President Ronald Reagan's "Tear Down This Wall" speech, delivered on June 12, 1987 before the Berlin Wall, provides class members with an opportunity to examine three key aspects of informational text: author bias, the use of facts and...

The sovereignty of U.S. Native American nations is the focus of a resource that asks class members to compare the Right to Self-Determination in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples with a fact sheet that...

Class members use the Internet to research the history of Thanksgiving in the United States and Canada, as well as the traditions surrounding the Thanksgiving-style celebrations of the Hebrews, the Chinese, and in Ancient Greece and Rome.

Class members choose a current social, political, environmental, or economic problem presented in Tyson Miller's Dream of a Nation: Inspiring Ideas for a Better America, research this problem and a variety of suggested solutions, before...

Should junk food be banned in schools? Should the US open its borders to all immigrants? Should the US impose term limits for the House of Representatives and for the Senate? Using Tyson Miller's Dream of a Nation: Inspiring Ideas...

Need an extra challenge for your best readers? Check out a unit that uses Hannah Webster Foster’s epistolary novel, The Coquette, published in 1797, as the anchor text. The resource is packed with project ideas; each with its...

The Grapes of Wrath. The Jungle. Native Son. The Things They Carried. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian. To address a current social, political, economic, or environmental issue, class groups pair the reading of a...

Rather than waiting for the world to change, encourage your class members to become agents of change with a project that asks groups to select an issue found in Tyson Miller's Dream of a Nation: Inspiring Ideas for a Better America....

After researching an issue introduced in Tyson Miller's Dream of a Nation: Inspiring Ideas for a Better America, writers develop an original thesis statement and craft an analytic essay using evidence collected in their research.

Does the lens of history portray George Washington as a good leader? A three-lesson unit looks at Washington's early military career as the commander of the Virginia Regiment, his role in the fight for independence...

Seward's Folly or brilliant strategic move? Class members investigate primary source documents from each country to determine the rationales behind the sale and purchase of Alaska, and then stage a debate.

As part of a study of the American Presidency, groups investigate five topics: Campaigns and Elections, Role and Responsibilities, Life in the White House, Assassination and Mourning, and Communicating the Presidency.

How did the struggle for Civil Rights during the 1950s transform American society and politics? Why are American schools integrated today? Class members explore these essential questions by examining a series of primary and secondary...

Introduce a study of the presidency of Andrew Jackson with a instructional activity that uses video clips, primary source documents, group activities, and debates to examine Jackson's early life and career. The instructional activity...

As part of a study of the Civil War, class members conduct a WebQuest to create a timeline of battles fought by the 10th Alabama Infantry Regimen. They then use Google Earth to pinpoint these battles of the Civil War on a map of Alabama.

The post-Civil War convict leasing program, rarely covered in textbooks, is the focus of a instructional activity that asks class members to use information drawn from primary source documents to assess the program. While the focus is on...

To better understand the Indian Removal Act of 1830, class members examine primary source documents including letters written by Alabama governors and the Cherokee chiefs. The lesson is part of a unit on the expansion of the United...

From December 20, 1860 to June 8, 1861, eleven states seceded from the Union. Alabama seceded on January 11, 1861. Why did so many white Alabamians want to secede? Why did they believe the South could win the war? These are the essential...

"We, the People of the State of Alabama. . ." Did you know that the Alabama State Constitution has 357,157 words while the US Constitution has only 4,400? And that it has 798 amendments while the US Constitution has...

Did you know that prior to the American Revolution, Alabama was a part of the British empire and called New West Florida? Class members research the economic, political, and social realities of this territory and compare...

POW camps in the United states? In Alabama? The German POW camp in Aliceville, Alabama is used as the focus of a study of the more than 700 camps built in the US during World War II.

The assassination of Medgar Evers. The integration of the University of Alabama. The March on Washington. The "I Have a Dream" speech. Created by the Alabama History Education Initiative, this resource examines how the events...

Tired of 20-somethings portraying high school students? Tired of athletes and principals always being the villains? Class members examine the student and teacher stereotypes presented TV shows and films that are et in schools. 

Critically analyze advertising techniques, such as circular reasoning, bandwagon, testimonial, and repetition, with worksheets that effectively discuss and illustrate how the media aims to influence.