How does one get credit, and who provides credit? What is a credit score, and how can an understanding of a credit score help you to make smart financial decisions? Through discussion and worksheets, class members will identify the...

Help young learners become active listeners and strong public speakers with a set of activities that range from paraphrasing, to discussions, and self-reflection. Additionally, the lessons address social media skills and non-verbal...

Should the excavation of what is believed to be the cave of the Lone Woman of San Nicholas Island be allowed to continue? As a practice exercise designed to prepare pupils for a timed writing exam, individuals read two Los Angeles...

If your learners are curious about human achievement, superlatives, or esoteric trivia, the Guinness Book of Records is a way to tap into instrinsic motivation and relevance. Here's an informational reading that will grab their attention...

The Statue of Liberty may embrace the huddled masses of the world, but has American society always joined in? After young historians read a passage about the history of American immigration in the 19th and 20th centuries, focusing on...

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. 

Explore the world (our world) of melting ice caps. Why are these caps melting? What is the effect of melting ice caps? Dive into the ever-present issue of global warming with a resource that has learners looking at data and participating...

Was the Southern states' decision to secede from the Union protected by the United States Constitution? Eighth graders discuss the constitutionality of the South's justification for secession, particularly the secession of South...

Terror, mystery, excitement. American writers of the 19th century, including Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, and Emily Dickinson, used these elements to create morally ambiguous tales that challenged the prevailing belief in...

Confederate soldiers saw the Civil War much differently than their Union counterparts. Scholars analyze the perspective of the Civil War from the viewpoint of various key figures in the fourth installment of an eight-part series. By...

Pupils discover the true nature and purpose of the Civil War in the eighth and final installment of an informative series. Using primary and secondary documents, history buffs merge social study knowledge with English skills to create a...

Have you ever wanted to do something so perfectly you wound up not doing it well at all? Young historians use primary and secondary documents to analyze the United States involvement in the Vietnam War. The issues surrounding the...

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...

The Internet is known as the information superhighway, but sometimes it's hard to know when to hit the brakes on unreliable sources. Using a well-rounded lesson plan, pupils read and summarize articles about the gender pay gap and...

Whole-heartedly agree! I sort of agree. Disagree! Class members indicate their stance on a controversial statement by participating in a Barometer activity.

Impress upon your learners the importance of researching candidates in an election and considering not only which issues are most important to them as voters, but also which issues are most important to the candidates.

Students review the basic facts of the Canadian government.

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.

In this U.K. government worksheet, students study the electoral system of the United Kingdom as they read a 3 page article and complete up to 6 activities based on the topic. A debate form with 10 points pertaining to the topic is...

Students participate in a simulation and compare and contrast the arguments for and against womens' right to vote. In this civil rights lesson, students simulate disenfranchisement of women by allowing only half of the class to vote on a...

Make your own bite-size glacier! A resource teaches about the formation and melting of ice. Activities include videos, a hands-on activity where your pupils build glaciers, and a photographic analysis to teach individuals the chilling...

Students confront stage fright and recognize their speaker strenghs and weaknesses. They develop ways to control and direct their fear of speaking.

Learners defend one side of a genetics ethics argument. They pull together a portfolio of human genetics and decision making skills. Students are allowed to prove what he/she has learned and express a personal opinion. They also are...

To prepare for class, students will read several articles (links included). Students discuss the articles, and ways to deal with the proliferation of big-box stores in rural areas. The class takes two minutes to generate a research...