Here's a poster that highlights the skills needed for the close reading of primary source documents when gathering evidence to support historical claims.

Introduce your high schoolers to one of the most important pieces of American literature with a reading comprehension lesson. As class members read a short passage from Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, they learn...

Traditions surrounding the celebration of the Chinese New Year are the focus of a reading comprehension worksheet designed for intermediate level language learners.

If you teach health, sociology, ethics, or a class that addresses controversial issues, this resource related to schools' sex education programs may be useful. The New York Times' Learning Network provides a lengthy article on a unique...

Even lawyers can find the US Constitution to be very wordy! Help learners create a foundation for understanding the Constitution with several analysis essays. Multiple activities complement the reading and allow for active and meaningful...

Middle schoolers can analyze primary source documents to answer the question, "Why did the Aztec and Inca civilizations disappear?" They will read the provided excerpts then answer 11 different questions to uncover the ultimate answer.

Everyone living in the United States today is a descendant from an immigrant—even Native Americans. Learn about the tumultuous history of American immigration with a reading passage that discusses the ancient migration over the Bering...

Why do people create governments? Where did we get our ideas about government? This is a fantastic introductory lesson for your American government class that begins by reviewing the philosophies of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke in...

Why study landmark Supreme court cases? A helpful lesson offers a brief but valuable argument for the importance of these cases in the field of criminology. It introduces scholars to some key terms necessary for studying court cases and...

Combining a close reading of a classic American text with the study of history can be a very powerful strategy, and this is most certainly the case with this resource using Edward Everett Hale's The Man without a Country. Consider themes...

Don't limit your curriculum to texts! Young historians listen to a song, read an interview, and examine a cartoon as they explore motivations for immigrating to the US in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. 

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.

Encourage reading for information with a text about United States geography. Kids read a short passage about the landforms in the United States, including mountain ranges and natural resources, and answer five reading comprehension...

A newspaper receives documents that reveal not only a devastating secret the public needs to know, but also troop movements that could put American lives at risk: to publish or not to publish? Using background readings, discussion...

An online interactive activity asks learners to analyze a group of documents related to the women's suffrage movement and then place the documents on a timeline. The results assess users understanding of the progression of the women's...

A 48-page Student Reader focuses on the Civil War. Scholars gain information from a text that explores when, why, and where the Civil War occurred, as well as important people such as Harriet Beecher Stowe, Harriet Tubman, Abraham...

To understand why the topic of reparations is controversial, young scholars gather background information by reading articles, watching videos, and examining cases where reparations were made. Learners consider the lasting repercussions...

Young historians examine the work of Martin Luther King Jr. by reading and answering questions about the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Albany Movement, the Birmingham and Chicago campaigns, and the Memphis Sanitation Worker's Strike....

Learners participate in a variety of emergent and early-literacy activities based on a "friendship" theme. Learners listen to the book Do You Want to Be My Friend by Eric Carle, then echo read, choral read, and independently read...

Why would someone want to leave home? The age-old question is at the center of a thought-provoking activity. Scholars consider why humans move around the world both during pre-historical times and today using a PowerPoint, reading on...

Why do markets operate inefficiently when the world's resources are so limited? Review the various types of unemployment that exist and why some resources, especially human resources, go unused.

Who was Zheng He and why haven't we heard of him? Scholars consider the question as they compare his vast expeditionary force to that of Christopher Columbus. Young historians then ponder the intersection of science, economics, and...

What's the difference between hibernation and a good nap? Find out with an engaging life science activity that compares the hibernation habits of grizzly bears and marmots. After learners read an informational passage about each mammal,...

Here is a great secondary source reading that includes the primary ideas and philosophies of the famed Enlightenment philosophers: Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Charles Montesquieu, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. In additional to discussing...