Easter in the classroom is a lot like Christmas in the classroom: there is an unavoidable religious element, but it is also a holiday celebrated as a secular day of fun in the United States, and there are a lot of enjoyable things you can do in your classroom if… Continue reading
Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States. In 2012, 2017, 2020, and 2024, the people of Puerto Rico voted on whether to become the 51st state in the Union, and the majority of voters said yes. Puerto Rico was devastated by Hurricane Maria in 2017. News coverage made… Continue reading
Bring Mardi Gras fun into your classroom with three easy lesson plans combining art, social studies, critical thinking, and physical education. Mardi Gras is a largely secular celebration with a religious history . If you want to explain the background of the day, you’ll need to begin with Lent. Lent… Continue reading
Horton Hears a Who was written by by Dr. Seuss, whose real name was Theodor Seuss Geisel, in 1954. Cartoon versions were released in 1970 and 2008. You can watch the entire 1970 TV special on this video: In the picture book, Horton hears the sound of someone calling for… Continue reading
Laos is a beautiful country in Southeast Asia. This is the Patuxai or Victory Gate in the capital city, Vientiane. It was built in honor of the warriors who fought for Laos’s independence from France, which owned Laos from 1893 to 1953. Pha That Luang is also in Vientiane. This… Continue reading
For a thousand years, from around the late 800s until the 1880s, Samurai warriors served the noble families and royal courts in Japan. Much like the knights of Europe, the samurai were a special class of fighting men who wore finely made armor and used special weapons. We see them… Continue reading
The Sherwin Miller Museum of Jewish Art at the Fenster/Sanditen Cultural Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is a lesser-known gem of an art museum in a town with a surprising wealth of art museums. The Sherwin Miller specializes in Jewish art, with a wide range of exhibits. Art works in multiple… Continue reading
We met this mummy at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City. We appreciate their giving us permission to take and use these photos. Read more about this mummy on the Nelson-Atkins website. Mummifying the bodies of people when they died was a way that the ancient Egyptians showed… Continue reading
Do you observe Columbus Day on October 12 at your school? Some schools, cities, and even states have replaced Columbus Day with Indigenous People’s Day. We’d say that you still need to study Columbus in your American history lessons, even if you don’t observe Columbus Day. Whether you consider Christopher… Continue reading
The Tulsa Massacre, sometimes known as the Tulsa Race Riots, was a shocking event in 1921. Perhaps equally shocking is the fact that this event is rarely covered in classrooms. It’s not easy to look back at troubling events, but they are part of our history and should not be… Continue reading
