Choosing sides is no easy matter, and this was certainly true for the citizens of Baltimore in the beginning stages of the Civil War. Using video, group analysis of several primary sources, and discussion, this detailed and thorough...

Can social media bring activists together? Learners gain experience in using online media tools to raise awareness during a hands-on activity from a digital citizenship library. Once they identify a cause, groups create a unified message...

"Everybody does it!" is often the clarion call to justify cyberbullying. Here's a lesson plan that encourages high schoolers to challenge these behaviors. Participants examine images, watch videos, and engage in discussions designed to...

Body language, our perception of others, and how to make a better impression socially are the focus topics for this lesson, which is part of a 23-lesson series on building important life skills. Learners complete a questionnaire on...

Introduce learners to The Silk Road, the first world-wide web. The narrator of this short, animated video traces the pioneers of globalization and the impact they had on culture and economy. The Scythians, Darius the First, and Alexander...

A game of Bingo gets scholars networking. Independently, participants complete the worksheet responding to each applicable prompt. With the group, peers roam the room to network in search of similar answers.

A Networking BINGO game asks participants to find scholars who share a variety of the same interests and characteristics. Categories include everything from shoe size, to biggest fear, to intended college major.

Approach ethical online behavior with a series of activities geared toward teaching pupils about digital citizenship. After a brief discussion about ethics, small groups inspect a fictional social networking profile with ethics in mind....

Do governments have the right to authorize individuals to perform illegal acts during times of war? Did the US government really employ pirates? Use the War of 1812 as your vessel to answering these questions through class discussion and...

The distinction between Shiite and Sunni Muslims is an often misunderstood concept, yet very important for its implications in global affairs and for a more comprehensive understanding of the religion of Islam.

Though it occurred almost 40 years later, could the United States have been fighting for their independence again in the War of 1812? Using appropriate primary source material from each of the two wars, compare and contrast the situation...

What makes an effective fort, and why might a city feel that they need such a structure? Your young historians will explore the purpose and design for Fort McHenry, and build their own models of a fort based on the information they...

Watch as matrices break networks down into rows and columns! Individuals learn how a network can be represented as a matrix. They also identify the notation of matrices.

Conduct a classroom conversation about communication using this resource as a jumping-off point. For this The Learning Network activity, learners read an excerpt from The New York Times opinion piece, "The Flight From Conversation," and...

As scholars take in the constant ambush of current events, help them develop media literacy skills by extracting important details from hard news articles. This story from December 2011 presents information on the Republican primaries...

How do local businesses support their state or regional economy? The New York Times has prepared another great lesson for your class. They begin by listing products grown or manufactured in their state or region then write interview...

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 are the elements of a good social media post? The 13th activity in the 16-part Social Media Toolbox incorporates all of the typical components found in a Facebook or Twitter post. Scholars work together to create great posts based...

"I have here in my hand . . ." The war against Communism and Joseph McCarthy’s place in it are the focus of a series of lessons examining postwar America from 1945-1954. Joseph McCarthy takes center stage in this, the final lesson...

Imagine precisely cutting and then moving a 120 ton boulder more than two miles without mechanical cutting tolls, skid loaders, or hydraulic cranes. Imagine carving a stone figure that includes a drainage system that permits rainwater to...

Ever wonder how the Internet works? The lesson teaches scholars the basics of graph theory and how it applies to the Internet. They perform simulations to see how information is sent on the Internet.

Students examine the trade network in Old Babylonia. They analyze maps, explore various websites, develop a list of goods imported to and exported from Babylonia, and write an essay.

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

Bert the Turtle models for viewers the 1950s Civil Defense Duck and Cover strategy that was supposed to protect citizens from a nuclear blast. After viewing the video, watchers are asked to consider the motivations of the producers of...