You arrive at school only to be told you have no place there. Scholars research the Supreme Court cases Mendez v. Westminster and Delgado v. Bastrop ISD, both dealing with school segregation. Two short video clips as well as small group...

You walk each day over 20 blocks to school as a 9-year old because the color of your skin does not allow you to attend a school in your own neighborhood. Scholars use the 1954 Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education to investigate...

Do you have a search warrant? Scholars investigate the concept of illegal search and seizure through the eyes of the Supreme Court case Mapp v. Ohio. A short video clip along with paired group work opens discussion on the concept of how...

Governments rely on propaganda to build support for wars. Class members examine six propaganda posters, two each from the Spanish-American War, World War I, and World War II, and analyze how the way women were portrayed in the posters...

What makes an effective team? Scholars explore the question with fun teambuilding activities. Additionally, they learn about the common characteristics of effective teams. Pupils also participate in a think-pair-share to understand the...

It's all about location, location, location. Small groups work to find the best spot for a rec center to serve three different communities. Learners construct the inscribed and circumscribed circles of a triangle to find the best place....

Pairs or small groups work together to determine the height of a tree using similar triangles. Learners make a judgement which direction to let a tree fall to avoid hitting any structures. They then write letters to the principal...

Find the height from afar. Teams role play as summer interns to find the height of a set of windows from the outside. Scholars must first determine how to find the height with the available tools. After determining a strategy involving...

One person, one voice ... right? Using a simulation where uneven groups are given the same voice, scholars discover why fair apportionment based on an accurate census is important. Once finished, they use actual data to consider what...

Discover what's behind an online search. Scholars read a handout and engage in discussions to learn how to critically evaluate online search results. Then, working in small groups, they create posters listing their demands for search...

Girls like pink and boys like blue. Working in small groups, learners discuss stereotypes about children in advertisements. Then, scholars create their own manifestos about how they plan to respond to the consumer market they see in...

Say no to hate speech! Pupils discover the importance of practicing empathy and inclusivity in digital communities and discuss strategies for responding to online hate speech. Then, small groups develop and present class guidelines for...

Don't feed the Internet trolls! Using a thought-provoking resource, pupils brainstorm a whole-class list of the possible kinds of bias young people may experience online. Next, in small groups, scholars create posters illustrating how to...

It's all connected. Scholars use pages 24-26 of The Most Beautiful Roof in the World to identify the relationship between the plants and animals in the rainforest. They answer and discuss questions about the relationship with a...

Did you the message? Scholars listen to a read aloud of The Wings of the Butterfly to summarize and determine the message of the text. They discuss the folktale and vocabulary in groups, then use a double bubble map to compare the story...

Lights, camera, action. Scholars use page 33 of The Most Beautiful Roof in the World to create a readers theater. They work in triads and use sticky notes to mark and create their own speaking parts from sections of the text. They...

Can I ask you something? Scholars read about the night walk on pages 37-39 of The Most Beautiful Roof in the World. After discussing the text with their group, they work together to create interview questions they would ask Meg...

Not all heroes wear capes. An impactful lesson focuses on the life and activism of Fannie Lou Hamer during the civil rights movement. Scholars read her speeches and other material, participate in group discussion, and complete a jigsaw...

Here's a new twist in the egg drop competition. Using only six inches of tape, four straws, and 2 pieces of newspaper, teams build a structure that keeps an egg from breaking when dropped. What's different about this project is that the...

Employability skills are difficult to measure but are essential in the workplace. Introduce high schoolers to employability skills with the Human Knot activity. Groups of six grab hands to form a human knot and untangle themselves. The...

The Resolving Conflicts module begins with a lesson about tolerance and learning to appreciate differences among people. Through a series of activities and games, middle schoolers learn that conflicts arise when people have opposing...

A "Fist to Five" routine asks participants to indicate how they feel about an opening question, like how ready they are to start learning, how well they understand instructions, etc. Groups then suggest strategies to get learners ready...

In the post-pandemic classroom, it's more important than ever to begin the school year by building a strong sense of trust and community. Using the Make Meaning and Big Paper teaching techniques, groups develop a definition of community...

Should the student population wear uniforms to school? Pupils express whether they strongly agree, agree, disagree, or strongly disagree with a controversial statement, moving to a designated corner of the room to indicate their stance....