Students consider the effect of technological development, industrial growth and changing population on education in historical Deerfield Connecticut. They review many primary resources to investigate history and write a response to...

Strong opinions come from deeply held values. Young citizens explore the values that are most important to them in a class discussion and activity. As they prioritize a list of values cards that include freedom,...

Every president of the United States must be a natural-born citizen, but the definition of natural-born is not as straightforward as it seems. Secondary scholars examine two points of view surrounding the constitutional requirement...

A role-playing scenario has middle-schoolers imagining that they are refugees forced to flee their community and integrate into a new one. Then, some play the roles of members of the new community and the class brainstorms ideas about...

What do slaves fighting for their freedom on board a ship and a slave fighting for his freedom in a courtroom have in common? Budding historians investigate the two different cases of the Amistad slave revolt and the Dred Scott argument....

What would you do to protect your own freedom? How far would you go to protest injustice? Class members are asked to consider these questions as they read primary source documents that detail events in the lives of Gabriel, Nat Turner,...

Spy games are not just for professionals anymore! Scholars use short video clips, primary documents, and photographs to investigate Nazi spies in America during World War II.  The young detectives analyze the paranoia warfare can...

Learn about how invasive species and introduced species impact the environment around them with a presentation and lesson plan. After viewing the presentation, learners go to the library and computer lab to look up various species and...

Tell me what you really think. The class reviews articles related to wind energy to see how the author uses words, phrases, and images to sway the reader. Through a class discussion, individuals share their feelings from the media...

Discover the ways America has opened its borders to international refugees, and the ways other countries have been more or less welcoming, with an informational passage about United States and international policies on refugees....

Celebrate April's National Poetry Month or enrich a poetry unit with a wealth of language arts material. Class members develop an oral interpretation of a poem and/or develop a podcast interview with a poet. 

If you've ever looked at the US immigration system, you know that it is complex and a source of controversy. An insightful lesson plan encourages learners to conduct their own analyses of the US immigration system by asking them to...

Can the federal government override the state government to protect the citizens of the United States? The 1962 Supreme Court case Baker v. Carr outlines the issue of equal protection under the law. Scholars investigate with a short...

Students will become aware of advertising already in the schools and will work on critical thinking and debating skills.

Students evaluate the fairness of the Missouri Compromise. They read the Missouri Compromise and discuss how it reflected the North-South, anti-slavery and pro-slavery division in the country. They work in groups to debate the Missouri...

Students explore the conflicts between the economy and the environment by focusing on forest management in Maine. They read pamphlets on siliviculture and clear-cutting as well as those by environmental groups then conduct a debate on...

Students consider how recent historical events have impacted Kenya. In this global studies lesson, students visit selected websites to discover information about President Mwai Kibaki, Kenya's statistics, and Swahili. Students share...

Students decide what gender should be their classroom president.  In this gender role lesson, students debate on the roles of the genders, and if they ever intertwine.  

Students research the history of immigration, particularly from the perspective of Mexicans and Mexican Americans. In this Mexican American labor lesson, students research questions from the perspective of an assigned group. Students...

Tenth graders listen to a controversial piece of writing. They with opposing viewpoints face one another. After ground rules are suggested and adopted by the group, 10th graders articulate their positions in successive turns.

students examine a Maine law concerning the destruction of guns used in homicides. They explore the advisability of destroying these guns and whose responsibility it is to notify families about what happens to these guns.

Students in an ESL classroom compare and contrast Puetro Rican and Mexican cultures. In groups, they research the reasons why people leave one country for another and how to obtain a visa. As a class, they brainstorm a list of the...

Students compare anti-immigration movements in United States history. For this immigration lesson, students participate in classroom activities that require them to analyze music, images, and videos that reveal the immigration debates of...

Students review the basic facts of the Canadian government.