+
Unit Plan
Library of Congress

Loc: Walt Whitman Notebooks

For Students 9th - 10th
An amazing site, full of primary source documents, that offers a glimpse into the life and thoughts of American poet Walt Whitman. By paging through Whitman's notebooks, you can see a record of his ideas and witness lines of verse taking...
+
Website
Stanford University

Beyond the Bubble: History Assessments

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
[Free Registration/Login Required] A collection of innovative assessments, interactive rubrics, and annotated samples of student work with an emphasis on primary source documents for the use in a wide range of history concepts.
+
Website
PBS

Wnet: Thirteen: Slavery and the Making of America: Freedom & Emancipation

For Students 9th - 10th
Using primary documents, oral histories and other historical resources, learn about the African American reaction to emancipation and to events from the Reconstruction period following the Civil War.
+
Website
University of California

University of California, Davis: The History Project

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
The History Project is a growing collection of lesson plans, teaching tools, digitized images, and documents for the teaching of history. Includes assignments for having students apply analytical skills to primary sources.
+
Unit Plan
Washington State University

Washington State University: Brief Timeline of American Literature and Events

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
A timeline of the social, political, historical, and literary history of America from the 1500s to the 1920s. It offers links to primary sources including historical and literary works including the original U.S. Constitution. RL.11-12.9...
+
Primary
Other

Gettysburg College: Civil War Era Collection

For Students 9th - 10th
A special collection of political cartoons, maps, letters, photographs, artifacts, etc. all relating to the Civil War Era.
+
Unit Plan
Thinkport Education

Thinkport: America Goes to War

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
This module uses excerpts from four presidential speeches delivered during World War ll as a means to instruct students about finding the central idea and supporting evidence in primary source documents.
+
Primary
George Mason University

Chnm: Children & Youth History

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
"Children & Youth in History is a world history resource that provides teachers and students with access to sources about young people from the past to the present."
+
Lesson Plan
Library of Congress

Loc: Her Story

For Teachers 9th - 10th
A rich Library of Congress resource page that is filled with links to historical and primary documents offering a female perspective throughout history. Lesson plan links are also given.
+
Lesson Plan
Library of Congress

Loc: Interviews With Today's Immigrants

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This site, part of a larger lesson plan about immigration from the Library of Congress, provides interviews that students had with immigrants from around the world.
+
Lesson Plan
Library of Congress

Loc: Teachers: The Immigrant Experience: Down the Rabbit Hole

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Through a series of six activities, young scholars read about, connect to, and draw conclusions about the immigrant experience, via personal experience and a collection of resources, including Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland," oral...
+
Lesson Plan
Library of Congress

Loc: Teachers: The American Dream

For Teachers 9th - 10th
With the help of digitized primary documents -- pictures, photograph, recordings, and written accounts -- students will explore and define what the "American Dream" meant for people over the course of the nineteenth and twentieth...
+
Website
Curated OER

National Park Service: Eleanor Roosevelt, American Visionary

For Students 9th - 10th
This site features photos and artifacts from the life of one of the most dynamic and controversial First Ladies in U.S. history, as well as a virtual tour of her home.
+
Activity
Library of Congress

Loc: On the Homefront: America During Ww I and Ww Ii

For Students 9th - 10th
Using primary source documents from the Library of Congress, learn about volunteer work, civil defense, conservation efforts, economic initiatives, and patriotic support on the homefront in both World War I and World War II.
+
Primary
University of Groningen

American History: Presidents: Gettysburg Address

For Students 9th - 10th
This site provides the text of the Gettysburg Address.
+
Website
Library of Congress

Loc: American Treasures: Benjamin Franklin: In His Own Words

For Students 9th - 10th
Learn about the life and contributions of Benjamin Franklin by examining his letters, books, cartoons, speeches, and manuscripts. An excellent resource for teaching and learning about the history of the United States using primary source...
+
Website
University of Washington

University of Washington: Communism in Washington State

For Students 9th - 10th
Did you know the Communist movement made a large impact on the state of Washington? Site contains the history of the movement that took hold of the state through interviews, film, pictures, and newspapers.
+
Lesson Plan
PBS

Pbs Teachers: Conflicting Newspaper Accounts (Civil War Lesson Plan) [Pdf]

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Multilayered lesson plan that begins with analysis of a series of photographs of the battle of Antietam and ends with writing an account of the battle in the style of a nineteenth-century war correspondent from opposing perspectives of...
+
Primary
US National Archives

Our Documents: Emancipation Proclamation (1863)

For Students 9th - 10th
Image of handwritten copy of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, accompanied by an explanation of the speech's purpose, impact, and role in American history.
+
Website
PBS

Crucible of Empire: Spanish American War Resources for Teachers

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Find a collection of resources assembled by the producers of a PBS documentary about the Spanish-American War that supports classroom instruction on various aspects of the war. Includes interviews with historians; a transcript of the...
+
Primary
Duke University

Special Collections Library: Rose O;neal Greenhow Papers

For Students 9th - 10th
A fascinating look at the documents concerning Rose O'Neal Greenhow. Included are letters she wrote from prison.
+
Primary
PBS

The West: Documents on the Sand Creek Massacre

For Students 9th - 10th
Contains the text of documents on the Sand Creek Massacre, including two editorials from the Rocky Mountain News, Congressional testimony by John S. Smith, and a deposition by John M. Chivington
+
Primary
Library of Congress

Loc: American Memory: George Washington Papers: Series 2 Letterbooks

For Students 9th - 10th
The list in Washington's own hand of his nominations for various offices in his administration including Attorney General.
+
Primary
Other

New York State Archives: Erie Canal Time Machine

For Students 9th - 10th
Take a trip back in time to 1825 to learn about the Erie Canal. Resources includes three projects that require students to look at documents and answer questions.