Hold a Town Meeting

Explore the importance of rules in a community with the engaging first lesson of this series on the US government. To begin, children play a paper clip game that requires them to make up their own rules as they go, after which the...

Elementary and middle schoolers research a current event using various resources. They participate in a class discussion to evaluate the information they gathered on a particular event. Additionally, they discuss the concepts of common...

Urban communities are the focus of a series of lessons created to meet specific needs using differentiated instruction. A pre-assessment designates scholars into three groups based on their ability level. Small groups take part in...

Introduce young historians to the US Constitution with this upper-elementary social studies lesson plan. Beginning with a general discussion about the role of government in society, students go on to work in small...

What can a quarter possibly teach young learners about desert ecosystems? More than you might think. After displaying and discussing the included picture of the Arizona state quarter, the class participates in a series of...

Students discover civic responsibility and the purpose of town meetings.  In this U.S. Government activity, students investigate how the government is involved with almost every decision made in a city, no matter how big or small....

After completing an online activity about the Mayflower, scholars draw a picture about what they know of the Thanksgiving holiday, including a one-sentence summary. A reading of If You Were at the First Thanksgiving by Anne Kamma is...

Invite your class on a ride through the American Revolution. Young historians travel through time as they explore the events that led to the foundation of the United States of America. Over the course of eight lessons, this unit...

Scholars discuss the concept of a barrier with a short passage on Jackie Robinson. The writing process begins with a paragraph and several other sentences about Robinson's unique traits that made breaking a barrier...

A lesson challenges scholars to analyze editorial cartoons created by Fred Seibel, illustrator for the Times-Dispatch, during the Massive Resistance. A class discussion looking at today's editorial pages and Jim Crow Laws leads the...