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 …
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 …
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 are highly valued. The challenge is figuring out the …
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 …
“Never do anything against conscience, even if the state demands it.” I tried out the Teach Different conversation method as a routine during remote learning. I call it “Conversation Monday”. It’s my attempt to get students thinking and talking about …
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 …
“Thank You Ma’am” by Langston Hughes often leaves students perplexed because the main character instantly forgives a young boy who tries to rob her. Before reading the story, I would introduce the theme of forgiveness with the conversation about Mahatma …
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