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Must Be Something in the Water
Young scholars research water pollution and create a class guide to raise the public's awareness about this issue. They write papers analyzing the effectiveness of the guide after it is read by members of the community.
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Me: A Visual Essay
Students familiarize themselves with photo editing and montage techniques. They create a montage that tells the viewer about themselves.
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Write a Song About American History
Students explore the historic background of the song, The Battle of New Orleans. Working in pairs, students research other historic events and write their own songs based on them.
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Dedication to Douglass
Students study the controversy surrounding the proposed Frederick Douglass Circle monument in Central Park. They review the notion of historical inaccuracy by reading and discussing the article, "In Douglass Tribute, Slave Folklore and...
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Home Cooking
Students explore the link between home and food in a writing exercise. They study and discuss how some Hispanic immigrants keep in touch with their culinary origins. They develop a recipe that represents their ethnic origin. They...
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Mending the Rift
Learners determine what factors identify a country's political borders. After reading an article, they investigate questions surrounding the Great Rift Valley. On a map, they trace the valley from Asia through Africa and research the...
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Nature in a Flick of the Eye
Students explore the visual information a diorama artist provides by thinking of all the details for the background of a location described by their teacher. They investigate diorama artists and their importance in creating the illusion...
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Seeking Refuge, in Words And Pictures
Young scholars explore first-hand accounts and pictures of refugees, focusing initially on child refugees in Chechnya. They then create collages that describe, through words and images, the experience of refugees in countries at war.
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New York City: Passionate About Shakespeare
Students explore Shakespeare as part of American culture. In this Shakespearean culture lesson, students view video clips about modern theater. Students read excerpts from Shakespearean plays and other commentaries.
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Poetry - Landscape, Comparison, and Critical Response
Students compare and evaluate landscape poetry. In this poetry lesson, students read poetry by Owen Sheers that describes place/landscapes. They read and compare two similar poems before looking at visual images related to the poems....
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How Poets Evoke Social and Historical Representations
High schoolers explore how poems represent the social, historical, and cultural times that they were written in. In this poetry lesson plan, students compare and contrast poems with music of the time and explore implications of writing...
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Write Like an Egyptian
Students study the discovery and import of the Scorpion Tableau. They research other examples of ancient writing systems and synthesize their knowledge of them by designing new writing systems based on these early models.
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Separation Anxiety
Students examine the instances in history in which groups of people were segregated by race or ethnicity. After reading an article, they discover how apartheid impacted people's attempt to an education. Using the internet, they research...
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The Powers That Be
Students investigate past energy legislation, then write letters to Congress from the perspective of citizens trying to influence the original passage of these bills. Each small group does their research using a website imbedded in this...
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Pressing Cases
Students investigate famous criminal cases in which the media has played a significant role and reflect on how the news helps to shape attitudes and behaviors in their own lives.
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Angling for a Story
Young scholars explore different news angles relating to a local sporting event, then create a detailed treatment of the story prior to reporting it.
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The Persuasive Art of Portraiture
Young scholars first explore the power of the visual image to convey a message by examining the portrait of George Washington on American dollar bills. They next use, 'Prolific Chinese Painter Is Anonymous No More,' to explore a famous...
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American Media: Addicted to Scandal?
Students examine media coverage of George W. Bush's refusal to answer questions regarding past illegal drug usage in the 1999 campaign. They consider the role of rumor, scandal, audience and relevance in political media coverage.
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Take Me Back to the Ball Game!
Students examine the role of sports in American society, analyzing both positive outcomes and its exclusive nature. They reflect on how the lessons that they participate in as students may carry with them into their adult lives.
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Comic Renditions
Students explore the intersection between popular and high art by recreating comic strips in various artistic styles and then famous works of art as comics. Through this exploration, students come to conclusions about what art is and...
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Riot, Revolution and Reform
Learners examine the student protests and subsequent massacre at Tiananmen Square in 1989 and the current petition by victims' family members to open a criminal investigation of the responsible officials.
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Bringing Peace to the Balkans, Piece by Piece
Students examine how the bond of traditions became the binding force of nationalism for which the Serbian forces now fight at the cost of the lives and livelihoods of ethnic Albanians. explore human rights issues surrounding the conflict...
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Notable "Quotables"
Students select their own Quotes of the Day from articles of their choosing for analysis on a Quote of the Day poster for the classroom.
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A Work Of Faith
Students study about different types of religious art; they then select representative works from different faiths to create their own exhibit. They research a specific religious art tradition and create an exhibit of works of art from...