Authentic Lessons for 21st Century Learning
In this lesson, students analyze ancient river civilizations to understand how the environment impacts both human settlement and the characteristics of a civilization. Then, students connect the characteristics of civilization to the one they live in. This is a multimodality lesson, which means it includes... Read more »
Created by: Laura Halstied
Date Updated: August 4th, 2026
Characteristics of Civilization
In this lesson, students investigate how trade spreads religion by examining Mansa Musa’s cultural impact on West Africa. Through images, a video, and an article, they analyze his empire and contributions. As an extension, students explore the annual re-plastering of the Grand Mosque to see how his... Read more »
Created by: Laura Halstied
Date Updated: August 3rd, 2026
Trade and Religion in West Africa
In this lesson, students examine how the Chinese Civil War of the 20th century resulted in the creation of communist China and democratic Taiwan. Students reflect on the relationship between China and Taiwan by analyzing facts about both locations, reading about the conflict, and reflecting on a video.... Read more »
Created by: Laura Halstied
Date Updated: July 9th, 2026
China and Taiwan
In this lesson, students examine the political, social, and economic conditions that led to the French Revolution. Students further explore these conditions by reading and summarizing primary source documents, watching a video about the Three Estates, and creating a pie chart to represent the causes... Read more »
Created by: Laura Halstied
Date Updated: July 21st, 2026
Exploring Causes of the French Revolution
This resource is geared towards students' goal setting and reflection process while participating in extracurricular clubs. Students set a goal for a specific skill they are working on and are given several ways to reflect on their progress towards that goal. Read more »
Created by: Laura Halstied
Date Updated: September 15th, 2025
In this session, participants consider how hands-on learning about careers can benefit students' awareness and understanding of what careers are available. Participants engage in an activity to compare and contrast abstract and hands-on learning, review the research about hands-on career exploration,... Read more »
Created by: Laura Halstied
Date Updated: July 27th, 2026
In this activity, students participate in hands-on career exploration stations then reflect on their new knowledge about career possibilities. Read more »
Created by: Laura Halstied
Date Updated: December 16th, 2025
This self-reflection strategy provides a way to consider what is going well and what can be improved. Read more »
Created by: Laura Halstied
July 9th, 2025
This brief examines how the implementation of procedures and rules leads to a more productive classroom that engages students at higher levels. Read more »
This brief examines how teachers can create a positive classroom culture to improve student engagement. Read more »
