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Making The Holidays Special
Students examine ways in which holiday television specials reflect some of the religious, historic and cultural themes of the holidays on which they focus. They create their own holiday television specials in groups, each focusing on a...
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Reaching Out
Students reflect on the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, explore the needs of the cities and citizens of New York City and Washington, D.C. and develop an action plan for a community service outreach project that they can...
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The Young Faces of Poverty
Students explore the topic of child poverty in the United States and the government's responses to it in different areas and through different programs and laws. They share their thoughts in letters to their Congressional representatives.
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When Things Fall Apart
Students examine the impact of colonialism on African nations, researching and analyzing post-colonial literature from those countries. They develop and present a creative display of their novel and its historic parallels.
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The Eleventh Hour
Students examine their own understanding of the issues and events that are framing this year's presidential race. They explore the candidates' stances on eight issues and present their findings to the class.
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A More Perfect Union?
Students read and discuss the article "Bush Insists U.S. Must Not Fail in Iraq." They work in small groups to answer three questions based on their category by searching for the answers in the article read in class.
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My Way or the Highway
Students read "Saudis Uneasily Balance Desires for Change and Stability" from The New York Times and discuss Saudi Arabia as it considers a change from monarchy to democracy. Students work in groups to research and create timelines on...
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Dude, I'm Interviewing the President
Student define issues and questions they would discuss with a president. Students read "Bill and Leo's Excellent Encounter". Students choose famous personalities, research their celebrity, and create a mock interview with them.
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It's Up for Debate
In this lesson, students investigate the different platforms of each of the Presidential hopefuls for the 2000 election. Small groups each carefully research the platforms of an assigned candidate and then create a political pamphlet...
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Soul Food
Students identify foods that they associate with different cultural groups in which they are members and speculate possible connections between specific foods and the cultures in which they are popular. They also explore the importance...
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Stranger Than Fiction
Students reflect on the importance of science literacy. They review the year's science curriculum by reading, discussing and writing questions on teacher-selected New York Times articles and the related science content.
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Unearthing the Past
Students analyze artifacts from an early society to determine information relating to daily life in that society. They consider which artifacts from our society would be most valuable to future archeologists.
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Tour Guidance
Students research, write, edit, illustrate, and compile a traveler's guide to their town or community for students or teenagers their own age. They read and discuss the Times article, 'Students Visiting? Just Invoke Auntie Mame.'
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Of Amulets And Scrolls
Students come to an understanding of the time period covered in the first five books of the Bible by researching and recreating ancient artifacts. They recreate artifacts that represent the people, lifestyles, and culture of people...
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Vikings in Vinland
Students examine the role of archaeology in gaining information about past civilizations. After reading an article, they discover evidence of the Viking settlement of North America. They summarize the information in the article by...
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Making the Invisible Visible
Students evaluate the various ways in which cyberspace is beginning to be mapped by geographers, cartographers, artists, and scientists and use their understanding of the information these new maps can convey to create their own maps of...
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Ulster-ior Motives
Students examine the creation of the Northern Ireland Assembly as an historic step in the peace process in Northern Ireland. They work in four small groups, each exploring the history and objectives of one of the parties in the new...
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Teen Scene
Students examine what teenagers value most, and discuss the trend of decadent sixteenth birthday parties. They read an article, analyze forms of teen-focused media, and create a visual presentation on their media analysis.
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Position Wanted
Learners share their opinions about local job opportunities for people their age. After reading an article about hiring trends, they discuss Google's answer to filling jobs. Class members research and report on an employer that offers...
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Occupational Oxymoron
Learners consider their own notions of poverty, examine the life of a woman classified as "working poor" from a variety of perspectives, and present their findings to the class. Then, students synthesize their knowledge in a paper.
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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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Part-Time Protectors
Students research the roles of the reserve armed forces in a variety of United States military conflicts, then create a documentary that illustrates the contributions of part-time soldiers.
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Intervene or Interfere?
Learners research the motives, actions, and results of U.S. intervention in foreign affairs between the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion and the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
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Fur Right or Wrong
Students explore the uses for animals in different societies. Then, through research and reflection, students prepare for a mock convention for animal rights. They write a letter to a governmental animal regulatory body.