Sexual harassment and sexual violence are by no means new issues. What has changed is the role of social media in these issues. This powerful and troubling lesson uses a specific rape case to launch research into a discussion of the...

Explore the history of immigration through photographs. Scholars will view and discuss photographs depicting the culture and lifestyle of late 19th and early 20th century immigrants. They take pictures of current examples of culture in...

Students read, discuss and analyze the New York Times article "In Wartime, Who Has the Power?" and relate the article to the Constitution. They then brainstorm how the president and Congress make decisions about the war in Iraq and write...

Students examine fundamentals of American criminal justice by analyzing each step of the criminal process. They follow the process of a well-known or publicized criminal case in The New York Times, and keep a journal of its newspaper...

Students discuss the influence of foreign languages in their everyday speech after reading an article from The New York Times on language legislation in Brazil. Students are divided into 4 groups in order to research languages spoken...

The Declaration of Independence was published in 1776. The Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions, modeled after the Declaration of Independence, was drafted and read by Elizabeth Cady Stanton at the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848....

What is the "Faurisson Affair”? What is “Holocaust Revisionism”? What does freedom of speech entail? Do revisionists have a right to voice their ideas? Such questions are at the heart of a richly detailed, thought provoking activity...

Lead your class in a discussion about how they believe money influences politics. After reading "Go Ahead, Try to Stop K Street" from the New York Times, they evaluate the claims in the article about the current lobbyist scandal in...

Four activities demonstrate the chain reaction of nuclear fission to your physical science fans: falling dominoes, snapping mouse traps, throwing paper wads, and igniting a series of matches. They perform additional...

Engage young biologists with four laboratory activities that explore the fossil record. Learners examine fossil images, a fossil kit, the rock record, and geologic time scale. They even experiment with the oxygen production of an Elodea...

What a terrific instructional activity! Have your class learn about immigration using this resource. Fourth graders discuss the Great Migration in Ohio through art, writing, and discussion. Afterward, they create a presentation in which...

It's the classic scene: Tom Sawyer is whitewashing a fence. Expose your learners to Mark Twain's humor while reinforcing reading comprehension. Eighth graders are encouraged to read and reread, achieving as much exposure to the text...

Is, as Walt Whitman contends, America’s “almost maniacal appetite for wealth,” the heart of the American dream? Class members grapple with this question as they read David Brooks’ article “The Commercial Republic,” and quotes that...

What does the French and Indian War have to do with the American Revolution? Following the war, Britain issued the Proclamation of 1763 in an attempt to limit the colonists' western expansion. To understand how the proclamation, the...

“We the people . . .” Thus begins the Preamble to the Constitution. Using a close reading approach, class members examine an excerpt from Linda Monk’s article that traces how the interpretation of these words has evolved. Some of your...

Students engage in a lesson that is concerned with the concept of the Soviet Union and compared to the new Democratic Russia. They conduct research using a variety of resources. The information is used in order to create a class project.

What type of reptiles live in New York State? This lesson gets the class thinking about what factors determine where particular animals live. They analyze the Hudson Valley environment, identify specific reptile and amphibian...

Students study New York in three time periods, 1890-1930, 1930's, and 1950's-60's. They discuss themes that are important in each time block. They describe a brief historical picture of each time period before they approach works of...

Students practice locating tourist attractions in New York City, and ask for location and directions in their own hometown.

Fourth graders read A Cricket in Times Square and examine the essence of living in New York City. They examine subway maps and other resources concerning NYC and then complete several writing activities about the city. They also create...

Get a global perspective and examine the challenges facing Mahmoud Abbas, the newly elected president of the Palestinian Authority. Thoughtful classroom citizens write letters to Mr. Abbas, asking him questions and suggesting advice....

One picture but a thousand stories. As a part of a case study of how the death of Michael Brown was reported by professional news sources and on social media class members examine the reactions of various groups to a photograph taken by...

The Mexican-American war marked a significant moment in United States history, as well as in the history of American media. The mid-nineteenth century saw the introduction of the Penny Press, which provided many American citizens with...

Gear up for Halloween by studying the horror genre with your class and analyzing films and texts to uncover the genre's traditional conventions.