Scholars investigate and discuss the importance of values and how they can be used to break barriers. Small groups work collaboratively to examine the text and draw inferences to answer questions. A writing assignment challenges pupils...

After the events on 9/11 many Muslim-Americans experienced discrimination because of their ethnicity and faith. Help break the cycle of ignorance by educating your students on the history, religion, and beliefs of a different culture....

From 34 possibilities (and two blanks for other options), class members choose their top 10 values and rank them in ascending order to focus attention on what they want to prioritize in life. To the list, I'd add "service to others" and...

“There is no story that is not true.” And Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, uses proverbs (“. . .the palm-oil with which words are eaten”), a compelling tragic hero, and historic events, to engage readers in the truth of his story of...

Even young children watch sports and like team logos and products. It's never too early to think critically about what's onscreen. This exercise develops awareness that media communicate values (i.e. who participates in sports and who...

Pupils discover the characteristics that make a hero or heroine. They also look at how society recognizes its heroes and how the nation represents its values and beliefs by researching heroes from the past and present.

Students list personal values that are important to them. In this values lesson, students reflect about values they learned during childhood. They discuss the different factors affecting their current beliefs.

“What’s in a name?” Just about everything. Barack Obama, Vincent van Gogh, Justin Bieber. Famous names evoke a multitude of reactions and poets often use the names of famous people in their works precisely because names carry...

Students determine how and why an individual from each of four disciplines - Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, and Legalism - might respond to the same problem.

Investigate "respect" with your class. They will participate in a think/share activity in which they complete sentence starters about their personal experience with "respect." Then they view a video clip in which Holocaust survivors...

Introduce your class to literary analysis with a series of activities that has them examine book and movie reviews. Groups then draft their own review of a text, select a digital medium, and craft a presentation.

Students analyze the attitudes, ideas and beliefs of characteristics that assist humans in living a positive, proactive life that values self, family, community, nation and world. Students identify their own strengths as individual....

Eighth graders identify and explain the connections between new ideas and information and their previous beliefs, values, and experiences. They understand that certain themes are relevant to their lives. They realize the harm of clicks...

Poetry can express feelings, values, and culture; it also provides insight into a time and place. Young analysts discuss the meanings of several poems from a collection of Native American works entitled, When the Rain...

Caring, trustworthiness, and responsibility—these are only a few character traits in focus of a lesson based on stories from the Civil War era. Class members explore several influential lives while reading biographies that highlight...

Learners, through modeling and independent practice, are introduced to the different methods of brainstorming. They explore and engage in these different approaches individually, in pairs, and as a group.

Tenth graders compare three Chinese folktales for their "messages" and literary techniques to see how they reflect Chinese Confucian and Taoist values. They discuss how folktales share certain subjects, characters, plots and themes.

Students create shields representing what they value most. In this art lesson, students observe shields in the book The Legend of the Bluebonnet and create their own shields depicting the four things they value most in life.

To conclude their study of Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner, class members assume the voice of Amir and write a letter to Hassan, Amir's childhood companion.

Learners read and analyze William Faulkner's novel, 'As I Lay Dying.' They define Faulkner's place in American literary history, describe Faulkner's "South" in the context of the historical South and examine the Bundren family through...

Students learn how death is an indicator of the community beliefs and values, and how have the rituals surrounding death changed over time.

Students examine and write about possible career choices in relation to their own personal interests, strengths, and values. They discuss the process of reflective writing, and identify their three favorite activities on a "My Future...

Class groups examine fairy tales from a feminist and a Marxist perspective, identifying how these tales present gender roles and class/power systems. The groups then script and perform their own tale that uses one of these lenses.

Students discuss how cultural values and societal beliefs influence perspectives in literature. They identify and articulate how their own culture and society affects their actions and beliefs.