8th Grade Historical Literacy consists of two 43 minute class periods. Writing is one 43 minute block and reading is another. The teacher has picked themes based on social studies standards, and a read-aloud novel based on social studies serves as the mentor text for writing and reading skills. More social studies content is addressed in reading through teaching nonfiction reading skills and discussion.
Standards reflect CCSS ELA, Reading, and Social Studies Standards.

Students will analyze photos for specific details that reveal the owner of a specific room.Then the analysis will include literature but will focus on literary devices and connotations.Also, students will have the opportunity to summarize text and then use evidence to support specific connotations.

This lesson provides students with tools to analyze primary source newspaper articles about the Great War (1914"“1917) in order to understand public opinion regarding the U.S. entry into the war from multiple perspectives.

Introduction to the history of Rapa Nui and Polynesia (~7,300 words) for middle and high school students.

Tribal Government on the Wind River Reservation is in a state of flux. In the accompanying lessons plans (found in the Support Materials), learn how the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes govern their people, what is the relationship between Tribal, State, and Federal government?

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

Students will demonstrate an understanding of the workings of tribal government on the Wind River Reservation by creating a written report.
Students will understand the differences and similarities between state, tribal and federal governments and their functions, structures, and powers.

How does the media influence peoples’ opinion of the government during a national crisis? Students will read several articles on a current (or historical) national crisis and write an argumentative essay analyzing how the media influences the opinion of the people toward the government during a national crisis using relevant evidence from both current and historical resources.

Every media source has a story to tell--a driving purpose. The media that people consume largely shapes their world views. The US public is becoming more divided partially due to the consumption of increasingly biased news. As a critical consumer of media, It is important to be able to separate fact from opinion. In this unit, adapted from the high school version, students will become critical consumers of news, by identifying media bias in order to become better informed citizens.  NOTE: This unit has been adapted for use at the middle school level from the resource Identifying Media Bias in News Sources by Sandra Stroup, Sally Drendel, Greg Saum, and Heidi Morris.

As part of Washington's Kip Tokuda Memorial Civil Liberties Public Education Program, which strives to educate the public regarding the history and the lessons of the World War II exclusion, removal, and detention of persons of Japanese ancestry, KSPS Public Television and Eastern Washington educators Starla Fey, Leslie Heffernan, and Morgen Larsen have produced Injustice at Home: the Japanese American experience of the World War II Era.

This educational resource--five educational videos and an inquiry-based unit of study--will help students understand Executive Order 9066 and the resulting internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, the failure of political leadership to protect constitutional rights, the military experience of Japanese-Americans during WWII, and examples of discrimination and racial prejudice the Japanese-American community faced before, during and after WWII.

In addition, students will analyze the short and long term emotional effects on those who are incarcerated, identify the challenges that people living outside of the exclusion zone faced, examine how some Japanese Americans showed their loyalty during the period of incarceration, and learn about brave individuals who stood up for Japanese Americans during this time.

The Miss Indian America Pageant was launched by Sheridan residents in the 1950's to combat discrimination. In the accompanying lesson plan (found in the Support Materials) students will view the story told through the eyes of Miss Indian America title holders who held a reunion in 2013, serving as grand marshals in the Sheridan, WY Rodeo parade and commemorating a legacy of bridging cultures.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

Students will identify the reason why the town of Sheridan, WY started the Miss Indian America Pageant.
Students will define the given vocabulary words.

In this seminar, you’ll learn about dialogue, including how writers use it to “move” their stories along. As a narrator, you will practice using dialogue, which will help you understand how people involved in conflict interact genuinely. Some lines of dialogue will be longer than others; there’s a reason for that. Some narratives have very little dialogue; there’s a reason for that. Ultimately, you will continue to analyze the perspectives of characters (people) in a narrative setting to better understand the human condition and how their voices contribute to it. This seminar will require innovation on your part, as you will not only learn terminology associated with dialogue, but also put those devices into action as you create your own (mini) narrative with characters who interact.StandardsCC.1.4.9-10.MWrite narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events.CC.1.4.9-10.NEngage and orient the reader by setting out a problem, situation, or observation, establishing one or multiple points of view, and introducing a narrator and/or characters.CC.1.4.9-10.PCreate a smooth progression of experiences or events using a variety of techniques to sequence events so that they build on one another to create a coherent whole; provide a conclusion that follows from and reflects on what is experienced, observed, or resolved over the course of the narrative. 

