When I teach “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare, one theme that we focus on is fate vs. free will, which we explore by looking at the ways in which Macbeth’s downfall is driven by outside forces. Students hunt for evidence to …
When teaching about the American Revolution, I like reading Brianna Hall’s informational text “Great Women of the American Revolution“ which profiles many different women who made an impact during this time. One part that always stands out to students is …
While it is true that education is valuable to all of us at any age, it is also true that our energies and resources are limited and must be used wisely if we want to change the world into something better. Some say that children should be the focus because their minds are more easily shaped and influenced; others suggest that adults– who are actually in positions of power and influence– should take a front-and-center importance to our efforts to change minds and improve the world.
MLK’s Letter From a Birmingham Jail is a true classic, both for its historical significance and unapologetic endorsement of non-violent civil disobedience. It actually made the list of required readings for the AP government/politics course, a list that includes Federalist Paper …
Using the classic American novel The Great Gatsby to explore the themes of disillusionment and the American Dream, I want students to really dig into the characters and their motivations to gain an understanding of the tragedy that is unfolding …
Listen to our Podcast on this Quote: Here The Big Idea: School is often the first place where students occupy positions of authority where they are able to direct the efforts of others. Being a good leader and having influence …
Essential Questions are great tools to organize courses and units. Regardless of how we end up using them, sooner or later reality demands that students find some answers! And here’s where the real work begins. Consider the challenge this way: to answer …
In teaching essay writing it is a good idea to look at great modern essays; one being Rebecca Solnit’s “Woolf’s Darkness: Embracing the Inexplicable,” which first appeared in the New Yorker on April 24, 2014. It provides a great opportunity …
In the midst of the modern civil rights movement, Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson is more relevant now than ever before. Diving into the injustices embedded in today’s institutions, Stevenson intertwines stories of unjust treatment and punishment of those who …
I am teaching analysis of U.S documents with historical significance, and I want to focus on the theme of dreams by looking at the primary document, Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream…” speech. The unit could be framed …
The “Federalist Paper 51” is a great entry point for analyzing the theme of power and how our government is set up to put a check on it. Throughout the study of this text and theme I would hearken back …
The Big Idea: All students have run across “know-it-alls”. They might be one themselves. They walk into a room and express supreme confidence with their knowledge. Being humble is seen as a sign of weakness. Then there are those timid …
