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Themes of Geography in the News Contest
Students discuss current events in the world today. After choosing one to focus on, they identify the themes of Geography present in them and practice using new vocabulary. They use the internet to find all of the themes present in...
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Primary Sources and Protagonists: A Native American Literature Unit
Introduce your middle schoolers to the lives of past Native Americans. First, learners work together to put photographs in a sequence. Then, using their sequence, they create stories to share with the whole class. No matter how old your...
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Using Literature to Teach Bullying
Young scholars explore signs and types of bullying. In this "building character" lesson plan, students listen to several read alouds based on a bully theme. Four groups are formed to discuss "gossip", "exclusion", "physical bullying",...
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Kosovo: A Thousand Year Old Border Conflict
High schoolers present proposals and negotiate with other representatives to bring lasting peace to the area through a simulated "Summit Conference."
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Supply & Demand: Finite Resources, Infinite Needs
Students discuss conflict resolution strategies they use in real life. They listen to "Getting to Yes" about principled negotiation. They negotiate the distribution of goodies on a table according to rules and time constraints. They...
Delegation of the European Union to the United States
The Founding and Development of the European Union
How did Europe transition from a period of conflict to a period of sustained peace? As class members continue their study of the history and development of the European Union, groups examine the events in six time periods, from the...
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Friendship
Students investigate the concept of friendship as part of a four lessons unit which integrates literature with language arts, family life, social studies, or religious studies. Peace, cooperation, social justice, and multicultural...
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First Nations vs. Euro-Americans
Learners analyze primary and secondary source documents to help them describe the cooperation and conflict that existed among the American Indians and new settlers. Then, students analyze the purpose, challenges, and economic incentives...
Lee & Low Books
First Come the Zebra Teacher’s Guide
Accompany a reading of First Come the Zebra written and illustrated by Lynne Barasch with a teacher's guide equipped with before reading, vocabulary, and after reading activities. Additional social studies,...
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Japanese Internment Camps in the US During World War II
Eighth graders analyze the impact of the Japanese/American conflict during World War II on the Japanese American population and evaluate the consequences of government action regarding international conflict. Students demonstrate their...
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FDR-Hitler: Conflicting Political Systems
Students compare and contrast the governments of the United States and Germany during World War II. Using different media, they identify the actions of both countries during the war and their major mistakes. They write a short summary...
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Rostislav & Julianna: A Modern-Day Interpretation of Romeo and Juliet
Young scholars author and film their own adaptations of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. In this multimedia skills lesson, students script a play that pits an Orthodox Christian family against a Muslim family. Young scholars use...
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Connected by Art
Students inspect visual arts by exploring images on-line. In this art analysis lesson, students discuss the history of art and the its ability to communicate with people through images. Students utilize pencils and charcoal to create...
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World Geography: Water: The Indispensable Resource
Learners are able to explain why water is an indispensable resource in a written essay and class discussion. They identify at least three examples of where water has been a source of conflict between societies from a reading and...
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The Crucible by Arthur Miller
Examine the life of Arthur Miller and the characters in one of his well-known plays, The Crucible. The first few slides give background information on Miller as well as Senator McCarthy and the blacklisted celebrities during the...
Shakespeare in American Life
Tom Hanks and Caliban: Survivor Superstars
Here’s a clever way to combine language arts and social studies. Shakespeare’s The Tempest is believed to have been inspired by the wreck of the Sea Venture on Bermuda in 1609. The class views a brief scene from Castaway in which Tom...
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Events and Effects of World War I
Ninth graders explore the main events, key people, outcomes and lasting effects of World War I. They research the lasting effects of World War I on the 20th Century and discuss the Treaty of Versailles and its effects on Germany.
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Around the World At 30o North Latitude
Reinforce the use of an atlas and reference materials with writers. They discover how geographic location can make living easier or harder. They draw an assigned journey on a map, categorize survival needs, and prioritize options during...
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The Age of Jackson
Learners study the image of Andrew Jackson. In this presidential history lesson students investigate the political image that was groomed by Jackson as they examine advertisements. Learners compose essays regarding the topic.
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Enemy or Ally: America's Response to the Russian Revolution
Students examine the events related to the Russian Revolution. In groups, they use the internet to discover the concerns of Woodrow Wilson during this time period and relate them to the origins of the Cold War. To end the lesson, they...
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Who Started World War I?
Students debate which power was responsible for the outbreak of World War I. In this cause and effects lesson, students research the causes of the outbreak of World War I on ProQuest in preparation for a (limited) reenactment of the...
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Happy Endings: The Final Battle
Fifth graders explore all the myths of the battle of Yorktown. A variety of primary documents are viewed and analyzed for discussion. They become aware that what one sees and hears is not always as it seems in reality. Each group...
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Culture Collage
Students investigate their cultural heritage and make observations on how much influence their past has on their current values and lifestyle. They brainstorm a list of things that represent a certain country or cultural heritage and...
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Sectionalism and the Kansas-Nebraska Act
Students define and discuss sectionalism and popular sovereignty, analyze impact of popular sovereignty in creation of state of Kansas, compare issues in territorial Kansas to current politically divisive topic, and evaluate primary...