Lesson Plans

310 Result(s)
Grade Range
6-8
Lesson 3: Trekking to Timbuktu: Timbuktu: A Center of Trade (Teacher Version)

For many people, Timbuktu is a metaphor for the mysterious, the remote, or the unobtainable. But the Malian city of Timbuktu was, in fact, once a thriving center of commerce and intellectual activity.

In the lessons of this curriculum unit, students will learn about the geography of Mali and the early trade networks that flourished there. They will study how the spread of Islam influenced the cultures and economies along the Niger River. They will find out about the three kingdoms that evolved in ancient and medieval West Africa.

Grade Range
6-8
Lesson 1: Trekking to Timbuktu: The Geography of Mali (Teacher Version)

For many people, Timbuktu is a metaphor for the mysterious, the remote, or the unobtainable. But the Malian city of Timbuktu was, in fact, once a thriving center of commerce and intellectual activity.

In the lessons of this curriculum unit, students will learn about the geography of Mali and the early trade networks that flourished there. They will study how the spread of Islam influenced the cultures and economies along the Niger River. They will find out about the three kingdoms that evolved in ancient and medieval West Africa.

Grade Range
9-12
JFK, Freedom Riders, and the Civil Rights Movement

Students learn how civil rights activists including the Freedom Riders, state and local officials in the South, and the Administration of President Kennedy come into conflict during the early 1960s.

Grade Range
9-12
The Victor's Virtue: A Cultural History of Sport

Students may know that there are two components of a modern education that are closely associated with ancient Greek culture: philosophy and sports. To what extent does the role and value of sports in modern high schools resemble the role and value of sports in an ancient Greek education?

Grade Range
K-12
Presidential Inaugurations: I Do Solemnly Swear

Presidential inaugurations have been solemn ceremonies and uninhibited celebrations. They are carefully scripted and they are unpredictable. They reflect tradition and they reflect the moment.

Grade Range
6-8
Why Do We Remember Revere? Paul Revere's Ride in History and Literature

After an overview of the events surrounding Paul Revere's famous ride, this lesson challenges students to think about the reasons for that fame.  Using both primary and secondhand accounts, students compare the account of Revere's ride in Longfellow's famous poem with actual historical events, in order to answer the question: why does Revere's ride occupy such a prominent place in the American consciousness?

Grade Range
K-5
Where I Come From

Students take research into their heritage a step beyond the construction of a family tree, traveling through cyberspace to find our what's happening in their ancestral homelands today.

Grade Range
6-8
What Masks Reveal

Explore the cultural significance of masks by investigating the role they play in ceremonies and on special occasions in societies from widely separated regions of the world.