Prepare your seventh through ninth graders for their first Shakespearean experience. This slide show provides a series of vocabulary words in context and a brief history of one of the world's most prolific playwrites, William...

Just like a painting or the symbols on a flag, quilts can express ideas that reflect a cultural context, space, and time. The class discusses the history of quilt making throughout US history and what different types of quilts mean. They...

Students, who are adult learners, participate in an Internet scavenger hunt in order to assimilate information about the biography of Alexander Hamilton and the Federalist Papers. They look at the Federalist and Anti-Federalist Papers...

Not all heroes wear capes. An impactful lesson plan 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...

The Space Race saw the Soviet Union and the US go from competitors to partners. Scholars read a letter regarding the first docking of the US and Soviet space craft. Young historians also complete a written assignment and participate in...

Fourth graders analyze the song "Home on the Range" and identify its meaning and setting.  In this timeline and retelling lesson, 4th graders use dictionaries to find definitions of unfamiliar words, create a timeline and retell the...

Tenth graders examine the invention of the Gutenberg printing press and its effect on society. In groups, they research how much the press enabled various revolutions around the globe. They also identify the causes and effects of each...

Students explore how artifacts vary at different times and in different places. They examine gravestones, observe both the individual markers and the larger context or setting of the graves.

Though the murder of Emmett Till shocked 1950's America into turning attention to the racial crimes of the South, it was far from the first time racism had erupted into violence. High schoolers examine the killing in context with the...

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...

When in the course of a course on historic American events, it becomes necessary for learners to examine, with decent respect, the Declaration of Independence, it becomes evident that there are six separate and equal parts of that...

Students examine the historical, social, cultural and economic context of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's story, The Yellow Wallpaper. Students determine the place of the middle class woman and her role in society.

Students gain a fundamental understanding of the role of jazz in the Harlem Renaissance. They explain its historical significance and cultural implications.

Lead discussion and thoughtful analysis as pupils view Rabbit Proof Fence, a drama based on true story about three aboriginal girls who ran away from Western Australia to return to their Aboriginal families in 1931. Here you'll...

Students learn the historical context of mask-making explore the elements of the art form.

During or after reading Catch-22, have your high school scholars complete this research project. First they'll brainstorm a list of people they might like to research, then they'll dive into your library's resources! There are...

Learners read and analyze William Faulkner's novel, 'As I Lay Dying.' They define Faulkner's place in American literary history, describe Faulkner's "South" in the context of the historical South and examine the Bundren family through...

Second graders take a field trip to a nearby church or other historical building and examine it from a mathematical perspective. In groups, they calculate the seating capacity, describe the window patterns, differentiate types of...

Compare and contrast the distinctive characteristics of art forms from various cultural, historical, and social contexts, and describe how the same subject matter is represented differently in works of art across cultures and time...

Provide your class with an opportunity to investigate an important historical document. Without identifying the document, distribute copies of the original Bill of Rights, as transcribed by John Beckley, Clerk of the House of...

Provide your class with a context and series of events that has led to the conflict in the Middle East. They read 4 separate passages and answer 1 critical thinking question for each. Four more questions are posed at the bottom of the...

Explore Cuba and its fight for independence through José Martí's poems "Dos patrias" and "Yo soy un hombre sincero." Identify common themes and touch on various concepts (a list is provided here). Resources and...

Youngsters examine selected amendments to the Constitution to determine how voting requirements in the US have changed from the colonial days to the present.

How did Theodore Roosevelt stress the importance of conservation during his time as president of the United States? Take a closer look at the language Roosevelt used himself in a 1907 address to Congress, and have your young...