Students examine books, selected from the American Library Association Challenged/Banned Books list, and write persuasive pieces expressing their views about what should be done with the books at their school.
In this lesson, students will see that the Civil War did not have clearly defined moral and political lines and that, like every war, there were multiple sides to the story. By the end of this lesson, students will be able to analyze primary source Civil War letters in order to determine whether or not the Civil War was about slavery prior to the Emancipation Proclamation by completing a BCR (Brief Constructed Response - a single paragraph essay).
This resource is a nonfiction, Common Core aligned reading passage with textual analysis activities.
In "Paradox and Dream," a 1966 essay on the American Dream, John Steinbeck writes, "For Americans too the wide and general dream has a name. It is called "the American Way of Life.' No one can define it or point to any one person or group who lives it, but it is very real nevertheless." Yet a recent cover of Time Magazine reads "The History of the American Dream " Is It Real?" Here, students explore the meaning of the American Dream by conducting interviews, sharing and assessing data, and writing papers based on their research to draw their own conclusions.
This resource is a nonfiction, Common Core aligned reading passage with textual analysis questions about main idea, characterization, and supporting details.
When it comes to formal writing, most students choose passive voice constructions because to them, the verbs sound more academic or more formal. This minilesson explores verb choice in a variety of online resources then encourages students to draw conclusions about verb use. Then they explore the pieces they are writing, checking for active and passive voice, and make necessary revisions.
This lesson plan attempts to dissolve the artificial boundary between domestic and international affairs in the postwar period to show students how we choose to discuss history.
In this lesson, students will take a survey on white and male privilege that explores race and gender inequality. They will then compare and contrast the experiences of African American and white women facing discrimination in the 1950s and 1960s. In a culminating activity, students will then research current areas of discrimination and formulate an anti-discrimination campaign.
Students read and analyze a topical news article about some aspect of climate change and share their analysis with their classmates.
In this lesson, students will learn to read closely and annotate informational text.
The goal of this assignment is for students to write an editorial, either by themselves or with a partner. This topic will be something they are interested in or passionate about and hold a particular opinion that they wish to share with others. The learning cycle will focus on students exploring topics and finding one they hold an opinion about. Further points of the cycle will involve students learning about various methods of persuasion and how to find evidence to support their position.
This article details the decline of communism at the Cold War as a result of internal Soviet Union struggles. It examines the revoluions as a symptom of the problems facing the USSR. At the end of the article, there are reflection questions and a quiz for students to assess their knowledge.
In this lesson, students will analyze primary sources to identify the perspectives of various political parties regarding the Kansas Nebraska Act and Scott v. Sandford in order to write an ECR (multi-paragraph essay) which determines the impact these events had on national political unity.
This lesson focuses on John Winthrop's historic "Model of Christian Charity" sermon which is often referred to by its"City on a Hill" metaphor. Through a close reading of this admittedly difficult text, students will learn how it illuminates the beliefs, goals, and programs of the Puritans. The sermon sought to inspire and to motivate the Puritans by pointing out the distance they had to travel between an ideal community and their real-world situation.
This lesson looks at Thomas Paine and at some of the ideas presented in his pamphlet, "Common Sense,"Â such as national unity, natural rights, the illegitimacy of the monarchy and of hereditary aristocracy, and the necessity for independence and the revolutionary struggle.
These docmument based questions and essay prompt provide the student with an in-depth opportunity to evaluate the concepts behind capitalism and communism using primary sources. Selections are taken from: Friedrich Engels, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Adam Smith, Karl Marx and others.
This activity asks students to reflect on similarities and differences between the following religions and belief systems: Buddhism, Confucianism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Shinto, and Daoism. Although not a religion, the philosophical writings of Confucius are included because it is one of the major belief systems that flourished along the Silk Roads.Using quotations from translations of religious texts, students are asked to organize these quotations into broad categories of essential concerns. The quotations will be posted on a silk routes map as reminders of how cultural interchange and belief systems are represented in the ancient and contemporary world.
Students read two descriptions of Earth's interior structure and summarize similarities and differences between the two and answer a series on analysis questions.
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."
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.