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...

To conclude a study of social justice and tolerance designed to prepare classes for a visit to the Museum of Tolerance, class members brainstorm a safe and peaceful world. They then write about their own vision of this world.

“. . .different men often see the same subject in different lights. . .” but the great orator Patrick Henry used all the skills at his command to craft a speech to convince listeners to see things as he did--that liberty was worth dying...

Guided by close-reading questions, groups examine the similarities and differences between the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. In addition, they look at how the principles are presented in these two foundational US...

Eighth graders design and create a tourist brochure for North Carolina historical sites. They research North Carolina, find and scan pictures for their brochure, use ClarisWorks to form the text, print, display and use constructive...

Students view commercials from American and Latin American cultures and discuss the values and selling strategies used in each commercial.

High schoolers watch westerns and analyze them. They identify the plot, characters and the sounds in the film. They research icons of the American west and prepare a presentation. They share their presentation with the class.

High schoolers research the laws for telemarketers in your state. Are any in place? If not, are any under consideration? They explore the situation to find out about any national legislation to regulate telemarketing.

Students research what is legal now as far as abortions are concerned. Does it matter what state you live in? Does it matter how old you are? If you are a teen, does the doctor have to notify your parents? Students prepare a panel...

Reinforce the importance of the writing process with this publication lesson. Elementary and middle schoolers compose a parts of speech book which includes one page each for nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions,...

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...

Do you know what a fallacy is? Discuss this term and its meaning with your class. Then, talk about why making generalizations about a large group of people isn't the best thing to do. As a group, study the included letter excerpt. It...

Pupils participate in a WebQuest in which they must determine which amusement park is the "median priced" park. Students visit park websites to accumulate prices for parking, activities, restaurants, and gift shops.

What is advertising? What role does it plan in an election? Middle and high schoolers discuss advertising and its purpose by sifting through different magazines and discussing the products they find. Then they relate advertisements to...

Have your learners choose an author to study. One resource link gives a list of approved authors. Scholars read at least three works produced by that author and produce three separate book reports as well as a two-page author report....

If you are new to the technique of Socratic questioning, check out this resource that details the five steps in the Socratic method. The examples of each step are drawn from Brave New World.

Provide some group brainstorming and story-planning time with the fifth lesson in a series on examining and creating documentaries. After you've explained the purpose of each section of a documentary, groups meet to plan the beginning,...

High schoolers research the bubonic plague including disease facts, the time frame of outbreaks and the impact it had on society. They examine the work of Edgar Allen Poe and write an essay explaining why the plague was a subject of...

Fifth graders identify and analyze various ecological regions of Australia in order to identify more about some of the animals that inhabit the area. Students record information they discover on a chart provided that is assessed at end...

Seventh graders examine the implications of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. In this slavery lesson, 7th graders examine a map of 1820 America and discuss the balance of power implied by the map. Students then read Stephen Douglas's speech on...

Students investigate past energy legislation, then write letters to Congress from the perspective of citizens trying to influence the original passage of these bills. Each small group does their research using a website imbedded in this...

Students reflect on the value of a penny. They examine how working families endure economic hardships with the help of charities. They create their own philanthropic event to raise money for a charity.

Young scholars explore the court cases and legal organizations that were instrumental in creating a system of juvenile justice in the United States, then present their findings in a composite timeline.

Students analyze the meaning and process of categorizing items, people and events as 'the best.' students then defend pieces of literature, images, and sounds that they feel most represent 'the best of the 20th century.'