Curated OER
Cultural Diversity
Introducing the topic of cultural diversity and the social issues surrounding it, this presentation will get your students thinking about stereotypes involving race, gender, and sexual orientation. Affirmative action and positive and...
Little Stones
How Can Poetry Make People Think and Care?
Can beautiful words change the world? Literary scholars discover how to paint their visions of change using poetry in a series of three workshops. Each independent topic gives participants a chance to examine their feelings about...
Curated OER
Human Migration
Students explore human migration, refugees and human rights. They read articles about immigration, create a migration journal, and participate in a mock human rights commission meeting. After collecting information about immigration,...
Curated OER
The U.S. Trade Embargo on Cuba
Students examine perspectives for and against the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba, develop a position on the embargo and articulate viewpoints in a public forum.
Curated OER
In Praise of Political Parties
Students research a political party and prepare a report about its history, philosophy, and the party's position regarding two major political issues. They complete a variety of additional creative activities regarding their party, as well.
Curated OER
Liberty, Equality, Uniformity?
Students examine the French draft law to ban religious symbols from public schools. They research "secularist" and "pluralist" positions regarding this ban, debate the topic in class, and draft a position paper on the ban.
C-SPAN
Presidential Candidate Research
Don't let the young citizens in your social studies class get all their election information from inflammatory commercials and arguing pundits. Use a lesson plan from C-SPAN to guide class members through an election season with a...
Curated OER
Book: Latino Economics in the United States: Job Diversity
Learners, after reading Chapter 1 in the book, "Latino Economics in the United States: Job Diversity," write an essay that compares the cultural as well as the historical factors (experiences with jobs, discrimination, education, etc.)...
Curated OER
What is cooperative negotiation?
Tenth graders differentiate between positions, interests, and values. In this current events lesson, 10th graders analyze, in a response to literature, the failure of a fictional negotiation. Students demonstrate the ability to use...
Curated OER
Metis- Grade 11
Eleventh graders consider the impact of immigration on native peoples. In this Canadian history lesson, 11th graders watch "Places Not Our Own," and then participate in a classroom simulation that requires them to consider land...
Curated OER
America's Civil Rights Movement, Cubing
Students explore cubing as a graphic organizer to better explain the key concepts of the Civil Rights Movement and take positions on key concepts regarding the Movement.
Curated OER
The Power of Words: Social Justice Words
Students role-play the position of a presidential candidate. They create their platform to include social justice programs and present it to the class. They answer questions to end the activity.
Curated OER
Moving Objects
Students discover the history of the United States by examining the Great Migration. In this U.S. History lesson, students research the immigration movement on the Internet and complete a worksheet about the large population shift. ...
Curated OER
To Come to Illinois - Or Not?
Students analyze primary documents to determine whether the author is pro- or anti-emigration. They outline reasons for or against immigration to Illinois during the early 19th century.
NPR
The History of America’s Weed Laws
To understand the laws regarding marijuana use in the United States, you can go all the way back to the 1800's to learn about farming hemp, or you can go back to 2018 when California became the sixth state to legalize recreational...
Curated OER
How To Motivate Parental Involvement in the Classroom!
Get yourself on track with parents and pupils to ensure an educational experience that everyone will benefit from.
National Constitution Center
Creating Your Own Town Hall Poster
Middle and high schoolers are walking into a world rife with strong political viewpoints and vocal opinions. Help to prepare them for controversial discussions with a lesson in which they choose, research, and learn more about a...
Digital Public Library of America
The American Whaling Industry
When thinking about the American whaling industry most imagine Moby Dick and Nantucket sleigh rides, harpoons and scrimshaw, whale-oil lamps and baleen in women's corsets. But it may come as a surprise that the industry was also...
Curated OER
Migrants Day
For this Migrants Day worksheet, students complete activities such as reading a passage, phrase matching, fill in the blanks, choose the correct word, multiple choice, spelling, sequencing, scrambled sentences, asking questions,...
Curated OER
Ad Nauseam
Students explore the role of special-interest groups in American campaigns. They create their own political advertisements.
Curated OER
A Look at Virginians During Reconstruction
Fourth graders examine slavery and Reconstruction in Virginia. In this Virginians during Reconstruction lesson, 4th graders research primary sources for the story of William Jasper and other slaves. Students hypothesize how rights became...
Curated OER
Lyndon B. Johnson
Students take a closer look at legislation passed in the 1960s. In this Great Society lesson plan, students research 6 key pieces of legislation signed into law by Johnson. Students use their findings to write collaborative reports.
Curated OER
The Harlem Renaissance: Black American Traditions
High schoolers examine the time period of the Harlem Renaissance. As a class, they are introduced to five artists and discuss their art and techniques. Using the internet, they also research the philosophers of the time period and how...
Curated OER
Ethnic Humor
Students define ethnicity and ethnic group in their own words. In groups, they view comic strips and identify how the strips relate to their family life. Individually, they write their own comic strip about their own ethnic group. To...