Do leaders need to be more moral than followers? Does power corrupt? Can anyone be a leader? Begin a study of leadership with a reading of excerpts from the Epic of Gilgamesh. After examining the ancient Mesopotamian hero, class members...

In this vocabulary activity, students select the best word to complete the sentence. They are challenged by the difficult words that all begin with "s."

Students discuss the life of Louisa May Alcott and create an outline of a biography of her life and times.  For this Louisa May Alcott lesson, students explore the Transcendentalist involvement in the abolitionist movement, relating...

Use this interactive, online quiz to assess learners on their ability to find the meaning of an unknown word using context clues. This quiz is designed as a post-assessment, so you'll have to teach the skill of using context clues to...

Poems by O. Henry, Marion Dane Bauer, Monty Roberts, and Langston Hughes provide the text for a study of symbolism, hyperbole, and imagery. Employing the “think-pair-share” strategy learners generate definitions of these terms and locate...

Nonfiction texts about people on the move provide young readers with an opportunity to examine not only the problem-solving strategies employed by immigrants, but to also find examples of figurative language these writers use to tell...

A solid but basic overview of the Tudor Dynasty, this presentation provides details about Henry VIII and his successors. The slides would be a good addition to a session on the English monarchy, or within the context of a unit on the...

Work on sentence fragments with your class using this handout and brief exercise. This resource, which could be used as a reference sheet for learners, goes into detail about complete sentences and the different errors that cause...

Shizuko's Daughter by Kyoko Mori presents a vivid picture of Japanese culture and history. As kids read through the third chapter, they find novel-specific vocabulary to enhance their understanding and use context clues to...

Combine literature and history by examining the work of Japanese writers after the Russo-Japanese war. This resource is for advanced classes with an interest in how literature reflects and reacts to societal change. Activities outlined...

How well do your kids know key terms from Shizuko's Daughter by Kyoko Mori? Have them review a list of words that they will encounter in the novel, and mark which words they know well, which words they've seen before, and which...

The Crusades sounds like a glamorous time period in the Middle Ages full of glory—but was it? Scholars find and review the truth of the Crusades' influence on the world through the resource. The study guides, separated individually by...

As if surviving a journey to America wasn't enough of a feat for early 20th century immigrants, they then needed to settle into American life. Learn about the ways New York public education attempted to meet the needs of its students,...

Want to teach your pupils about debate, effective speech techniques, propaganda, and the women's movement? The first in a sequential series of three, scholars analyze real propaganda images from the the historic women's movement, view a...

Young scholars examine the life and reform efforts of Dorothea Dix on behalf of people with disabilities. They also examine the role of women in the 1840s and 1850s. They discover different sources of examples of citizen's rights.

Students examine the achievements, and the personality and character of the man who is called "father of the Turks." Student groups hold a debate, which centers on whether or not Ataturk's reforms were necessary.

Seventh graders read the novel, Lyddie, while studying the reform movement. They complete assignments for each chapter and write essays about Lyddie's development through the novel.

Students study Tudor England. In this English history instructional activity, students research bookmarked Internet sources in order to learn about the 6 wives of King Henry VIII and the Reformation.

Fifth graders explore child labor and how children were exploited and used in the work place. In this Industrial Revolution lesson, 5th graders research child labor by reading, looking at photographs and drawing conclusions...

Students identify the plot and theme of cartoons. In groups, they discuss and compare the written and movie versions of popular fairy tales. Individually, they write their own fairy tale and share them with the class. They write their...

In this Massachusetts Bay Colony learning exercise, students read information and assess comprehension and vocabulary skills. In this multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, and true or false learning exercise, students answer ten questions.

In this word search worksheet, students study the words related to Bloody Mary. Students locate the 15 words within the word search puzzle.

Students act as either Democrats or Republicans to debate plans to alter Social Security. For homework, they consider whether Social Security has become too politicized and propose their own solutions.

Young scholars examine Susan B. Anthony's life and causes she worked for. In this Susan B. Anthony lesson, students work in groups to research the activist roles of Susan B. Anthony and decide if she was a philanthropist. Young scholars...