Center for History Education
This Land is Whose Land?
Whose land is it, anyway? Young scholars debate the question using primary sources from a case where Maryland indigenous people petitioned for land rights after they lost their original tribal lands. An included chart helps organize...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Creating the Office of the Presidency
The United States needed an executive power, but it wanted to avoid a monarchy. Using James Madison's notes on the Constitutional Convention, young historians look at the juggling act the Founding Fathers did to create a role for the...
National Endowment for the Humanities
The Question of Representation at the 1787 Convention
While the Constitution is considered enshrined today, its current form is the result of haggling at a secret convention in 1787. Using transcripts from the meetings and various plans as drafted by the delegates, class members unpack the...
Judicial Branch of California
A New Constitution….Your Turn!
It's the 1700s, and while returning home from the Constitutional Convention, pupils are propelled to 2777. The United States— emerging from a period of unrest and war—needs help developing a new constitution! Using the material from the...
Stanford University
King Philip's War
King Philip's War was the crescendo of a violent period between the Pequot and English colonists. Using documents from English settlers, including a contemporary report on the conflict, learners explore the little-known period. They then...
Stanford University
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre was a propaganda victory for those protesting British rule over the American colonies. By using images from Patriots, as well as the testimony of witnesses, scholars consider what may have happened on that fateful day...
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
What Brought Settlers to the Midwest?
Drawn by promises of fertile land, thousands of settlers poured West because of the Homestead Act of 1862. By examining images of the ads that drew them westward, learners consider the motivations for movement. They also consider how the...
iCivics
DBQuest: The Nashville Sit-In Movement
What was it like to be a part of the sit-ins during the Civil Rights Movement? Learners consider the question and whether the protests were effective using an online documents-based investigation. The program allows for virtual...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
African American Life After the Civil War - Sharecropping
What is the sharecropping system? What role did it play in the post-Civil War economy of the South? Who were the sharecroppers? Who employed them? How were they paid? To answer these questions, kids examine a series of sharecropper...
Urbana School District
Knocking Down Fences
After reading The Other Side and guiding children through a picture walk, third graders investigate evidence of the civil rights movement. In the mini unit, 3rd graders analyze photographs of the past and make connections between...
Student Handouts
Guy Fawkes Night
What happened on the fifth of November that has prompted an annual, national commemoration in Great Britain? Young historians look at a traditional English rhyme and folk tale from the seventeenth century that describes the failed...
Curated OER
Using Primary Sources: Letters from the Presidents
Students find out about the minds and thoughts of presidents through reading their actual letters. They explore the personal lives of presidents. They answer questions about a primary source. They write essays.
Curated OER
Pictures from Korea: Shards of an Almost Forgotten Past
Learners explore the Korean War through photography. In this Korean War lesson, students examine photographs taken by a soldier and respond to question about them.
Curated OER
After: A Study of Individual Rights
Use the dystopian novel After by Francine Prose to spark discussion about individual and student rights. Learners read the novel, evaluating how far a school can go to control its attendees. As they read, scholars fill out a chart...
Curated OER
Service Projects in the Dominican Republic
Students examine the role of Peace Corps volunteers. In this service instructional activity, students investigate service projects that feature agriculture, small business, education, environmental education, and health concerns in the...
Curated OER
Excerpt from Edward Bain's The History of Cotton Manufacture in Great Britain (1835)
Great Britain was where the industrial revolution began. The class reads an excerpt from a document written in 1835 describing cotton manufacture in Great Britain. They then answer two critical analysis questions.
Curated OER
Using Primary Source Documents
Learners examine copies of primary source documents and determine the document's value to a researcher. They analyze and evaluate the document for bias or contradiction. They know the difference between a primary and secondary source.
Curated OER
Hugh Miller's The Old Red Sandstone (1841)
Pollution has been an issue since the advent of stratified society. Learners will read this excerpt from Hugh Miller's The Old Red Sandstone (1841) then answer two document-analysis questions.
Curated OER
Revolution of 1848 - Alexis de Tocqueville
Document-based questions are a great way to increase understanding of a primary source document or prepare learners for a class discussion. Here, they'll read an excerpt from Alexis de Tocqueville's speech regarding the revolution of...
Curated OER
Excerpt from Elizabeth Gaskell's Mary Barton (1848)
Answering document-based questions is a great way to build reading comprehension and critical thinking skills. Learners read an excerpt from Elizabeth Gaskell's Mary Barton, then answer two related questions.
Curated OER
1900 America: Primary Sources and Epic Poetry
Using Walt Whitman's Song of Myself and Hart Crane's The Bridge as models, class groups first craft their own epic poems for 1900 and, using primary sources, create a multi-media presentation that captures the sights and sounds of life...
Curated OER
Civil War Photographs: What Do You See?
A study of an image from The Library of Congress collection Civil War Photographs 1861-1865 launches an investigation of the connection between the Civil War and American industrialization. After analyzing “Petersburg, Va. The...
Curated OER
The Underground Railroad
High schoolers write about the impact of the Underground Railroad. They examine primary documents as they conduct independent research to explore the role of the Underground Railroad during the fight for abolition. They compose essays...
Curated OER
The Real World Revisited
Class members participate in a series of hands on, online, and multimedia activities to identify the difference between primary and secondary sources. They watch a related video and visit a variety of sites to locate primary and...