Curated OER
Library of Congress Learning Page: The Historian's Sources Lesson Overview
Young scholars study techniques for analyzing primary sources. Finally, students apply these techniques to analyze documents about slavery in the United States.
Curated OER
Sectionalism and the Kansas-Nebraska Act
Students define and discuss sectionalism and popular sovereignty, analyze impact of popular sovereignty in creation of state of Kansas, compare issues in territorial Kansas to current politically divisive topic, and evaluate primary...
Curated OER
Immigration and Migration: Today and During the Great Depression
Students conduct interviews, analyze primary sources including docuements and images to gain an inderstanding of the causes and effects of he Great Depression and immigration.
Curated OER
The Grapes of Wrath: Scrapbooks and Artifacts
Students interpret historical evidence presented in primary and secondary sources. In this Great Depression lesson, students read John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath and use ethnographic research processes...
Curated OER
Immigration: Our Changing Voices
Students identify how immigration affects the family and or community. In this Immigration lesson, students examine traditional migration and how immigration has changed over time. Students will consider their own families and history...
Curated OER
Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X: A Common Solution?: Lesson Plan
Students explore the ideological and political development of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X through primary source documents. They identify the various personal, social, and political factors that influenced Martin Luther King,...
Concordia College Archives
History and Musical Aesthetics
What are the musical elements that characterize a school's fight song or its alma mater? Class members listen to examples of fight songs and alma maters from various schools, play a listening game, and then create a list of the...
iCivics
A Very Big Branch
Through detailed secondary source reading material and an interactive "true/false" activity, learners discover the depth and complexity of the executive branch in the United States government. Topics covered include executive...
California Polytechnic State University
Australian Geography Unit
At the heart of this resource is a beautifully detailed PowerPoint presentation (provided in PDF form) on the overall physical geography of Australia, basic facts about the country, Aboriginal history, and Australia culture and lifestyle.
Southern Kennebec Child Development Corporation
Sun Blocks: Building a Foundation for Healthy Skin
Here comes the sun! Primary graders engage in activities that teach them how to protect themselves from the effects of UV rays. They learn that each season (fall, winter, spring, and summer) offers its own special challenges so they...
University of California
The Civil War: Lincoln’s Speeches
Abraham Lincoln is responsible for uniting the states during the most tumultuous periods in American history, and for his elegant oratory that kept the Union believing in its cause. Young histoians analyze various speeches by America's...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
A Worse Death: War or Flu?
In a instructional activity that integrates history and mathematics, class members create graphs that compare military death statistics from World War I with those that resulted from the influenza pandemic of 1918.
NPR
Same-Sex Marriage
The battle over same-sex marriage is a prevalent issue in the United States, and a valuable topic to be discussed in your social studies classroom. Here is a basic outline of introductory questions, focus questions, vocabulary, and media...
Curated OER
African American Identity in the Gilded Age
Ninth graders examine the tension experienced by African-Americans as they struggled to establish a vibrant and meaningful identity based on the promises of liberty and equality in the midst of a society. In this American History...
Curated OER
Politics and Economics of Land Settlement in Colonial North Carolina
Tenth graders examine the political nature of land settlement in North Carolina. In this geography lesson, 10th graders analyze primary sources. Students discover North Carolina industries during colonial times.
Harry S. Truman Library & Museum
Marshall Plan: Convince the American People
This is an excellent resource for US history classes, especially AP history. After learning some background on the Marshall Plan, the class, divided into two groups, researches opposing positions on this aid program. Groups read and...
Curated OER
Pocumtucks In Deerfield
Students read a story about the Pocumtucks' religious beliefs. Using the text, they discover their concept of land ownership and how they migrated within their territory in different seasons. They use primary and secondary sources to...
Curated OER
Analyzing the Lewis and Clark Journals
Learners examine and interpret Corps of Discovery journal entries as primary documents/sources providing insight into the Lewis and Clark expedition's journey. They present information they have documented on included activity sheet in...
Curated OER
Letter Writing and Abigail Adams
Third graders learn the importance of letter writing for communication. In this letter writing lesson, 3rd graders identify how letter writing was important in the life of Abigail Adams. Students understand what a primary source is and...
Facing History and Ourselves
Analyzing Historical Evidence
High schoolers examine World War I war crimes. In this world history instructional activity, students use primary and secondary sources to research and understand the systematic nature of the Armenian Genocide. High schoolers reflect on...
Curated OER
Recruitment
Fifth graders analyze and then draw recruitment posters. In this Revolutionary War instructional activity, 5th graders analyze recruitment posters and discuss the attitude towards African Americans. Students analyze primary documents...
Curated OER
Westmoreland Trail
Seventh graders complete a unit of lessons on the Westward expansion of the U.S. They play the computer game, Oregon Trail III, read primary source documents, conduct Internet research, write diary entries from the pioneer viewpoint, and...
Curated OER
A Passport to WWII and the Holocaust
Students explore the Holocaust. In this interdisciplinary lesson, students research Hitler's rise to power, the terror of concentration camps, and World War II. Students read The Diary of Anne Frank , listen to a Holocaust survivor, and...
Curated OER
A Victorian Prison
Prisons in Victorian England were miserable places, designed to deter people from committing crimes. To understand why these prisons were so tough, young historians review documents and pictures from Coldbath Fields prison. After...