Every healthy classroom community is built on a foundation of respect. Through whole group discussions, shared readings, and collaborative activities this lesson teaches children how to be respectful of one another, making for a much...

The toasts are written, the table is set: it's time to party! Young scholars use a role-playing activity to go toast to toast. After researching and writing toasts for their allied countries during the modern Age of Empires, individuals...

What a great opportunity to integrate science into your lesson plan on the War of 1812! Discover how pulley systems were used to move 1,000 lb. cannons at the Battle of Fort McHenry, and to raise the flag that would inspire Francis...

If every vote counts, why do we need the electoral college? Middle and high schoolers study the Constitutional precedent of the electoral college, as well as its place in historical and modern elections, with an engaging social studies...

Enhance Black History Month with a twenty-page resource designed to boost scholars' knowledge of the great accomplishments made by African Americans. Learners take in fun facts about famous inventors such as George Washington Carver and...

Of the images that have permeated history to define American courage, perseverance, and patriotism, the 1945 photograph of United States Marines raising the flag at Iwo Jima is one of the most well known. After researching the pivotal...

Primary sources—even those that seem mundane—offer a window into those who experienced history. Using a Red Cross map offered to soldiers stationed in Paris after World War II alongside worksheet questions, scholars consider what life...

What led to the United States Civil War? Interested historians consider a variety of political, social, and economic factors using primary sources and an essay prompt in an authentic high-stakes test. Primary sources include political...

Celebrate Women's History Month with hands on-learning. The resource provides seven strategies to help educators teach Women's History Month, ranging from watching films to reading books written by women. Activities including writing...

Most people are surprised to learn that American democracy is not as direct as they thought. Using a package of guiding questions, charts and curated videos, learners unpack the unique American institution of the Electoral College. The...

Ben Franklin was the only American to sign The Declaration of Independence, the Treaty of Alliance with France, the Treaty of Paris, and the US Constitution. An interesting resource explores his role in the latter by comparing the US...

Using sources from various publications and a series of videos, pupils consider the global economy and the positive and negative effects of globalization. With a jigsaw discussion and a writing assignment, scholars weigh in on whether...

How many animals can live in a climate as cold as Mount Everest's? Find out with a science activity all about biodiversity. Activities include research, presentations, group work, coloring maps, and a simulation of a food web.

Just how successful were the reform movements of the ninteenth and twentieth centuries? Using documents ranging from the writings of Mother Jones to the marriage vows of Lucy Stone, individuals consider the question in a scaffolded...

What makes a hero? After discussing the term and considering a book about Franklin D. Roosevelt, classmates work together to write a script and present their biography of a Great American hero. Notes sheets help group members organize...

What does the government have to do with getting a driver's license? Including the calorie count for a meal on a restaurant menu? By discussing these kinds of questions and researching how concepts behind federal, state, and local...

If a picture is worth a thousand words, song lyrics also can communicate many meanings. Using the lyrics of spirituals, young historians analyze them for coded messages about freedom. Resources include a chart to help individuals track...

Learners view artworks that make a statement about social conditions. They discuss the artworks, write about them and present their ideas to the class. They create socially conscious art pieces of their own.

In this dinosaur activity, students are given a dinosaur skeleton and they work in teams to report about a "newly discovered dinosaur". They create and include it's name, a model of it, its size, the habitat it lived in, its diet, its...

Middle schoolers discover effective writing techniques to create persuasive essays. In this writing lesson, students investigate ways to express facts and points of view through persuasive essays. Finally, the middle schoolers write...

Kids engage in a series of activities that ask them to consider differences and similarities in characteristics, both visible and invisible. With this new understanding, the class investigates the Special Olympics program and develops...

What is identity? What is bullying? What is identity-based bullying? After discussing these questions as a class, pupils engage in partner discussions before participating in a small group activity to act out bullying scenarios. Then,...

Reading Mary Pope Osborne's Civil War on Sunday? Here's a packet crammed with activities, exercises, reading guides, and project suggestions. A must-have for your curriculum library.

Class groups investigate the economic and political implications of a country's policies on genetically modified foods, craft a position paper detailing that policy, and share their findings with the class. Armed with this...