K20 LEARN
Watch Your Tone: Tone Analysis Through Music And Nonfiction
Identifying the tone of a piece of writing or the author's attitude toward the subject matter can be difficult for learners. Simplify the process with a lesson that begins with skits, moves to songs and their lyrics, and then to passages...
PBS
Presidential Leadership and the Goal to Unify | America’s Great Divide: From Obama to Trump
Traditionally, a United States President's Inaugural Address establishes the tone and vision for his presidency. It has stressed the goal to unify the country and bring the political parties together after what are often divisive...
PBS
Discuss 22-year-old Amanda Gorman’s inaugural poem “The Hill We Climb”
Two poems by National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman are spotlighted in a PBS lesson. Young scholars conduct a close reading and watch videos of Gorman reading her inaugural poem "The Hill We Climb" and "The Miracle of Morning." They...
Anti-Defamation League
Understanding and Analyzing “The U.S. of Us” by Richard Blanco
Current immigration issues and the rhetoric surrounding the controversies come into focus with a lesson that uses Richard Blanco's anthem, "The U.S. of Us," written after the August 2019 attack in El Paso, Texas, to open a discussion of...
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
War and Poetry
A band of brothers or the Devil's agents? Nobel warriors freeing the oppressed or mercenaries working for the military/industrial complex? Groups examine poems from the Civil War, World War I, and World War II to determine the poets'...
Curated OER
Diary of Anne Frank: Act 1 Scene 1 & 2
Eighth graders read act 1 scenes 1 & 2 of the play Diary of Anne Frank. In this Diary of Anne Frank lesson plan, 8th graders discuss how the setting of the play affects the mood of the story and answer short answer questions.
Curated OER
Slices of American Pie: The 1960s Through Music
Eleventh graders examine political, cultural, and social movements through music. In this 1960s American history lesson plan, 11th graders explore the music of the decade in order to better understand the complexity of the time period....
Curated OER
Transcontinental Railroad Web Quest
Students examine aspects of the Transcontinental Railroad. In this Westward Expansion lesson, students conduct a web-quest in order to gather information about the Transcontinental Railroad. Students will use their information to analyze...
Curated OER
The Second Inaugural Address (1865)—Restoring the American Union
Students explore the content of Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address. In this Abraham Lincoln lesson plan, students analyze the text of the speech to determine how Lincoln sought to reconstruct the country as the Civil War drew to...
Indiana University
World Literature: "One Evening in the Rainy Season" Shi Zhecun
Did you know that modern Chinese literature “grew from the psychoanalytical theory of Sigmund Freud”? Designed for a world literature class, seniors are introduced to “One Evening in the Rainy Season,” Shi Zhecun’s stream of...
Curated OER
"Et tu, Brute?" - The Characters, Conflict and Historical context of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar
Students analyze the Shakespearian play, "Julius Caesar" in this seven lesson unit. Through readings, hands-on projects, and the study of plot development, comparisons are made to the movie and the historical records available.
Curated OER
Voices of Tragedy and Horror: Remembering the Holocaust
Students consider the implications of the Holocaust. In this World War II lesson, students read the graphic novel Maus at the end of a unit on World War II. Students discuss the impact of reading about the Holocaust as well as theme of...
Curated OER
The Dream Factory
Students compare postcard samples from Los Angeles, CA and Austin, TX. They examine them to find common elements they share (tone, mood, romanticized themes, artistic elements, etc.) They create postcards to show the "real" Austin.
Curated OER
Japanese Tanka Poetry
Students discover the techniques of creating Japanese Tanka poetry through in-class discussions and a fun group competition. This lesson is an excellent introduction to Japanese literature and/or poetry.
Curated OER
Allen Ginsberg: Poetry and Politics
Learners explore the poetry of Allen Ginsberg. They read and analyze poems by Allen Ginsberg, conduct Internet research, collect examples of art of the 60s, and create a presentation.
Curated OER
Holocaust Memorial Service
Students research victims of the Holocaust, then create pieces of art to depict the suffering of the Holocaust victims.
Curated OER
A New Life, a New Home
Students connect with an immigration unit through research, journal writing, digital photography, and a movie production using iMovie. By acting out the immigrant's experience, students gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of...
Curated OER
Urban Concentration and Racial Violence
Students research one of the many urban race riots in U.S. history, from the New York City riots during the Civil War to the "Red Summer of 1919" or the hate-strikes of 1943. They present their findings in the form of a newspaper's front...
Curated OER
Women's Right To Vote
Fifth graders explore the history of women's right to vote and identify two of the leaders of the suffrage movement, Alice Paul and Lucy Burns. After completing readings and discussions, they write an article for the newspaper about...
Curated OER
War Stories
Pupils watch the film "The Perilous Fight: America's World War II in Color". Using the film, they work together to develop proper interview questions to use while talking to World War II veterns. After the interview, they research the...