Curated OER
Understanding History, Religion, and Politics in Jerusalem and Beyond
Students examine the reasons behind the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Exploring multiple perspectives, they discuss the concepts of peoples' rights and justice in the area. They practice applying conflict resolution principles as well.
Curated OER
Maquilapolis: Examining Incentives in a Market Economy
Students discuss the factors that influenced them to purchase a particular item. They work together to read and identify incentives of a character. They view a video on the topic as well.
Curated OER
The Boys of Baraka
Students view a video about the experience of boys from West Africa in the American school system. They discover how one's environment can affect them in the classroom. They write about the experience from different points of view.
Curated OER
Twelve Disciples of Nelson Mandela
Students view a video about Nelson Mandela and apartheid. They discover what it was like for people living in South Africa during apartheid. They work together to discuss strategies that could be used for people to better communicate...
Curated OER
Free Speech or Hate Speech?
Learners see the difference between protected and prohibited speech as guaranteed by the First Amendment. They explain why free speech is essential to a democracy and consider how best to deal with speech they find offensive.
Curated OER
Land of the Rising Guns?
Students discuss the decision after World War II of Japan's to follow a policy of pacifism. After reading an article, they identify the ways Japan is strengthening its military. They watch a video to discover how their Constitution was...
Curated OER
Arti-Factual Evidence
Practice responding to controversial information with the New York Times lesson provided here. Middle schoolers watch a video interview with the director of The Lost Tomb of Jesus. After reading a companion article, they identify...
Great Schools
A Questionnaire: What Do You Like to Read?
What do your fifth graders know about types of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry? Find out as they fill out this questionnaire that requires them to list authors and texts that exemplify each genre. Not only will you be able to assess what...
Media Literacy
Once Upon a Time
Robert Munsch's The Paperbag Princess and Jon Scieszkafrom's The True Story of the Three Little Pigs launch a discussion of the role of stereotypes in stories and movies.
Museum of the Moving Image
AdMaker, Nixon vs. Humphrey, “Convention” (1968)
After viewing the infamous 1968 Presidential campaign ad, "Convention," groups use AdMaker to create their own 30 second ad that features Richard Nixon rather than Hubert Humphrey.
Museum of the Moving Image
AdMaker, Obama vs. McCain, “Fundamentals” (2008)
Truth is often left on the cutting room floor when political ads are produced. After viewing the 2012 backfire ad, "Fundamentals" that takes John McCain's comments on the US economy out of context, class groups edit the audio and...
Curated OER
Lesson: Urs Fischer: Your Choice: Reality or Illusion?
Young analysts write a comparative essay, but about what? They compose a paper based on several critical discussion about reality and illusion, and how both are blurred in art. They analyze several theatre pieces that exemplify Brechtian...
Macmillan Education
A Class or Company Newsletter: A Collaborative Writing Lesson
A class newsletter? The possible extensions for this activity are endless. After examining examples of news print-outs from hotels or workplaces, class members develop their own articles and produce a newsletter. A great way to keep...
Curated OER
"Love & Diane" Lesson Plan: Expectations About Parenting
Students watch video clips of "Love & Diane," then discuss media messages and student expectations.
Curated OER
"Every Mother's Son" Lesson Plan
Students recall and discuss personal encounters with local police and then watch a video on the subject.
Curated OER
Confronting Genocide
Students discover what the term genocide means and are assigned to groups to reasearch an act of genocide in order to answer each question from their worksheet. They then compare their results making special notes of patterns they observe.
Curated OER
Steven Spielberg
In this famous person instructional activity, students read a passage about Steven Spielberg and then complete a variety of in-class and homework activities to support comprehension, including partner interviews, spelling,...
Curated OER
One Person CAN Make a Difference
Students illustrate how the actions of one person can make a difference. They identify school and community issues to address and complete group projects and action plans for making changes in the school or community.
Curated OER
In the Light of Reverence
Students watch a documentary prior to participating in a Supreme Court simulation in order to study how religious practices are protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution. They interpret conflict from a number of perspectives...
Curated OER
"Lost Boys of Sudan" Lesson Plan - Lost Childhoods:
Students analyze the connection between history and identity, explore what is gained and what is lost in learning a new culture, and develop a working definition of the word refugee.
Curated OER
Lighting Instruments from the Inside Out
Students examine theatrical lighting instruments to see how light is controlled, and write a paragraph telling of their discoveries.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Charles Baudelaire: Poète Maudit (The Cursed Poet)
After learning the main ideas of the Decadent movement, students work in small groups to read and translate poems by the French poet Charles Baudelaire using basic etymology skills. They then read the accurate English translations to see...
Curated OER
Remembering Chuck Jones
Pupils investigate the art of animation and various cartoon characters created by Chuck Jones. They complete a Webquest, watch video clips, draw a cartoon character, answer discussion questions, and create an original caricature of a...
Curated OER
New words in the dictionary
Students examine how language evolves. They discover that language reflects changes in society. Students guess the meaning of words. In a group activity, students become wordsmiths by inventing new words. Students devise alternative...