After reading and discussing a news article from the New York Times regarding gay and lesbian issues of the last thirty years, students engage in several activities to explore current events. They create a timeline, either electronically...

What is a memorial and what should it look like? Learners will choose what they believe is important to remember about September 11 and how it should be displayed. They work in groups and brainstorm details about the memorial and present...

Walk, jog, or run across America. Maps of individual states, visual progress, competition, and rewards, seem to be great motivational ideas. Make sure that the distances that each class has to walk or run are the same, because getting...

Examine the characteristics of an effective persuasive paper. In a group, eighth graders discuss the analogy of a debate being like a persuasive paper. After brainstorming topics, they write an argument and then debate it. Secretly, the...

Students analyze primary documents regarding Lincoln's assassination. In this lesson on Lincoln's assassination, students analyze three primary sources of information regarding President Lincoln's assassination.

Present the life and times of Napoleon to your World History class. This is a very complete slide-show that high-lights the key events, players, and politics that lead to the rise and fall of Napoleon Bonaparte. There are many rich and...

Third graders take a set of data and turn it into a pie graph with an independent worksheet. Containing 10 sets of data, the resource reinforced data analysis skills that pupils can use throughout a graphing unit. 

High schoolers study the legal battles involving same-sex marriage. They examine primary sources and a video regarding the 14th amendment and its implications for gay marriage. They analyze a report of a California case that was sent to...

Fourth graders create a time capsule that is representative of their community. They explain why the chosen objects are representative of themselves or their community.

Whisk your students through the politics of the Gilded Age with this presentation, which features the contexts and characteristics of the 1880-1888 Presidential Elections. Clever political cartoons and clear, concise bullet points about...

The New York Times article “Supreme Court, Split 5-4, Halts Florida Count in Blow to Gore” provides the opening to an assessment of the United States Supreme Court decision in the case of the 2000 presidential election. Assuming the...

Develop vocabulary in your young learners with this resource. There are a series of sentences here, and elementary schoolers must choose a word from the list to complete each of the 12 sentences. Example words include abolished,...

To better understand the work of Black Panther logo artist Emory Douglas, learners define literary devices. They define a series of words such as metaphor, simile, and assonance, then place an example of that device found in Emory...

Easily broken into pieces for several class sessions, this presentation is a great way to transition your class out of a Civil War unit and closer to the 20th century. Engaging photographs, including relevant maps and humorous political...

What happened on March 13, 1868? What happened on March 21, 1965? Eager readers fill in the missing historical event occurring on one day in March from 1862 - 1995. There are 31 events each occurring on a different day in March. This is...

In this interactive JeopardyLab game, with the assistance of a teacher, students can play against each other or in teams to review the content of Third Grade Social Studies. Allow the first team to choose a topic and a point value for a...

The battle over same-sex marriage is a prevalent issue in the United States, and a valuable topic to be discussed in your social studies classroom. Here is a basic outline of introductory questions, focus questions, vocabulary, and media...

Students study early civilizations and the contributions they made to the foundations of human culture. They discuss why citizenship is valuable and the Constitutional Amendments that are associated with it.

Students use events of the time to illustrate the significance of the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery Voting Rights March.

Students use colored pencils to label maps of Alabama. They discuss where and if the state constitution should be put into effect. They identify voting patterns in the area and a relationship between areas of Alabama and political...

Students construct time lines to show the order of significant events in Ohio history. They explain how Ohio progressed from territory to statehood.

Students examine the dynamics and challenges of creating a system of government that meet the needs of a changing, diverse population, for a new country. This is a nice simulation/role play of the formation of government.

In this English worksheet, students read "Pensioner Attacks Famous Work of Art," and then respond to 47 fill in the blank, 7 short answer, 20 matching, and 8 true or false questions about the selection.

In this voting worksheet, students identify and discuss changes in voting rights throughout American history. Then, they identify why voting is an important right for Americans. Finally, students create voting bookmarks instead of or in...