Class members investigate The Indian Removal Act of 1830, U.S. Theft of Mexican Territory Timeline, and President Abraham Lincoln’s letter to Horace Greeley, 1862, and then conduct a mock trial of each of these documents to determine...

Students explain the history of the Social Security Act and the FICA tax. They describe what Social Security is and whom it is intended to help. They explain the purpose of the FICA tax.

Identify various methods of assessment utilized in social studies classrooms. You will design non-traditional assessments for use in elementary-level social studies classrooms and discuss what assessment methods may be most appropriate...

Class members investigate the Jim Crow Laws, Executive Order 9066, the Chinese Exclusion Act, and the Indian Removal Act to gather information about not only the challenges encountered by diverse groups of Americans, but their...

Combat hate online by bringing it into the light. Begin by giving learners a quiz, then lead a discussion based on the issues the quiz brought up. As a class, develop strategies to confront online hate. Assign different venues to groups...

Many teenagers dream of growing up to work in health and safety fields; give them some real-world insight using this research lesson. Although there are just the basics here, you can easily use them as an outline for an engaging career...

Developmentally disabled students participate in the creation of their own social stories. They select a topic for their social story and work with the teacher to write a social story or create a video social story presentation.

Focus on a particular geographic location with this resource. Learners use their social studies textbook to look up information about a specific place. They write down a list of facts and read them to the class. Classmates guess which...

Middle schoolers aren't too young to feel strongly about politics, social issues, consumer rights, or environmental problems. Demonstrate the first steps toward social change with a project about action-oriented writing. Eighth...

Slavery in India, Sudan, and Mauritania? What about in the United States? Groups research modern slavery in these four countries, collecting factual evidence (What), determine their feelings about this evidence (So what),...

Tim Tyson's Blood Done Sign My Name is the anchor text in a unit study of the history of race relations and the civil rights struggle in the South. The 11 lessons are richly detailed, and the unit deserves a space in your curriculum...

Where have all the activists gone? Class members compare 21st-century activism with the suffrage movement and the work of Susan B. Anthony. They begin by examining Anthony's biography and speeches to find evidence that her words and...

Students research human rights problems in their community. They analyze and report on data gathered, and develop an action plan to address problems related to social and economic rights.

Students gather information about social issues, and use the information to form opinions and suggest solutions. Students develop an educational campaign related to an issue on which they choose to focus.

Different varieties of Christmas trees provide an interesting way to combine social studies, science, math, and technology. Class members not only research the history of the Christmas tree holiday tradition, they compare and...

U.S. immigration is the focus of a unit on social justice. Over the course of a school year, young historians read a variety of texts to learn about four waves of immigration that have occurred over time in the U.S. An emphasis on...

Baseball is a relatively high-interest topic through which social studies classes can explore racial prejudice in the US. Video clips provide much of the background information that groups record on their handout and then share with the...

Have you special education class examine multiculturalism. By exploring the cultures of Israel and Greece, they discover the holidays, cuisine, arts, andgeography of the countries. During this twelve-week unit, students develop a...

Social media and United States history combine as your young historians design a Facebook page for two major defendants of landmark Supreme Court cases. The resource includes a detailed rubric for research and page design, as well as a...

Students explore the work of social entrepreneurs. In this entrepreneurship lesson, students research a specific entrepreneur and create a presentation introducing him or her to the class. Students design a seminar on social...

Students graph results of a survey about attitudes and tolerance in their school. They discuss the social climate of their school. Students complete a questionnaire, and tabulate the raw data from their class. They create a bar graph...

Students compare and contrast African-American, Asian-American, Chicano and Native-American movements with the civil rights movement and are exposed to the sociopolitical and economic factors involved in the rise of social movements.

State reports can be a lot of fun, especially when the learners get to choose the state they study. This research and writing-focused social studies lesson engages learners in collecting information, essay structure, research, and...

Eighth graders consider cross-curricular connections between social studies, singing, and current events. They listen to the song, "I Can't Cry Hard Enough." view scenes from September 11, then create presentations using images, a...