To compare how the Spanish, French, and English approached the exploration of North America, class groups examine primary source documents and become experts on one of four explorers: Francisco Coronado, Robert LaSalle, Samuel de...

Learners evaluate leadership traits in 18th century Hawai'i and modern times. For this leadership skills lesson, students identify leadership traits and read the story of Ka’iana. Learners monitor the leadership activities of a partner...

Baseball is a relatively high-interest topic through which social studies classes can explore racial prejudice in the US. Video clips provide much of the background information that groups record on their handout and then share with the...

Following an examination of the Arkansas state quarter, your class will discuss the state's nickname: "The Natural State." They will focus on its abundance of natural resources. Printables for the activities are included. 

What were the conditions that led to the American Revolution? What are the conditions that lead to revolution in other times and places? Class members examine primary source materials and use evidence drawn from these documents to craft...

Have your class create their own art exhibit. Learners study the exchange of artwork between the Louvre in Paris and two American art museums, and create an introductory exhibit featuring European and American art from the Renaissance...

The Academy Award-winning documentary A Time for Justice launches a unit that examines America's civil rights movement. Class members examine key events and participants in the movement and consider how the civil rights movement...

African-American history is an integral part of what America is. Learners examine important events, read informational texts, and create quilts depicting specific eras in African-American history. Each image created for the quilt will be...

For any teacher of American History, The Lewis and Clark Expedition is a watershed event that should be shared with your students. This is a very good lesson on the Expedition, and the events that led up to it; including The Lousisiana...

Here is another in the interesting series of lessons that use the special State Quarters as a learning tool. This one uses the Indiana State Quarter. During this lesson, utilize a brilliantly-designed board game that is embedded in the...

Here's a worksheet to help your class envision the Lewis and Clark expedition. Your young historians read a one-page article on the expedition, use context clues and a dictionary to define eight terms from the article and write a...

Here is a phenomenal lesson on the three branches of government for your second and third-graders. It presents this often-confusing information in an easy-to-understand format. Many excellent activities and worksheets are embedded in the...

Young learners record observations about different coin denominations and create a song about coins to the traditional song, "The Wheels on the Bus." This lesson is based on the Tennessee Quarter Reverse, and has all sorts of excellent...

Students explore the the benefits and problems associated with a barter system in the Colonies and trace its relationship to the development of interdependence that this system creates. An experience of bartering is created in this...

Take a trip to the Grand Canyon! Lesson one explores how Ferde Grofe painted a musical landscape of America when he wrote the Grand Canyon Suite. Learners then examine art that shows the Grand Canyon in lesson two. Finally, lesson three...

Track the ins and outs and wartime strategies used by both the British and the Americans during the Revolutionary War. Multiple comparisons are made between both factions, maps, statistical data, images, and light text is used throughout...

Give class members some great news! A media unit teaches individuals about ethics, parts of a newspaper, business writing, photojournalism, and more topics that have to do with the press. Full of material for a variety of learners,...

Bring A Charlie Brown Christmas to social studies, language arts, math, science, and art class! Learners ponder the meaning of Christmas trees, write about Christmas during the original release of the television special,...

Young historians discover the early people of the western hemisphere. The unit explores how the land changed, how it was used and homes of early Americans such as Incas, Mayans, Inuits, Aztecs, and Pueblos. Individuals also examine these...

Dating in America is the subject of a focused listening exercised that could be used with language learners as well as native English speakers. The richly detailed packet includes a writing assignment, supplemental exercises, vocabulary...

Compare and contrast Frederick Douglass's and the National Women's Suffrage Association's stances on equal rights and suffrage with a series of documents and worksheets. Learners work together or independently to complete the packet, and...

How did the metric system come to be, and why does the US not use it very much? Your class can learn the answers to these questions with the reading passage included here and then respond to the five related questions.

Sharpen those pencils and get to writing with a series of document-based questions about the French and Indian War. High schoolers focus on maps, letters, and other primary documents from the 18th century before answering writing prompts...

How the Kansas-Nebraska Act created Bleeding Kansas is complicated—until scholars research and examine documents from the time. After completing activities that include mapping, photo, document analysis, and discussion, learners...