Lesson Plans
The Importance of Voting
Students consider the importance of voting as they analyze primary sources and the poem “One Vote” by Aimee Nezhukumatathil. They then learn more about the connection between poetry and the woman suffrage movement. After, students may investigate a contemporary politician or activist advocating for voting rights and present their findings to the class.
A New National Anthem
Students analyze the lyrics of the Star Spangled Banner, then investigate how a 1991 musical rendition of the song by Whitney Houston and a poem by Ada Limón provide them with deeper insights and understanding of the U.S. National Anthem. After, students create a new version of the national anthem by either creating an erasure poem from the lyrics or writing a response to Limón’s poem or the original anthem.
Do Good Fences Make Good Neighbors?
By pairing primary sources with poetry, students consider the proverb, “Good fences make good neighbors” in the context of their own lives as well as in a local, national or global context.
How Did Birds Gain Political Protection?
Students analyze a variety of primary sources to investigate the impact turn-of-the-20th-century women’s fashion industry had on migratory birds, grassroots political efforts taken to protect the birds, and subsequent state and national laws. After, students research a contemporary biodiversity issue and create a poster, flyer, or written announcement to inform people and call them to action.
Do Our Parks Do What They Are Supposed to Do?
Students analyze primary source images and texts to investigate Frederick Law Olmsted's theories of park purpose, design and development, then use what they learned to assess a local park. Students may then make a proposal to the applicable local agency to preserve or renovate a park they identified.
Map: Poetry & Environmental Justice
Students analyze NASA images depicting climate change and maps denoting Indian land cessions*, then read the poem "Map" by Linda Hogan. After, students discuss how the poem, images, and maps provide context to the theme of environmental justice. Students follow up and take action by researching local instances of environmental justice / injustice and write to one or more community leaders, expressing their opinion on an issue.
* compiled primarily from reports contained in Library of Congress collections
Pairing Pictures & Poems to Tell Stories
Students analyze images and texts to learn the power of pairing pictures with poems to tell stories about the historical issue of child labor and issues affecting children today.
How Disability Activists Created Change
Students analyze primary and secondary sources about 1977 and 1990 Disability Rights Movement protests to identify strategic actions taken by activists, evaluate the level of personal risk or investment needed to participate, and compare them with actions by African-American civil rights activists of that time and earlier, and of social justice activists today.
African American Monument
Students review scenes from African American history through analysis of a poster created as a type of monument. After, students create a brief sketch and a write caption for a scene from recent times and explain why they feel the scene is an important addition to the poster.
Tactics in the March to Suffrage
Students examine the tactics supporters of the woman suffrage movement used in their long quest to gain the right to vote through primary source analysis, consider the effectiveness of various social movement strategies, and create their own tactical plan to affect change on an issue relevant to their own lives.