The Wright Brothers invention of the Airplane provides a great opportunity for students to explore the theme of imagination. Albert Einstein’s quote, “The person with dreams is more powerful than the one with all the facts,” can be used during …
When teaching economics and the concepts of supply and demand, students can often struggle to understand why demand, in many cases, continues to rise. The conversation surrounding happiness inspired by Diogenes offers a simple way to look at continued demand …
In studying World War II, students can think deeply about the theme of problem solving by looking at how unsure the United States was about entering the war and how long they took to do it. The Hippocrates quote, “To …
To teach students the difference between primary and secondary sources, I like to use a fun game like “Telephone” to show how information gets warped and changed as it passes through many different minds and mouths. Once exposed to different …
Teaching about a youth leader like Malala Yousafzai provides a great opportunity to really delve into the theme of fear, because even though many in Malala’s country do not believe girls should be educated, Malala stayed calm in the face …
In teaching about The Great Depression it would be a great idea to look at the theme of perseverance. During horrible economic turmoil, instead of giving up the United States and Franklin D. Roosevelt created the biggest reforms and works …
In government I want to teach the theme of power through federalism— the balance of authority between the states and national government. The John Adams conversation would be an effective way to introduce the concept of federalism by getting the …
When students are learning about early exploration and the arrival of Europeans in North America, I like to use the fascinating survival story of Spanish Explorer Cabeza de Vaca to teach students about the struggle of arriving in a new …
The United States Constitution was written carefully by our founding fathers with the primary goal of establishing a government that would never makes its citizens victims of tyranny, as they were under the tyranny of King George III. After teaching …
In a government unit, I would be teaching students about the role and duty of individual citizens in a democracy. In this unit, we would learn the definition and importance of voting. I would follow my instruction with the conversation …
During the first winter of the Jamestown settlement, many settlers died. Those who lived faced unbelievable difficulty and needed vast quantities of strength, skill, and mental fortitude to survive. I would introduce my unit on Jamestown with the quote and …
The Abolitionist Movement, led by the likes of Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison, showed the world the importance of taking responsibility to speak out against moral wrongs. The Martin Luther conversation would work nicely alongside the teaching of the …
