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Activity
PBS

Primary Source Set: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
What did Jo write her stories with? How did the March sisters dress? A primary source set designed for Louisa May Alcott's Little Women prompts learners to look over images of household items and clothes from the 1860s before engaging in...
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Lesson Plan
Briscoe Center for American History

Identifying Primary Source Documents

For Teachers 4th - 7th Standards
Who is Mary Maverick and why is she important? the focus of this, the second in a series of five lessons that are designed to introduce middle schoolers to how historians use primary source documents to understand the past, is on how to...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Using Primary Source Documents

For Teachers 4th - 6th
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.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Reading Primary Source Documents: Comparing Sources

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Students analyze and compare various primary source documents. They formulate historical questions based on the documents.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Primary Source Analysis Worksheet

For Teachers 8th - 12th
In this Colonial America primary source analysis worksheet, reviewers respond to 5 short answer questions. Although the primary source documents are not included, the questions could be adapted to the analysis of any primary source.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Using Primary Sources: Letters from the Presidents

For Teachers 6th - 12th
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.
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Lesson Plan
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media

Continental Differences

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Middle schoolers break into groups and closely investigate primary sources associated with the seven different continents. After deciding which continent their primary sources relate to, representatives from each group present their...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rhetorical Devices in a Primary Source

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Analyze Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous and powerful "I Have a Dream" speech as a primary source document. After reading up on rhetorical devices and working in small groups to define terms, class members identify and explain the use of...
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Using Primary Sources: Nazi Spy Ring Busted

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Spy games are not just for professionals anymore! Scholars use short video clips, primary documents, and photographs to investigate Nazi spies in America during World War II.  The young detectives analyze the paranoia warfare can create...
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Lesson Plan
Center for History Education

Was the Stamp Act Fair?

For Teachers 3rd - 5th Standards
Pledge your loyalty to the king and the Stamp Act or sign an oath against the tax. After simulating an in-class tax for school supplies, young historians consider the reasons for the Stamp Act and similar colonial policies. The...
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Lesson Plan
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media

Early English Settlements History Detectives

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Young historians play the role of history detectives as they investigate some primary source texts and images related to the early colonization of America, The Jamestown Settlement, and the Mayflower Compact. 
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Inferring from a Primary Source: Close Read of Colonial Times Inventory

For Teachers 4th Standards
Teach your class about colonial America through an examination of primary documents. First though, start vocabulary notebooks for content-specific and academic vocabulary. Pupils can keep this record during the entire module. Once this...
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Activity
Thomas Jefferson Foundation

Personal Morals vs. Political Moves Document Based Essay

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Was Thomas Jefferson a hypocrite? Tackle this question with primary source analysis and an essay. The packet includes historical background, a writing prompt, a combined outline and checklist, and ten primary documents paired with...
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Lesson Plan
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Center for Civic Education

The Power of Nonviolence: What Is Nonviolence? What Does It Cost?

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Your young learners will delve into the language of primary source documents in order to identify the characteristics, benefits, and costs of nonviolence. The lesson plan includes a mix of activities, including an anticipatory activity,...
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Lesson Plan
National WWII Museum

Communities at War: Reading Primary Sources Imaginatively

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Uncle Sam wants you to support the troops. Learners use an engaging lesson plan to analyze primary and secondary sources to discover what life was really like for American citizens at home during WWII. Pupils complete worksheets, group...
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Worksheet
2
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Humanities Texas

Primary Source Worksheet: Thomas Jefferson, Message to Congress Concerning Louisiana

For Students 8th - 11th
Proficient reading of informational text, especially primary source documents, requires practice. This message from Thomas Jefferson about the Louisiana Purchase offers readers a chance to develop these comprehension skills.
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Using Primary Sources: Wide Open Town

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
A picture speaks a thousand words, no matter how old! Scholars use political cartoons from the era of Prohibition and the Temperance Movement to analyze what, a primary document (in this case, a bootlegger's notebook) is telling them...
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Activity
Digital Public Library of America

Ida B. Wells and Anti-Lynching Activism

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
A packet of 13 primary sources provides young historians with insight into the anti-lynching activism of civil rights Ida B. Wells. Included are images of Wells, her letters, a political cartoon, newspaper lynching announcements, and a...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Primary Sources and Protagonists: A Native American Literature Unit

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Introduce your middle schoolers to the lives of past Native Americans. First, learners work together to put photographs in a sequence. Then, using their sequence, they create stories to share with the whole class. No matter how old your...
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Activity
Digital Public Library of America

The Fifteenth Amendment

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Fifteen primary sources provide a context for a study of the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The packet captures the excitement for the changes promised by the amendment as well as the backlash against it.
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Activity
Digital Public Library of America

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is the focus of a teaching guide that introduces readers to some of the many controversies surrounding the use of the novel in classrooms. The packet includes 15 primary source excerpts and...
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Show and Tell Museum - Investigating Primary Sources: Read and Interpret Primary Sources

For Teachers 3rd
Scholars become detectives in a instructional activity that focuses on primary sources. Learners practice their observational skills by examining the teacher's artifact and visiting the Show and Tell Museum that highlihgts items from...
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Using Primary Sources: The Rogue's Gallery

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
What would be in your life's scrapbook? Scholars use short video clips, primary and secondary documents, and photos to investigate a 1909 scrapbook. They analyze and uncover what the Rogue Book tells them about the past in Western...
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Examining The Boston Massacre Through Primary Sources

For Teachers 5th
The Boston Massacre is the focus of a lesson that explores primary sources. Scholars examine two primary source images and discuss the different perspectives on the historical event. After groups read a researched account, they perform a...

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