Students consider how the attributes of heroes have evolved. In this character traits instructional activity, students define heroism in their culture and research the epic heroes of literature. Students select heroes to write about and...

Students define words associated with stereotypes. They identify the difference between stereotype, prejudice and discrimination and give examples of each. They discover their own personal biases.

Students explore Irish-American culture. In this immigration lesson, students watch video segments regarding immigration in the 1840's and 1850's. Students discuss the discrimination Irish-Americans faced as they listen to songs and...

Middle schoolers practice evaluating art by creating a research project and presentation. They use the Internet and library to discover a piece of art or artist whom they feel has an impact on the world of art. Next, they create a...

Encourage the poetic genius in your young creative writers with a poetry workshop. Fix form poems (cinquains acrostic poems, octopoems, hello/goodbye poems) provide a framework and encourage vocabulary development as well as an awareness...

Accompany the African folktale, Anansi the Spider, with a collection of five lessons, each equipped with supplemental activities. Lessons offer multidisciplinary reinforcement in English language arts, social studies, science,...

Scholars discover the contributions Native Americans have given the world. Pupils examine materials and discuss their importance, including American Sign Language. A worksheet carefully organizes examples; groups jigsaw a reading...

For many people, Barack Obama's presidency was the next step in Martin Luther King, Jr's dream of America's future. Explore the dreams of Americans past and present, as well as the young Americans in your class, with a set of activities...

Colleges and universities attract a diverse group of pupils, and sometimes that includes teaching assistants (TA) from other countries. Using a handout on working with international TAs, scholars find tips to use when listening and...

Coming up on the Olympics? Be sure your middle schoolers understand the dynamic and ancient history of this global tradition. They begin by recalling traditions parents have passed down, considering their relevance and ways they might be...

Where did the Olympic Summer Games originate? The class takes a look at ancient origins of modern Olympic games. They research the Olympics and write a compare and contrast essay that describes how the Olympic Games have changed since...

Study allusions with a research and presentation project. Pupils are assigned a specific allusion, the phoenix for example. They research the origins, compose a summary, explain the concept, and explore this allusion within various...

Students review family vocabulary and relations with the Bienvenidos CDs. They watch, listen to, participate in, answer questions, and compose letters during the activity. Finally, they apply cultural differences to their own situations.

Young scholars learn folk tales from many different cultures and retell them using the medium of their choice. They write about the cultural indications found in these tales.

Students role play the characters and events which led to the holiday of Cinco de Mayo. For this Cinco de Mayo lesson, students dance the "La Raspa" dance. Students complete a Cinco de Mayo word search.

Seventh graders explore The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus. In this The New Colossus instructional activity, 7th graders read the poem and analyze its meaning. Students discuss what the poem means about American culture and why it was...

Students read the story "Sharing in Africa". As a class, they brainstorm a list of holidays and celebrations in various cultures and identify the Congo on a world map. To end the lesson, they focus on one paragraph of the story,...

Students view and discuss visual symbols around them every day, analyze symbols on United States one dollar bill, explore variety of meanings of same symbols depending on context and culture, and create their own money with symbols that...

Students select books to read that include disease as a plot or theme component. They fill out a matrix for the disease in their novel and write a five-paragraph paper about their book. Students use the rest of the week's classes to...

Students discover foods associated through different cultures and how they came about.  In this food culture lesson, students investigate the different influences on the diets of different people based on their heritage....

Twelfth graders discuss where they regard the boundaries of Europe to be. They raise their awareness that "Europe" may be more of a cultural construct than geographical defined continent.

Students investigate the African language of Swahili by translating vocabulary words.  In this foreign language lesson, students write 26 English words that define Africa and utilize the Internet to translate them into Swahili....

Middle schoolers identify inferred and recurring literary, cultural and social themes such as bravery, loyalty, friendship and the notion of good vs. evil.