In this structured discussion method, under the guidance of a facilitator, participants are encouraged to engage intellectually with challenging materials, gain insight about their own point of view and strive for a shared understanding of issues. In this conversation, students will focus their study on the "Immigration Enforcement Raids."

In this structured discussion method, under the guidance of a facilitator, participants are encouraged to engage intellectually with challenging materials, gain insight about their own point of view and strive for a shared understanding of issues. In this conversation, students will focus their study on the "Syrian Refuge Crisis and U.S. Policy."

Students participate in activities in which they learn about redistricting, types of legislative committees, types of legislation, and the process by which a bill becomes a law in Congress. Students will apply their knowledge by participating in a legislative simulation in which the House Judiciary Committee determines whether to report a proposed bill regarding punishment for drunk driving as favorable on the floor.

Students will explore the connotations of the colors associated with the characters in F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby." They will discuss the meaning of connotation and how word meanings can change. Next they will work in groups to explore the cultural connotations of a particular color, present findings to the class, keep a color log as they read the novel, and write an analysis of a major character.

In this activity, students analyze primary source documents in order to better understand the content, impact, and perpetual relevance of the U.S. Constitution to the daily lives of American citizens.

Most historians agree that the world has never come closer to nuclear war than it did during a thirteen-day period in October 1962, after the revelation that the Soviet Union had stationed several medium-range ballistic missiles in Cuba. This lesson will examine how this crisis developed, how the Kennedy administration chose to respond, and how the situation was ultimately resolved.

Nineteenth century middle-class American women saw their behavior regulated by a social system, known today as the cult of domesticity, which was designed to limit their sphere of influence to home and family. Yet within this space they developed networks and modes of expression that allowed them to speak out on issues facing the nation. Students will read four sets of passages and identify which principals of the cult of domesticity are illustrated and how. Students will also perform textual anlayses to determine audience, voice, point of view, themes, and the rhetoric used.

The past is often neatly partitioned in time periods and eras with generalized names meant to characterize what life was like during that time. In this multi-day lesson, students question the validity of using ?Dark Ages? to describe Europe from the fall of the Roman Empire to the Renaissance. In the process, students examine a variety of primary and secondary sources highlighting different social, political, economic, cultural, and environmental facets of life in Europe during this period.

Students read an article describing a study that sheds new light on Charles Darwin's hobby of breeding pigeons. They learn about the origins of genes responsible for certain traits in pigeons, explore how scientists unravel the connections between genes and physical characteristics, and simulate a selective breeding program.

In this activity students analyze a timeline and official and unofficial documents that reveal the events of the Iran-Contra Affair. This activity also models the types of questions that can help students analyze foreign policy documents from other events. The activity instructions include suggestions for how to differentiate the activity for students with different reading levels.

This article traces the history of government in Athens from the earliest kings to democracy. The article cites primary sources and explains the role of both Draco and Solon in the development of Athenian democracy.

In this lesson, students will work in small groups to read and analyze a primary source using a set of questions designed to help them understand the writers' viewpoints. Students will then explain their findings to their classmates. Finally, each student will produce a written essay that explains how and why scientific understanding of the atom has changed over time.

In this lesson, students will explore how central ideas are developed in the Autobiography of Malcolm X.

In this lesson, students will work in groups to discuss central ideas across four texts: Audre Lorde's poem, "From the House of Yemanja;" Booker T. Washington's "Atlanta Compromise;" W.E.B. Du Bois's "Of Our Spiritual Strivings;" and "An Address by Elizabeth Cady Stanton" by Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

In this lesson, students read primary and secondary source documents about the Supreme Court case Dickerson v. The United States and the 5th and 6th amendments. Students then answer analysis questions about the case. There is a teacher answer key included in the lesson.

This lesson draws a connection between the threat of smallpox during the Revolutionary War and the influenza pandemic during World War I. In this lesson, students will utilize educational technology to consult primary, secondary, and tertiary sources in the completion of a webquest. Writing across the curriculum is a large focus of this lesson.

Students will identify and explain factors that contributed to ethnic tensions and conflicts in Sri Lanka. They will watch a video clip related to the conflict in Sri Lanka and critically analyze texts to determine the characteristics of the author. Students will also use a Venn diagram to compare and contrast the war in Sri Lanka with another conflict previously studied.

In this lesson, students read primary and secondary source documents about the Dred Scott v. Sanford Supreme Court case about federalism and due process. Students then answer an advanced placement style document based question. There is a teacher answer key at the end of the lesson.

In this resource, students will explore how to find a main idea and form an inference from informational text, as well as how to identify supporting details and form a summary. A variety of approaches--from think-pair-share to small group instruction--are included, as well as graphic organizers and modeling ideas.

Students will view this slideshow online as the first activity in a blended unit. The activity is meant to introduce the author and some of his works, including several that the students will read as part of the unit. It is primarily intended to spark student interest in the unit. However, it will also aid the students in that they will be better poristioned to read the author's works if they have some sense of what to expect in terms of themes.

     The choice to include such as introductory tool into the unit was based upon prior observations regarding the difficulty of getting students engaged in any lesson when nothing had been done to sprak their interest beforehand.