Harold Washington forged a coalition of voters and won the Chicago mayoral election of 1983. In doing so he became the first black mayor of that racially and ethnically divided city. Excerpts from his speech are included in a worksheet...

Students explore the tracking of teens. In this tracking technology lesson, students read the USA Today article titled "Black Boxes for Cars Slow to Catch On", respond to discussion questions regarding the article, and complete...

A revolutionary work of literature requires a revolutionary assessment project. A series of activities on Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings includes discussion questions, a plot synopsis, and a selection of both short...

Students examine different portrayals of African American women in poems and plays. Individually, they identify the character they want to play and reject the others. After acting out the scene, they hopefully realize that their...

Young scholars identify many genres of Black music. They listen to examples of black artists playing songs of social concious, then identify issues that are addressed by today's Black artists.

Students keep "Mindwatch" diaries to chart their own prejudices and stereotypes. In this social justice lesson, students monitor their own reactions to people who are different from themselves. Students identify and discuss patterns of...

Discover the differences in dialect. Inquisitive minds read poems and discuss how words or phrases are different in standard English and other dialects. Using a dictionary, class members locate the definition of each word, find...

Make sure your class is sure of terminology when referring to the non-violent methods used in the civil rights movement. This glossary includes 19 terms paired with parts of speech and definitions. 

Learners focus on the problem of African American leadership throughout American history. In groups, they research the life and works of Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois and how they worked to promote the need for African American...

As part of their study of the vocabulary used in Sonia Levitin's The Cure, class members create a card, filling in words from the novel, and then engage in a bingo game.

Fifth graders explore the positive and negative consequences of choosing to fight against discrimination. They read the story of Rosa Parks. Students discuss the movement against segregation. Students read other books about...

Eighth graders compare two visual works of art about John Brown. They read a text or listen to an interview, and identify information about him. They debate their opinions using evidence in written and visual texts. They research other...

What is beauty? Moana Uluave, a scholar at Brigham Young University, writes on the subject as a Tongan living in America. After reading her article class members respond to four short-answer comprehension questions. 

Did you know that modern Chinese literature “grew from the psychoanalytical theory of Sigmund Freud”? Designed for a world literature class, seniors are introduced to “One Evening in the Rainy Season,” Shi Zhecun’s stream of...

The final instructional activity of a three-part series on Kate Chopin's The Awakening has scholars investigate life as a woman in late nineteenth-century America. They research the role of women in society through the eyes of the...

Examine Erikson's chart on the various stages one goes through growing up. Individually, they write a paper on whether or not they fit into those categories and how they are different today. In groups, for each stage they role play the...

In this online interactive Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry activity, learners respond to 14 multiple choice reading comprehension questions regarding the book.

For this phrasal verbs worksheet, students check their understanding of phrasal verbs by choosing the best ending for each sentence.

This online multiple choice quiz focuses on upper-level grammar concepts. In addition to covering simple parts of speech such as nouns, verbs, and adjectives, this resource also covers more advanced information, such as transitive vs....

Learners examine the way ghosts are portrayed in films and literature. For this poetry lesson, students listen to  the first five stanzas of the poem "Seven Types of Shadow" read by U A Fanthorpe on The Poetry Archive website and...

In this online interactive figurative language activity, students respond to 10 multiple choice questions regarding the meaning of medical idioms.

Students have discussions on how to create a good school climate based on Jena Every School. Students discuss signs of trouble, school climate, bias incidences, forums for discussion, teachable moments, and bridging divisions in the school.

Young scholars use literature to examine the violence and loss of innocence during the 1960s. In this U.S. history lesson, students read Robert McCammon's Boy's Life to investigate the social unrest, violence and loss of innocence...