Students explore poetry through jazz, rap, and hip hop music. They discover the common threads that run through the poetry and music. Students design their own lyrics to a jazz, rap, or hip hop selection and share their songs with the...

Students explore the various rhythmic combinations in jazz and blues music. They watch a video segment, apply a mathematical formula to calculate the number of possible rhythmic combinations, and perform a combination of notes and...

Working in small teams, learners analyze a variety of primary source materials related to lynching (news articles, letters written to or written by prominent Americans, pamphlets, broadsides, etc.) in order to assess the effectiveness of...

Students analyze the impact of jazz on the novel, "Invisible Man," by Ralph Ellison. They read and discuss excerpts of the novel, write an essay on the influence of jazz on Ralph Ellison as a writer, and view video excerpts on jazz...

Young scholars identify and manipulate shapes to create tessellations. In these geometry/spatial relations lessons, the students use of a variety of modalities such as literature, music, writing, and art as introductions to the concept...

Students experience Zen philosophies reflected in artwork, poetry, and architecture. Students will explore these connections and expand the discussion to include a professional author of their choice.

Young scholars identify themes of selected nonfiction, fiction, poetry and art to Harlem Renaissance jazz and describe the impact of jazz on African-American literature of the Harlem Renaissance

Students identify and describe the influence slavery had on Mark Twains writing, and then determine the status of race relations and ethnic differences in contemporary life.

Students look at Twain, the humorist - considered America's favorite storyteller and the funniest man in the world at the time. Students stretch the truth about a personal experience, and consider how delivery affects impact.

Students examine the rise of citizen leaders and community organizing.

Young scholars be asked to think about the neighborhoods in which they live, to consider what exactly makes up a neighborhood, and the current issues their neighborhood may be facing.

This lesson, focused on profile writing and its unique characteristics, considers the profiles developed in the film The Soul of a Man while also asking students to consider other profiles they are familiar with and to write some of...

This lesson plan gives some preliminary activities to ease students into Shakespeare's language while creating some original conversations. Students will not have any trouble performing these conversations because they will have created...

This lesson plan uses Shakespeare's writing as a model for elementary students, encouraging them use their imaginations to explore to the evocative powers of language. It gives them a manageable piece of text which they can master and...

This lesson provides students with a lab experience during which students construct a basic electric circuit and use it to explore dexterity skills. A chance to construct and operate a tool that extends a person's grasping ability and to...

This lesson leads students to learn to use writing as a conflict resolution strategy, use re-writing as a way to improve writing skills, learn to respectfully critique another's writing, consider situations from a variety of perspectives...

Students explore how predators help control the growth of prey species for a more balanced ecosystem.

Students watch election commercials for a homework assignment. They analyze the commercials and create a commercial for a fictitious candidate using the techniques they observed.

Students examine the genetics involved in the human genome. They brainstorm the advantages and disadvantages to this discovery. They research different experts opinion and write a case study which addresses an ethical dilemma.

Students explore history through a tour of a local cemetery. Students investigate tombstones for historical information, make stone rubbings, and use this secondary source reference to obtain primary sources.

Students evaluate primary source documents. They assess the development of women's rights in the United States. They identify other rights beside suffrage that were important to famous women reformers.

Students study Presidential Reconstruction during the Civil War years. They examine the role of the Executive Branch of government, especially in wartime. They investigate the complex issues of how Congress took on the role of...

Students examine and interpret Corps of Discovery journal entries as primary documents/sources providing insight into the Lewis and Clark expedition's journey. They present information they have documented on included activity sheet in...

Students examine the value and use of scrapbooks in writing and historic inquiry. They view and discuss online interactive scrapbooks by Mark Twain, and in small groups create a collaborative scrapbook that reflects the time and place...