Excerpts from John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath and from John Fante's Ask the Dust, as well as a variety of primary source documents provide the background for an examination of the migrant experience from 1920-1945.

Class members adopt the persona of real figures in American history, Patriots and Loyalists, research these individuals to determine their stance, and then debate the question of whether or not to declare independence from...

Writers light up their manuscripts by embellishing the first letter in their text. The two-page assignment sheet includes colorful samples from twelfth and thirteenth century texts.

Imagine a project that informs and entertains. Replace book reports with a bulletin board that highlights all the important elements of a novel. Readers research the author, create a timeline of events in the story, write a...

Listen to the sound of children's fingers flying across their keyboards as they perform these fun typing lessons. From creating alphabet books and multimedia presentations to researching presidents and writing class...

Your learners will take a trip through history as they peruse through historic digitalized newspapers, reading real articles from such historical periods in the United States as the Temperance movement...

A brief letter can speak volumes. Your young historians will analyze a letter written by Abraham Lincoln to General Sherman, and discover the significance of the capture of Savannah, as well as gain insight into Lincoln's role as...

Your young learners will keep track of fifteen Greek gods and goddesses, such as Aphrodite, Poseidon, and Zeus, by creating notecards listing each of their names, titles, and symbols. 

Young geographers choose a country to research and design a book explaining how their country applies to the five themes of geography, including three facts or details for each of the themes.

Here is a simple assignment that will introduce your young geographers to location, one of the five themes of geography, through an activity in which they map the directions and lines of latitude/longitude of where they live. 

Here is an activity instructional activity that will prompt your young geographers to choose a country anywhere in the world to research and study, and to then apply it to the five themes of geography.

Do the ends justify the means? Getting a drug approved in the US is a long and involved process. But at some point out, it involves testing on humans. The ethics of such testing is the focus of a resource that uses Dr. Albert...

Taking on the roles of a fiery Boston patriot, a Philadelphia merchant's wife, and a prominent abolitionist, your young historians will consider the reactions of these early Americans to the creation of the Declaration of...

Young scientists explore the animal kingdom from the safety of the classroom with this short research project. After first choosing an animal, children use the Internet to discover where it lives, what it eats, and how it...

One of the best ways to make history relevant and engaging is to analyze current events before they become history! Check out these project guidelines for a current event research paper, outlining the major required sections of...

To celebrate Texas, groups plan and create a commemorative map for a topic or theme in Texas history. The richly detailed plan and the approach could easily be adapted to any state. Samples are included.

The battle at the Alamo may be one of the most famous military campaigns in Texas history, but it is by no means the only one. As part of their study of the military history of Texas, class members research less-well-known sites, locate...

Introduce your upper-elementary learners to printmaking. Class members view prints, select and research symbols in a piece, and create their own sets of prints using styrofoam trays. Pupils can wash off the paint on their trays to make...

Designing a travel brochure is a classic project that will help your class members develop a variety of skills, such as researching informational texts, designing creative visual products, and communicating what you have learned.

Give your young learners the chance to discover more about countries in their world community with a research project. Class members write reports on an assigned country and include such major features as geography, important historical...

Individuals or groups select an environmental issue, then spend time researching and creating a presentation to share in class. By allowing learners to choose the issue that matters most to them, you will motivate them to do...

In a perfect marriage of social studies and science, groups work together to research and create a travel guide presentation to share with the class. Not only do kids learn about the climate and geography of a biome, but also the...

Where does our garbage go? What is the difference between a recyclable and non-recyclable item? Pose these important, but often overlooked, questions to your class and invite them to consider the lasting and damaging effects of the...

Most of your learners have probably heard of Martin Luther King, Jr., or Cesar Chavez, but could they also recognize the names of Betty Friedan or Dolores Huerta? Give your learners the opportunity to discover the many accomplishments of...