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Whiteboard
ClassFlow

Class Flow: Benjamin Franklin Timeline

For Teachers 6th - 8th
[Free Registration/Login Required] This is a timeline of Benjamin Franklin's life. Each flipchart page highlights a high point in Franklin's life.
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Unknown Type
My Hero Project

My Hero: Science Hero: Benjamin Franklin

For Students 3rd - 8th
This brief article overviews some of Benjamin Franklin's accomplishments as a scientist and a political diplomat, whose efforts not only made him "one of the most famous scientists of his day," but also a hero to early American Colonists.
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Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Neh: Edsit Ement: Jefferson vs. Franklin: Renaissance Men

For Teachers 6th - 8th
In this lesson plan, students will consider "Jefferson vs. Franklin: Renaissance Men." The plan includes worksheets and other student materials that can be found under the resource tab.
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Website
PBS

Pbs: Benjamin Franklin: An Extraordinary Life: World of Influence

For Students 9th - 10th
Read a five-part synopsis of Franklin's engagement with the world beyond America's borders, beginning with his celebrity status as a world-renown scientist. Includes write-ups of his time in London and Paris and of his extensive...
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eBook
PBS

Pbs: Benjamin Franklin: An Extraordinary Life: First Silence Dogood Letter

For Students 9th - 10th
Read the text of the first letter Franklin wrote to the "New England Courant," in 1772, under the Silence Dogood pseudonym.
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eBook
PBS

Pbs: Benjamin Franklin: An Extraordinary Life: Franklin's Thirteen Virtues

For Students 9th - 10th
Understand the virtues valued by Franklin, and other eighteenth-century men and women, by perusing this list.
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Website
University of Groningen

American History: Outlines: Benjamin Franklin's Rising Sun

For Students 9th - 10th
Franklin, as the oldest delegate to the Constitutional Convention, recognized the arguments against the proposed new government and the strength of the Federalists. The essay gives insight into Franklin's views on the drafted...
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Activity
The Franklin Institute

Franklin Institute Online: Electrified Ben

For Students 9th - 10th
This site from the Franklin Institute Online provides a somewhat simplistic but interesting tale of Ben's electrical activities. Fine link to "electricity bells", in Franklin's own words. Some other links to projects, maybe not so...
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Lesson Plan
Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian Learning Lab: Making Friends With Franklin

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
This site is an introduction plus a series of three lesson plans that explore Franklin's portraits plus aspects of his work in science and writing.
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Lesson Plan
ReadWriteThink

Read Write Think: History Comes Alive: Developing Fluency and Comprehension

For Teachers 2nd - 5th Standards
Let the power of imagination and inference serve as a "time machine" to bring Benjamin Franklin into the classroom! History and science come to life in a dialogue with Franklin the inventor, developed through instructional activity...
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Handout
Florida State University

Florida State University: Magnet Lab: Timeline of Electricity and Magnetism: 1750 1774

For Students 9th - 10th
With his famous kite experiment and other forays into science, Benjamin Franklin advances knowledge of electricity, inspiring his English friend Joseph Priestley to do the same.
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Activity
Read Works

Read Works: The First American

For Teachers 6th - 9th
[Free Registration/Login Required] This passage contains information on Benjamin Franklin and his earning of the title "First American" nickname. This passage is a stand-alone curricular piece that reinforces essential reading skills and...
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Activity
Read Works

Read Works: The Shocking Truth

For Teachers 5th
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about Ben Franklin's discovery of electricity. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
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Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Neh: Edsit Ement: Jefferson vs. Franklin: Revolutionary Philosophers

For Teachers 6th - 8th
In this lesson plan, students will consider "Jefferson vs. Franklin: Revolutionary Philosophers." The plan includes worksheets and other student materials that can be found under the resource tab.
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Primary
Library of Congress

Loc: Journals of the Continental Congress

For Students 9th - 10th
These journals from the Continental Congress of the United States will provide students with a greater understanding of the foundations of American government as established in the late 18th century. Includes handwritten documents by...
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Handout
Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian Education: Spotlight Biography Inventors

For Students 9th - 10th
This site provides information on American inventors Benjamin Franklin, Robert Fulton, Eli Whitney, Thomas Jefferson, Isaac Singer, Wilbur Wright, Thomas Alva Edison, Elias Howe, and Alexander Graham Bell. It offers pictures from and...
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Activity
PBS

Pbs Liberty!: High Tea in Boston Harbor

For Students 9th - 10th
Presented in a newspaper format, this site explores the rise of independence in the colonies with a focus on the Boston Tea Party as it occurred on April 1, 1774 and Benjamin Franklin's experience in London. Content includes a look at...
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Website
Other

Indiana University: Secrets of the Hellfire Club

For Students 9th - 10th
An excellent collection of published articles, and a video, on the Hellfire Club, its history, and the people involved with it, including Benjamin Franklin.
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eBook
Other

Hillcrest High School: The Colonies Come of Age: The Commercial North [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th
A chapter from a history text that looks at the Northern colonial economy, colonial town life, the immigrant groups who settled there, slavery in the North, the role of women, the Salem witchcraft trials, and the influence of the...
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eBook
Project Gutenberg

Project Gutenberg: Audio Books

For Students 9th - 10th
A special subcollection of Project Gutenberg's online book catalog: audio books, recorded by real people (there is also a computer-generated audio books collection). Currently includes 35 or so selections ranging from fairy tales,...
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Article
Other

Flickr: The Lives and Times of the Hell Fire Club

For Students 9th - 10th
A article on the Hell-Fire club, its history, what they did, and the people involved with it, including possibly Benjamin Franklin. Published in BEYOND magazine in 2008.
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Primary
US National Archives

National Archives and Records Administration: Founders Online

For Students 9th - 10th
This site provides the texts of nearly 200,000 historical documents related to six Founding Fathers, including the papers of George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison. The...
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Lesson Plan
Huntington Library

Huntington Library: Six Important People From Our Nation's History

For Teachers 5th
In this lesson, 5th graders examine the lives of six people who were important in early American history. They include Abigail and John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, and George Washington. Readings include...
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Graphic
Curated OER

Educational Technology Clearinghouse: Clip Art Etc: Benjamin Franklin Tracy

For Students 9th - 10th
Benjamin Franklin Tracy (April 26, 1830 - August 6, 1915) was a United States political figure who served as Secretary of the Navy from 1889 through 1893, during the administration of U.S. President Benjamin Harrison. Tracy was a lawyer...

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