In these lessons from Historical Thinking Matters, students learn to read more analytically as they investigate the causes of the Spanish-American War. After hypothesizing causes for the war, they test their hypotheses using successive sets of documents. They answer the notebook questions for these documents and consider how each informs the inquiry question. Using historian think-alouds from the site, the teacher can model a historical read of particular passages. Finally, students practice these new ways of reading with a document they find in a directed webquest. *The lessons are made available in 3 options: 1 Day, 3 Day or 5 Day. The 5 Day version includes an essay assignment with instructions on thesis writing.

In this lesson, students work through the Spanish-American War investigation on the Historical Thinking Matters website. They read the nine documents, answer guiding questions on the interactive on-line notebook, and prepare to complete the final essay assignment using their notes. Each day includes a brief teacher-led activity or presentation designed to facilitate students’ work. Students complete an essay and participate in a discussion reviewing the four historical reading strategies used to frame the site’s notebook questions.

Some of the most the most essential works of literature in the world are examples of epic poetry, such as The Odyssey and Paradise Lost. This lesson introduces students to the epic poem form and to its roots in oral tradition.

In the magazine article, “The Story of an Eyewitness,” Jack London describes the effects of the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. His account describes its immediate aftermath and utter destruction of the city by the ensuing fire. The National Archives article provides a brief third-person account of the San Francisco Earthquake that can be used to compare and contrast first- versus third-person accounts of the same event. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this history through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

In this lesson, students will be able to analyze the consequences of defining terrorism in certain ways and learn how different individuals and groups might use the term for political advantage.

Students are presented with a paired critical reading activity uses excertps from Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird and a New York Times article "˜History of Lynchings in the South Documents Nearly 4,000 Names"™ to exlplore the deep and painful history of racial injustice in the south. Included are close fiction/non-fiction analysis, varied media resources, and writing assignments.

In this resource from the New York Times, a paired critical reading activity uses excertps from Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird and a New York Times article ‘History of Lynchings in the South Documents Nearly 4,000 Names’ to exlplore the deep and painful history of racial injustice in the south. Included are close fiction/non-fiction analysis, varied media resources, and writing assignments.

In this lesson, students study issues related to independence and notions of manliness in Ernest Hemingway’s “Three Shots” as they conduct in-depth literary character analysis, consider the significance of environment to growing up and investigate Hemingway’s Nobel Prize-winning, unique prose style. In addition, they will have the opportunity to write and revise a short story based on their own childhood experiences and together create a short story collection.

In the lesson, student groups play the role of either urban families in need of fresh food or rural families in need of buyers. The role play provides a forum for discussing the concept of supply and demand in various markets, and also personalizes the historical context to engage student interest. At the end of the lesson, students consider the “losers” in westward expansion--buffalo and Native Americans--and the collusion of the U.S. government in this process.

The Researching to Deepen Understanding units lay out an inquiry process through which students learn how to deepen their understanding of topics. Students pose and refine inquiry questions, exploring areas they wish to investigate. They find and assess sources and organize researched material in ways that will support their analysis and integration of information. As their inquiry progresses, they evaluate and extend their research, synthesize their information, and eventually express their evolving evidence-based perspective.

This English Language Arts /Literacy Unit empowers students with a critical reading and writing skill at the heart of the Common Core: Reading complex texts closely to analyze textual details and deepen understanding.

This unit develops students’ abilities to read closely for textual details and compare authors’ perspectives through an examination of a series of texts about immigration through Ellis Island.

These English Language Arts/Literacy Units empower students with critical reading and writing skills at the heart of the Common Core: analyzing and writing evidence-based arguments.

This unit develops students’ abilities to analyze arguments from a range of perspectives on immigration policy in the United States. Students also learn to develop, write and revise their own evidence-based arguments.

Analyzing textbooks from a historiographical stance allows students to see that history is more about interpretation, perspective, and bias than about rote memorization. By looking at how textbooks from different eras describe a certain event, such as the Mexican-American War, students learn about the choices that textbook authors make. For example, do the textbooks depict the U.S. as the aggressor, as an unwilling participant forced into a conflict by enemy antagonism, or something in between?

In this lesson, students will analyze the rhetorical strategies Malcolm X used in his speeches, such as tone, emotional appeal, and descriptive language. They will also consider the strategies used by African American leaders during the Civil Rights Movement and the social implications of these strategies, contrasting the leadership and ideology of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X in the Civil Rights Movement and evaluate their legacies. They will identify personal values and use them to determine appropriate behaviors for protecting their individual rights.

In this DBQ Project mini document based question activity based on the Dust Bowl, students will examine multiple sources and reflect on what led to and caused the event.

This online interactive lesson from the United Kingdom's National Archives guides students through several primary sources in this case study about international relations at the time of the Potsdam Conference to answer the big question, "How strong was the wartime friendship between Britain, the USA, and the USSR 1941-45?" There is a worksheet, glossary, and timeline provided to assist students in their analysis. You must click on the picture of each primary source to access it.

After an overview of the events surrounding Paul Revere's famous ride, this lesson challenges students to think about the reasons for that fame. Using both primary and secondhand accounts, students compare the account of Revere's ride in Longfellow's famous poem with actual historical events, in order to answer the question: why does Revere's ride occupy such a prominent place in the American consciousness?

Explore the traditions and conventions of haiku and compare this classic form of Japanese poetry to a related genre of Japanese visual art.

This online interactive lesson from the United Kingdom's National Archives guides students through several primary sources in this case study about the Zinoviev letter to answer the big question, "Did the Cold War really start in the period 1919-39?" There is a worksheet, glossary, and timeline provided to assist students in their analysis. You must click on the picture of each primary source to access it.