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Follow the Marx
Students explore communism from historical and theoretical perspectives to present to fellow classmates at a teach-in. Each team of students be responsible for researching and presenting on one of the suggested topics in the lesson.
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Making Prehistory
Students create mock fossil records based on current scientific theories about prehistory. By learning about what fossil records teach us about different prehistoric time periods, students gain a greater understanding of theories of...
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Coming to Terms with the Past
Students explore Holocaust survivor Simon Wiesenthal. They conduct research to examine how the post-Holocaust period has been handled historically and hold a teach-in to promote continued awareness of the Holocaust's impact.
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Tell It Like It Is
Students consider the accuracy of the Web sites they regularly use, then prepare for a formal debate on the reliability of Wikipedia and similar Web sites. For homework, they prepare note cards and practice delivering their orations.
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Self-Fulfilling Prophecy in African American Students: Exploring African American Achievers
Fifth graders are introduced to ways to increase their self-esteem. As a class, they share their specific talents under three categories. In groups, they use the internet to research the lives of various African Americans making sure...
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Stateside Slavery
Students read "Slavery's Past, Paved Over or Forgotten" from The New York Times and discuss as a class. This activity is the introduction for researching a topic on the history of slavery in the U.S. Student groups present their...
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Declarations of Independence
Students examine what they know about American Indians past and present, then research key issues facing American Indian tribes today. To synthesize their learning, students write letters taking the perspective of an American Indian.
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Burning Hatred
Students examine the constitutionality of various forms of expression; they then take part in a mock trial on the issue of cross burning. Divide the class into three groups; Supreme Court Justices, and two groups that don't agree on this...
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Dear Me
Students take a classroom "gallery walk" memorializing 9/11. As a class, they read and discuss the article "A Day to Clear the View, and Remember." Then, they write letters focusing on events that have made them want to alter their life...
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2004 Better and For Worse
Students identify the significant events that helped shape 2004. After reading an article, they take a 2004 news quiz and discuss the impact of each event. They create their own quizzes to be given to their classmates on the same...
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A Historic Gamble
Students explore and evaluate the economic impact of legalized gambling on Native American Indian communities. They draft short, persuasive speeches that take the perspective of a tribal elder appearing at a town council meeting.
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Does Free Speech Exist in School?
Students examine their own First Amendment rights as students. They read and discuss a news article, discuss the Supreme Court case Frederick v. Morse, take an online quiz and conduct Internet research, and create a brochure outlining...
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Reducing the Impact of Drought
Students study the impact of drought and improve their writing skills. In this reducing the impact of drought lesson plan, students investigate various matters pertaining to drought. They share their findings and build knowledge about...
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High Anxiety
The Learning Network section of the New York Times produces high-quality teaching materials. This issue gets middle or high schoolers reading an article about how people use art to express their response to high-stress events. They work...
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Orchestra Tax Battle
Students read a newspaper article about the controversial taxation of an orchestra. They define vocabulary, complete comprehension worksheets, analyze the use of verb forms in the article and take a 'true or false' quiz.
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Gunshots by the Numbers
Young scholars analyze the incidence of gun injuries among children and what can be done about it by reading and discussing the article "Keeping Guns Out of Children's Hands." They convert statistics about gun injuries into visual...
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Shaping the View: Composition Basics
Students view images from the Metropolitan Museum of Art web site, and list the objects and figures in the image. They discuss the way their eyes move around the canvas and take note of where their eyes fall, follow and finish. Students...
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Rock Around the Map
Students research the geographical histories of various musical genres and make maps that note important places in music history. They Write geographical biographies about one of their favorite musical artists.
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The Real Monopoly: America's Racial Wealth Divide
High schoolers explore America's racial wealth divide. In this Teaching Tolerance instructional activity, students play a "rigger" version of the game Monopoly and reflect on the game and economic injustice in the United States.
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Night Lesson Plan: Stereotypes and Scapegoats
Students read the novel Night by Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel and complete related activities. In this novel analysis lesson plan, students prompt write and discuss the answers. Students take notes on stereotypes and scapegoats and...
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Slave Culture during the Age of Jackson
Students consider slave culture during the time of Andrew Jackson. In this instructional activity on slavery, students watch a PowerPoint presentation, take notes, then analyze an extensive list of primary sources in order to understand...
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Making Sense of the Reformation in 1 Day
Ninth graders explore the events of the Protestant Reformation. in this religious denominations lesson plan, 9th graders use the provided graphic organizer to take notes on a PowerPoint presentation about the different beliefs withing...
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Rhythm & Improv: Jazz & Poetry
Students analyze the elements of poetry and jazz. For this critical thinking skills lesson, students take a closer look at the rhyme, rhythm, alliteration, form, free verse, lyricism, and imagery that exist is jazz as well as poetry.
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Writing an Original Fable
Students discover how to write fables. In this writing skill lesson, students review the literary elements of fables and take all of the steps in the writing process to create their own fables.