American | EDSITEment

Scripting the Past: Exploring Women's History Through Film

Created September 27, 2010

Students employ the screenwriter's craft to gain a fresh perspective on notable women in American history.

Davy Crockett, Tall Tales, and History

Created September 25, 2010

Using the life of Davy Crockett as a model, students learn the characteristics of tall tales and how these stories reflect their historical moment. The lesson culminates with students writing a tall tale of their own.

Ordinary People, Ordinary Places: The Civil Rights Movement

Created September 24, 2010

By researching these "ordinary" people and the now historic places where they brought about change, students will discover how the simple act of sitting at a lunch counter in North Carolina could be considered revolutionary, and how, combined with countless other acts of nonviolent protest across the nation, it could lead to major legislation in the area of civil rights for African Americans.

Poems that Tell a Story: Narrative and Persona in the Poetry of Robert Frost

Created September 24, 2010

Behind many of the apparently simple stories of Robert Frost's poems are unexpected questions and mysteries. In this lesson, students analyze what speakers include or omit from their narrative accounts, make inferences about speakers' motivations, and find evidence for their inferences in the words of the poem.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Created September 17, 2010

Students explore the artistry that helped make Washington Irving our nation's first literary master and ponder the mystery that now haunts every Halloween--What happened to Ichabod Crane?