Everyone knows that George Washington was the first president, but do your scholars know why that was so important? The lesson plan, the third in a sequence of three, allows learners to understand how George Washington set a precedent...

Encourage learners to think critically about common myths regarding the Wampanoag Indians in Colonial America. They discover that behind every myth are many possible explanations—and that learning more about American history helps them...

Learners study the decisions and solutions involved in winning the right to vote. After reading background information on the fight for women's suffrage, including one woman's story, and its eventual success in the United States and...

Mathematicians can be famous, too! Introduce your class to Eratosthenes with a reading passage. After they complete the passage, learners respond to five questions, some of which require opinions and others reading comprehension skills.

If called, would you go? Should the US government have the power to impose a draft during any war? The Selective Service Act of 1917 (aka the Conscription Act of 1917) authorized the drafting of men into the military for only the...

Integrate history, math, and art into a study of The Grapes of Wrath with a series of activities that ask learners to investigate the social, political, economic, and environmental factors at play during the 1930s. Designed to be used...

After working in groups to analyze primary sources related to a historical hoax, learners will discuss how people managed to be fooled and work to identify one of the biggest April Fools jokes in history.

Abraham Lincoln abolished slavery and led the Union out of the most tumultuous time in American history. An informative passage and paired questions evaluate learners' understanding of main ideas, supporting points, and domain-specific...

The lessons in the second unit in a three-unit series provide students with the historical background of disability education. After reading about events that impacted attitudes towards disabilities and how learners are identified for...

Eleanor Sterling responds to 21 questions posed by young learners about the challenges she faces as a woman conservation biologist. She also discusses her research of the aye-aye, an unusual animal that lives in Madagascar.

Early humans crafted shelters out of whatever materials they could find. A one-question quiz asks learners to identify the type of bones used to construct the hut pictured in a display.

America was built on the ingenuity, work ethic, and foresight of our ancestors. Sixth graders learn about the complex Gilded Age in American history, including the prominent inventors and captains of industry, and how they all connect...

The American Museum of Natural History offers a website sure to engage young anthropologists. Learners can dig into a site that offers an explanation of the field of archaeology, the kinds of questions archaeologists ask that launch...

How was the work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. viewed by others during the 1960s? After watching an oral history video, your class members will learn more about Dr. King's ability to personally connect with others, as well as...

How has our relationship to energy changed over time? An engaging exploration challenges learners to create a timeline showing human energy needs and uses over time. Scholars review what timelines are, choose a 50-year period in history...

Use a performance task to assess third graders' ability to read informational text. After they plan a lemonade stand business, young entrepreneurs implement that plan through informational writing. The task assumes learners can...

Isn't paper pushing supposed to be boring? Learners attempt a paper-pushing puzzle to develop ideas about angles inscribed on a diameter of a circle. Learners then formalize Thales' theorem and use geometric properties to develop a proof...

Take your history class through Schindler's List with a learning guide, which offers an introduction to the film and a variety of discussion questions and related assignments. There are several useful resources in the...

One of the best ways to make history relevant and engaging is to analyze current events before they become history! Check out these project guidelines for a current event research paper, outlining the major required sections of...

Imagine you are a soldier in the Civil War. What are you wearing? What do you need to carry with you? Examine the life of a person during the Civil War, from drummer boys to powder monkeys to musket-toting soldiers. Elementary...

Ah, the classic business cycle model: recession, depression, recovery, prosperity. And then there was the Great Depression. Groups investigate the economic conditions that led to and social movements of the 1920s that great out of the...

Who gets to vote? Learn more about struggles for suffrage throughout United States history with a lesson based on primary source documents. Middle schoolers debate the importance of women's suffrage and African American...

Has life changed for American women in the last century, or are there common themes between the lives of 21st century women and the struggle of suffragettes from the 1910s? Explore the ways media reflects the position of women...

The Mexican-American war marked a significant moment in United States history, as well as in the history of American media. The mid-nineteenth century saw the introduction of the Penny Press, which provided many American citizens with...