Curated OER
The Student Detective: A Textbook Investigation
Students identify factual information using their textbook as a source of inquiry.
They become aware that a social studies text can be an object of historical investigation and develop a sense of questioning evidence as presented in...
Curated OER
Mock Trial
High schoolers are provided a nontraditional approach to historical investigation. They research the history of the atomic age. Students choose a topic/subject to investigate that they could defend or dispute in a mock trial. A small...
University of Calgary
Ithaca College: Project Look Sharp: Media Construction of War
Provides a multi-unit curriculum kit relating to the study of war that incorporates media literacy. All material is free to download and includes teacher guides, student handouts, historical documents, slideshows, and more.
Library of Congress
Loc: American Time Capsule: Three Centuries of Broadsides and Other Printed Ephemera
This collection provides a unique view of American History using items such as posters, business cards, flyers, catalogs, advertisements and leaflets. These items capture experiences from important turning points such as the American...
Climate Literacy
Clean: Dead Diatoms Do Tell Tales
Students take on the role of climate detectives in this climate investigation. Teams make a model of sediment cores using glass beads and sand, study the core samples, and tell something about the hypothetical paleoclimate that existed...
Wisconsin Historical Society
Wisconsin Historical Society: A Handbook for Using Historical Documents [Pdf]
Teachers will find this a superb guide book for teaching learners how to critically examine documents from the past. The guide contains lessons and resources for Wisconsin history but the teaching methodology can be adapted for anywhere.
Other
The National Archives Experience: Digital Vaults
Browse through hundreds of historical records, including photos, documents, maps, artwork, video clips, and audio files dating from the 1800s to the present. The Digital Vaults enables visitors to customize their exhibit experience to...
Other
Georgia Tech Research Institute: Chronicling America: Us News Map
A fascinating way to look at history, this interactive map lets you search for a person, event, issue, etc. over a specified time frame and it maps newspapers containing related content onto a map of the United States. An additional...
Other
Historical Scene Investigation: The Boston "Massacre"
In this activity, students examine primary sources to learn about the perspectives of the different parties involved in the Boston Massacre of 1770, and to form opinions about who was responsible for what happened and whether the verdict...
Other
George W. Bush Library: What Do Historical Objects Tell Me? [Pdf]
A comprehensive instructional activity training students to analyze historical objects to determine features, reliability, authenticity, and provenance through observation skills encouraged through a variety of activities.
University of California
History Project: Identifying Colonial Diversity Through Passenger Lists [Pdf]
Lesson plan using primary sources in which students examine colonial ship passenger lists to identify diversity in the colonies.
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: Analyzing Artifacts
Learn the steps in the 5-step process that historians use when they analyze an artifact as you investigate what you can learn from Native American and other items.
Smithsonian Institution
National Postal Museum: A Student's Guide to Historical Research
This resource focuses on teaching students how to do historical research via a series of steps. Historical photos and documents are included as examples.
US National Archives
Docsteach: A Revolution, a Reaction and a Reform: National History Day
Students will analyze primary source documents related to the National History Day (NHD) theme for 2011-12: Revolution, Reaction, Reform in History, determine how the documents are connected to the theme, and evaluate the effectiveness...
Other
Widener University: The Nat Turner Project
The Nat Turner Project is a digital archive of primary source materials related to the Nat Turner Slave Rebellion, beginning with the experiences and living conditions of slaves prior to the revolt. The archive houses newspaper articles,...
Stanford University
Stanford History Education Group: Roman Republic
[Free Registration/Login Required] Lesson using primary resources in which young scholars investigate how democratic the Roman Republic was. Includes downloads for student materials, teacher mateials, PowerPoint, and original sources.
Stanford University
Stanford Education History Group: Battle of Thermopylae
[Free Registration/Login Required] Lesson in which students use primary resources to investigate questions and historian claims about the Battle of Thermopylae. Includes downloadable lesson plan, original documents, and PowerPoint.
Stanford University
Stanford History Education Group: Athenian Democracy Sac
[Free Registration/Login Required] Lesson in which students use primary source material from ancient Greece to determine the extent of its democracy. Includes downloads for teacher materials, student materials, PowerPoint and original...
Stanford University
Stanford History Education Group: Attila and Pope Leo
[Free Registration/Login Required] Lesson in which students use primary source art and text to determine what happened at a meeting between Attila the Hun and Pope Leo. Includes lesson plan, PowerPoint and original documents.
Stanford University
Stanford History Education Group: Assyrian Siege of Jerusalem
[Free Registration/Login Required] Lesson in which students corroborate an excerpt from a cuneiform tablet and a passage from the Book of Kings about Sennacherib's siege of Jerusalem in 701 BCE to determine what happened.
Stanford University
Stanford History Education Group: Mansa Musa
[Free Registration/Login Required] Lesson on Mansa Musa uses primary resources for historical investigation. Includes lesson plan, PowerPoint, and original documents.
Stanford University
Stanford History Education Group: Roman Empire and Christianity
[Free Registration/Login Required] Lesson in which students investigate several sources to determine why the Roman Empire persecuted Christians. Inlcudes downloadable lesson plan, PowerPoint, original documents, teacher and student...
Stanford University
Stanford History Education Group: Understanding the Black Death
[Free Registration/Login Required] Lesson in which learners compare two primary source documents to investigate how people experienced or understood the plague in 1348. Inlcudes lesson plan, PowerPoint, and original documents.
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of Natural History: The Secret in the Cellar
The Secret in the Cellar is an interactive web comic based on the real finding of a body from the 17th century in the Chesapeake Bay area. Using historical and archaeological clues, students are guided to discover the truth about how...