Do you need to learn about someone's past before you can understand that person's behavior? Use an anticipation guide to think about the literary themes of Jane Yolen's The Devil's Arithmetic before you begin the novel.

Is it really that big of a deal if the global climate undergoes a little change? Young environmentalists consider this very question as they discuss in small groups the impact of different climate change scenarios on their lives,...

What makes an event newsworthy, worth a reference in a news magazine or textbook? Who decides? These are questions Marilyn Nelson asks readers of her poem "Making History" to consider. To begin, class members list details they notice in...

To prepare for a sensory walk outside, the whole class engages in a discussion of the five senses, kids close their eyes, and share what they sense. Groups then follow a guide, tour an area, and share what they experience...

Who was Bayard Rustin? Pupils analyze a series of primary source documents to learn about this important figure in the civil rights movement. The lesson contains a short film to watch along with guiding questions and other resources...

Using the resource, scholars work in small groups to rehearse a selected scene from Shakespeare's Macbeth. Finally, they present their interpretive dramatic readings to a group of peers or the whole class and complete a self-assessment...

Using the list of expressionist techniques generated in the first lesson, groups analyze how Williams uses these techniques to develop one of the play's themes. The whole class then shares and discusses the examples they found where...

In Audre Lorde's poem "From the House of Yemanjá," the speaker describes her mother's two faces, adding a whole new meaning to the phrase "two-faced." Pupils first read the final stanza of the contemporary poem. With a Quick Write, they...

Take a second look. Scholars examine the chapter "Of Our Spiritual Strivings" as a whole and once again work in groups to discuss Du Bois's use of figurative language. They also complete the Mid-Unit Assessment Evidence Collection Tool...

A lesson about the Manhattan Project will explode young physicists' understanding of the racial attitudes in the United States during and after World war II. Groups select an African American scientist or technician that worked on the...

Guided by close-reading questions, groups examine the similarities and differences between the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. In addition, they look at how the principles are presented in these two foundational US...

Expose young readers to a new genre of fiction with a short reading passage. After learning about fables, children identify the main idea and supporting details in preparation for writing a short summary. Read the text as a class,...

Second graders, while in the computer lab, explore the strategy of making and grouping to ten. They assess how to trade pennies for dimes and create original word problems along with corresponding number sentences to illustrate grouping...

Through a variety of physical and theoretical situations, learners are led through the development of some of the deepest concepts in high school mathematics. Complex numbers, the fundamental theorem of algebra and rational exponents...

Combat hate online by bringing it into the light. Begin by giving learners a quiz, then lead a discussion based on the issues the quiz brought up. As a class, develop strategies to confront online hate. Assign different venues to groups...

Explore gender stereotypes by analyzing how male and female characters are depicted in comic books. Using the provided Comic Book Analysis sheet, young scholars record the attributes of male and female comic book characters. Then the...

Why did the Articles of Confederation fail? Your historians will find out firsthand through this simulation activity, during which they will use money (consider using extra credit) to demonstrate the inherent flaws. It's simple: each...

Students discuss the government as a whole and then each amendment is examined. They complete a Bill of Rights test in groups or on their own. Answers are gone over in class and discussion is encouraged.

Accuracy, transparency, trustworthiness, and impartiality are four unspoken rules of journalism. Scholars delve deep into the subject by discussing the pros and cons of relying on social media for news. They also play an online game to...

A unit by Core Knowledge begins with information about early United States presidents. Pupils then explore social reformers such as Sojourner Truth and Frederick Douglas, abolitionism, women's rights, and more. Participants listen and...

Explore the Bill of Rights in-depth with this resource packet that includes the complete text of the document, scenarios and discussion questions for each amendment, role-playing activities, exercises, questions for a Socratic seminar, a...

Learners design a unique basket plaque incorporating at least one symbol from their chosen tribe. They also identify, share, and give rationales for the symbols in basket plaques. Whole class discussion jig-saws their discoveries.

High schoolers engage in research, small-group discussions, whole class discussions, family interviews, and interaction with multimedia resource material as they explore the relationship between memory and history.

Students look at how time, talent, and treasure are parts of stewardship and philanthropy. In this stewardship and philanthropy lesson, students complete a Time/Talent/Treasure Survey before discussing the answers in a whole group...