Learn what the futures of the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes are, and how the tribes will retain their culture and tradition while preparing to move into the future? In the accompanying lesson plan (found in the Support Materials) students will understand the importance of education and perservation of the culture.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

Students will demonstrate an understanding about the importance of education and preservation of the language and culture among the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone Tribe from the past, present, and future.
Students will learn about the Federal Indian Policy to civilize Native Americans through the establishment of Native American Boarding Schools incorporating key vocabulary words.
Students will learn about how the practice of forced assimilation contributed to the diminished use of the Shoshone and Arapaho people’s lifestyle, languages, and traditions.
Students will discuss the development of Indian boarding schools in the United States and Wyoming.
Students will analyze the differences between the early educational experiences of the Native American and non-native students.
Students will examine the importance of education as a value that the Shoshone, Arapaho, and non-native communities share.
Students will consider how Native American students and non-native students can learn from each other to dispel the myths and stereotypes that exist in contemporary society.
Students will learn why oral traditions are important.
Students will understand why respect for elders is important in the tribe.
Students will gain an awareness of why traditional dancing and singing is important to traditions and culture.
Students will explore the significance of the buffalo to the Shoshone people living on the Wind River Reservation.
Students will learn that through traditional concepts of understanding, the Shoshone people, as well as many other Plains tribes, were able to survive through their sustenance on the buffalo.
Students will discuss the relationship that Native American people have with the buffalo (i.e., spiritual, sustenance, etc.) and how oral traditions play a critical role in the preservation of Native ways of knowing.

Students analyze James Madison’s notes to understand why delegates at the Constitutional Convention in 1787 compromised on equality in order to form a United States government, what steps they later took to create a Bill of Rights, and whose rights were protected and whose were not. Students learn about key efforts to uphold the rights of people in the United States, from the Constitutional Convention in 1787 to examples of participatory journalism today in order to respond to the question: How can we use examples of activism from the past and present to recognize America’s potential for living up to its democratic ideals? Students then analyze artifacts from the Colored Conventions, which was one of the first Black political intellectual movements in the United States to advocate for the rights of people who have been marginalized. Students create an original political pamphlet to raise awareness and inspire action on issues of injustice and inequality today.

Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun provides a compelling and honest look into one family's aspirations to move to another Chicago neighborhood and the thunderous crash of a reality that raises questions about for whom the "American Dream" is accessible.

Since 1885 the Shoshone people have been without buffalo on their land. After decades of effort beginning in the 1990’s a coalition of individuals and organizations have taken the first step in returning the North American Bison to their native lands. In the accompanying lesson plan (found in the Support Materials) students will understand that nowhere is this action more culturally and ecologically significant than on the Wind River Indian Reservation in central Wyoming.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

Students will explore the significance of the buffalo to the Shoshone people living on the Wind River Reservation.
Students will learn that through traditional concepts of understanding, the Shoshone people, as well as many other Plains tribes, were able to survive using the buffalo.
Students will research the controversial issue surrounding the return of the buffalo to the Wind River Reservation and understand how arguments against returning them almost derailed efforts by the Shoshone tribe.

 This inquiry unit leads students through the different perspectives behind a decision to have a dam removed. This unit looks at similar Washington state dam removal decisions as well as the complex issue of having the Election dam removed near Puyallup, WA. Students will be introduced to the stories and traditional ways of knowing about salmon that the Puyallup Tribe has built their culture upon. Then they will explore the science behind hydroelectricity and build models to discover how carbon neutral energy is gathered through hydro dams. This inquiry unit ends with students researching different perspectives surrounding the current (2021) decision to remove the Electron dam including: the Tribe’s Fishery department, the ecosystem, the city council, the fishermen and the hydro-electrical company who currently owns the dam. With their research, students will do a socratic seminar to mimic the court case lawsuit that is ongoing against the Electron Dam. 

This StageNotes® education guide includes lessons in Langauge Arts, Social Studies, and Social Emotional Learning to be used in conjunction with an exploration of the Broadway musical, Beautiful - the Carole King Musical.

This lesson can work with any content standards.  It is a lesson for students to learn a text marking procedure.  Teachers and students can apply it to any non-fiction text on any non-fiction topic.  Extensions include academic speaking and writing prompts.  

This unit begins by asking students to consider life in Africa before colonization and the forced enslavement of Africans. Students read Omar ibn Said’s autobiography to understand the Islamic scholar’s experiences before he was captured in West Africa and after he was enslaved in America. Excerpts from Olaudah Equiano’s autobiography provide a detailed glimpse of his childhood in Africa before he was kidnapped and sold into slavery. Students examine these two stories and others for evidence of resistance, liberation, connection to culture, and shared humanity as they develop a response to the question: How can we better understand America’s past and present by listening to often omitted and unheard voices from the slave trade? Working in teams, students create a podcast about an unheard story in order to start a conversation about the lasting effects of the Transatlantic slave trade and the importance of Black history in America.