why do people create governments? Where did we get our ideas about government? This is a fantastic introductory lesson for your American government class that begins by reviewing the philosophies of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke in...
Curated OER
Lesson: Emory Douglas: Art and Activism
Visual literacy can be experienced in many different ways. Learners discuss the times, graphic art, and cultural significance of activism in art as they explore artist and Black Panther, Emory Douglas. This is a discussion-based lesson...
Curated OER
Dr. King's Dream
Learners explore life and work of Martin Luther King, Jr., reflect on section of King's "I Have a Dream" speech, discuss inequities that still exist in the United States, and create picture books about their own dreams of freedom for...
Curated OER
Photographs of the 369th Infantry and African Americans during World War I
Students engage in a discussion regarding images of war we see, how quickly do we see them, and how they affect us? They view and analyze war photographs taken during World War I.
Curated OER
The Forgotten Cities
Students recognize and identify gaps in historical and archaeological evidence and how that evidence is interpreted. They explore the history of the Indus cities and identify what was left behind that survived for archaeologists to find...
Curated OER
Judicial Review
Students are introduced to the concept of judicial review. They read an article about this topic and the Bill of Rights. They answer discussion questions and review as a class.
Curated OER
American Heritage Themes
Students explore American freedom, unity, progress, and responsibility. In this American history lesson, students discuss what it means to be an American as they reflect on contributions of noteworthy Americans and write a composition...
Curated OER
Conflicting Ideas about the Completed Constitution
Young scholars analyze and discuss the opinions about the US Constitution as given by Benjamin Franklin and George Mason.