Social Studies Critical Thinking
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Brooklyn, New York, United States
About the store
I have been a social studies and English Language Arts teacher in inner-city public high schools in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Manhattan for 19 years. My students are usually behind in their reading and writing levels, English Language Learners, students with disabilities, and/or disenfranchised youth from low income and minority backgrounds. Many of my lessons are geared towards engaging these students with history through role playing and simulation activities based on what actually happened in history and also using as many primary sources as possible. Please feel free to e-mail me at feinberg.adam@gmail.com if you have any questions or comments, as I am always trying to learn and grow based on my interactions with other educators.
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Ukraine and Russia - what is happening?
I wrote this to explain three reasons why Russia is invading Ukraine: a historical, economic, and political perspective. Hopefully this helps students understand what is happening while giving them a little history along the way. There are maps, videos to watch, and analysis questions throughout, so it can also spark discussion and debate! It is formatted for google classroom.
6th - 12th, Adult Education, Higher Education
European History, Russian, World History
Also included in:Â U.S. Foreign Policy Bundle
Gunpowder Empires (Ottoman, Safavid Persia, Mughal) Activity
This activity has students in groups of 3. Each handout is the same up to where it describes students' roles. It first describes how the fall of the Mongol Empire led to the rise in 3 "gunpowder empires" in the Middle East and South Asia: Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals. The students read their roles, which are either Suleiman the Magnificent (Ottoman Empire), Abbas the Great (Shah of Safavid Persia), or Akbar the Great (Emperor of Mughal India). These three empires had conflicts they needed res
6th - 12th, Adult Education, Higher Education
World History
Also included in:Â World History: Paleolithic/Prehistoric to the end of the Middle Ages
14th Amendment and the Equal Protections Clause
This handout has students learn about the 14th Amendment's equal protections clause and then read about and analyze several seminal Supreme Court decisions about the clause including Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education. They also analyze the stop and frisk policy of the NYPD, the 1964 Civil Rights Act and protected classes, and subsequent Supreme Court cases that relate to it (Lawrence v. Texas, Obergefell v. Hodges, and Bostock v. Clayton County). It ends with asking students to
6th - 12th, Adult Education, Higher Education
Civics, Government, U.S. History
CCSS
CCRA.R.1
, CCRA.R.2
, CCRA.R.3
 +8
Also included in:Â Law and Justice Curriculum
What is a government shutdown?
This handout briefly describes how much money the government spends on each expense and what causes a government shutdown. Students are asked analysis questions about the federal budget and who is impacted by a government shutdown. It should ideally be done after explaining Congress and how a bill becomes a law (https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Congress-The-Legislative-Branch-and-How-it-Works-10222688) and exposing students to all the executive branch agencies and what they do (https:
6th - 12th, Adult Education, Higher Education
Civics, Government, U.S. History
Also included in:Â Participation in Government Curriculum
Proxy Wars during the Cold War - Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan
This handout explores three of the proxy wars the U.S. engaged in during the Cold War: Korea, Vietnam, and Afghanistan, and asks students analysis questions after each one.
6th - 12th, Adult Education, Higher Education
U.S. History, World History
CCSS
CCRA.R.1
, CCRA.R.2
, CCRA.R.3
 +8
Also included in:Â Asian Studies Bundle
Appeasement of Germany Activity
This activity helps students understand how Italy, Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union (students are assigned one of these 4 countries) viewed Germany during the events of the 1930s (rearmament, the Rhineland, Anschluss, the Sudetenland, annexing Czechoslovakia, and invading Poland) and how their own domestic issues impacted foreign relations at the time. Students gain a lot of understanding with this activity!
7th - 12th, Adult Education, Higher Education
European History, World History
CCSS
CCRA.R.1
, CCRA.R.2
, CCRA.R.3
 +15
Also included in:Â European History (Ancient Greece to the Fall of the USSR)
Iran and the US at War: What is Going on?
This activity gives students definitions and examples of soft power and hard power. Then, after reading about many pivotal events and time periods in Iranian history from WWII until now, students need to analyze the best soft or hard power methods that should be used to influence the Iranian government. Students are asked to collaborate with others, and then they learn about what actually happened, so they can compare their ideas to reality. It is a Microsoft Word document, so
8th - 12th, Adult Education, Higher Education
U.S. History, World History
Also included in:Â Iranian History bundle
Race and Racism Resources
This bundle has several resources that can help students understand the concepts of race and its impact on society
8th - 12th, Adult Education, Higher Education
U.S. History, World History
Ancient History Activities up through the Middle Ages
These activities can help engage students with ancient history from the Paleolithic Era up through the Middle Ages.
7th - 10th
Ancient History, Middle Ages, World History
Supremacy & Commerce Clauses, & 10th Amendment (Distance Learning and COVID-19)
This handout helps students understand the 10th Amendment to the Constitution, the Supremacy Clause, the Commerce Clause, and seminal Supreme Court cases related to these. It includes a final question about COVID-19 in relation to Federal and state powers. It is formatted for Google Classroom.
6th - 12th, Adult Education, Higher Education
Civics, Government, U.S. History
CCSS
CCRA.R.1
, CCRA.R.2
, CCRA.R.3
 +8
Also included in:Â Law and Justice Curriculum
Civil Rights Movement Activists Activity
This activity gives students the role of one of twelve civil rights activists: Asa Phillip Randolph Malcolm X Angela Davis Rosa Parks Ella Baker Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Bobby Seale Thurgood Marshall Marcus Garvey Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Ture) James Baldwin James Farmer As their role, they need to talk to 8 other activists and take notes about their methods and goals. It is formatted for Microsoft Word so you can add more activists into the format if you want. This can serve as a j
7th - 12th, Adult Education, Higher Education
Black History, U.S. History
Also included in:Â African-American History from slavery to the Civil Rights Movement
Constitutional Convention and Compromises Debate Activity
This activity has students represent the 12 states at the Constitutional Convention (each 4 pages is a different state). They need to analyze how they think the Constitution should handle several conflicts at the Convention, then try to agree on compromises with their peers (the other states), and finally, analyze how the Constitutional Convention actually resolved these conflicts. I have gotten some very rich debates from students using this handout.
8th - 12th, Adult Education, Higher Education
Civics, Government, U.S. History
CCSS
CCRA.R.1
, CCRA.R.2
, CCRA.R.3
 +8
Also included in:Â Law and Justice Curriculum
Yalta Conference Activity
This activity has students each given a role of either Stalin, Churchill, or Roosevelt and negotiate agreements at the Yalta Conference, despite their competing interests. It should be done where everyone who is Stalin, Churchill, or Roosevelt starts together, collaborating and planning their negotiations, and then the groups are split into small groups of three, where each group has one Stalin, one Churchill, and one Roosevelt.
8th - 12th, Adult Education, Higher Education
U.S. History, World History
Also included in:Â 20th Century History Activities
Healthcare in the U.S.
This multi-page handout walks students through understanding healthcare, health insurance, public and private healthcare systems in the U.S. and five other countries (Canada, the UK, France, Switzerland, and Australia), problems with the U.S. healthcare system, and analyzing how a single-payer system would work in the U.S.
8th - 12th, Adult Education, Higher Education
Economics , Government, U.S. History
Participation in Government Curriculum
This curriculum is 54 assignments that try to engage students in how government connects to their lives. Any of them can be purchased individually, but this bundle is the best deal, as each resource only costs $1.57 each! Week 1: The first 4 assignments have students think about ethics/morals, the social contract theory and philosophies underlying the U.S. government system, Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and how government can help with them, and a brainstorm about societal problems and how the go
9th - 12th, Adult Education, Higher Education
Civics, Government, U.S. History
CCSS
CCRA.R.1
, CCRA.R.2
, CCRA.R.3
 +9
Civil Rights Organizations to help Black Americans
This handout starts with students brainstorming 10 problems that impact people of color today, then gives students information about seven organizations designed to help Black Americans: The United Negro Improvement Association The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People The Southern Christian Leadership Conference The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee The Congress of Racial Equity The National Urban League Black Lives Matter Students need to analyze which of their ten
7th - 12th, Higher Education
Black History, U.S. History
Also included in:Â African-American History from slavery to the Civil Rights Movement
Globalization Handout
This handout helps students understand globalization through examples of how iPhones, Nike shoes, Starbucks coffee, semiconductors, and a variety of other products are made around the world. They brainstorm the impacts on businesses, workers, and consumers in both developed and developing countries, as well as using some multiple choice questions to check for their understanding.
8th - 12th, Adult Education, Higher Education
Economics , World History
Also included in:Â Trade Throughout History Activities and Tasks
Credit Recovery English Curriculum
These assignments can have students practice their reading and writing skills in a summer school setting. The goal of the course is so students gain a better understanding of literary elements and techniques, research methods, media literacy and evaluating the credibility of sources, writing expository and persuasive pieces, and improving their skills with using sources to prove their point. The assignments are: 1) An overview of literary elements and techniques 2) An exploration of tone and mo
6th - 12th, Adult Education, Higher Education
English Language Arts
Fahrenheit 9/11 Movie Guide and Assignment
This handout includes a note-taking sheet with four sections for each part of the film (time stamps included), where students write notes about the U.S. government's actions under Bush, and their questions. Then it concludes with a final assignment for students to analyze their questions and the film. There is a final two pages with a summary of the movie as a scaffold for students.
9th - 12th, Adult Education, Higher Education
U.S. History
Soviet-Afghan War and its Impacts (September 11 attacks)
This is a short worksheet/activity where students read about the causes of the Soviet Afghan War, and then look at 4 situations (the U.S. involvement during the war, the U.S. involvement after the war, the causes of the September 11 attacks, and the aftermath of the U.S. War in Afghanistan) to analyze how the U.S. should or shouldn't have acted. The handout has gotten my students to discuss and debate about these complex situations, and it will only take a 45 minute class period. I also use thes
8th - 12th, Adult Education, Higher Education
U.S. History, World History
Also included in:Â Cold War Bundle
Showing 1-20 of 567 results
About the store
Experience
I have been a social studies and English Language Arts teacher in inner-city public high schools in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Manhattan for 19 years. My students are usually behind in their reading and writing levels, English Language Learners, students with disabilities, and/or disenfranchised youth from low income and minority backgrounds. Many of my lessons are geared towards engaging these students with history through role playing and simulation activities based on what actually happened in history and also using as many primary sources as possible. Please feel free to e-mail me at feinberg.adam@gmail.com if you have any questions or comments, as I am always trying to learn and grow based on my interactions with other educators.
Teaching style
Project-based Inquiry
Common Core aligned
Argumentative speaking and writing
My own education history
Undergraduate Degree from New York University in Secondary Social Studies Education
Graduate Degree from the City College of New York in Secondary Social Studies Education
One year Common Core Literacy Standards Training from Teachers College at Columbia University
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