Curated OER
Loyalists and Loyalism in the American Revolution
Students engage in activities to understand how ideologies were constructed before and during the Revolutionary War. How and why were some "reluctant revolutionaries" turned into whig patriots willing to fight against the British empire,...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Dueling Telegrams: 1963 Verbal Power Play Between Wallace and JFK
Information, inferences, and innuendos. Text and subtext. Class members examine telegrams exchanged between President John F. Kennedy and Alabama Governor George Wallace, studying both what is stated and what is implied by the diction...
NOAA
I Can't Breathe!
The Gulf of Mexico dead zone, an area of low oxygen that kills marine life, costs the United States $82 million every year. Young scientists research anoxic ocean environments then come up with a hypothesis for the cause of the Gulf of...
Curated OER
There Was Always Sun
Students investigate the chronicles of history about the Negro Leagues baseball by using rare historical footage and interviews with Black baseball greats. Students also examine how to work in groups to use online resources to reinforce...
Curated OER
Cells=Life!
Ninth graders share what they know about cells. In this biology instructional activity, 9th graders study different microscopic images of the cell. They draw one and explain to their partner why they chose that image.
Curated OER
The First "Colored" World Series
Students utilize reading and listening skills in order to discover the key issues in American history and Black baseball history. Students investigate the beginning of the Negro Baseball Leagues and its signature historical baseball...
National First Ladies' Library
Save the Animals: The Creation of the ASPCA
Students read Black Beauty and study the history of the founding of the ASPCA and learn about endangered species today. Then they write a short paper about the book, or on some aspect of the history of the ASPCA, and, after exploring the...
Curated OER
A Story on a Vase
Students associate a hydria with Greek myths. In this Greek art and mythology lesson, students examine a scene on a hydria, then choose a Greek myth to illustrate on their own painting.
Curated OER
Australian Aborigine Lizard Painting
Students become familiar with Australian "dot paintings." In this Australian Aboriginal Lizard painting lesson, students make illustration of three types of lizards and complete pictures using "dot painting." Students recognize the...
Curated OER
Can't Live With 'Em, Can't Live Without 'Em
Students compare/contrast the factors that create strong relationships between countries, researching the evolving relationship between Britain and France. They create a scrapbook that documents the major events in the history of Britain...
PBS
African-Americans in the American West
Secondary learners explore the westward movement of African Americans. Segmented into four time periods, the lesson provides an overview of how African Americans experienced westward expansion. Learners view PBS specials on the westward...
Curated OER
Life, Camera, Action
Students investigate the history, politics and culture of Somalia. They analyze media coverage and portrayal of the country. They focus on the role of media in reporting on Somalia and the current debate over the film Black Hawk Down.
Curated OER
Pestilence and Plague
Learners investigate various disease epidemics that have devastated the world population at different points in history and examine the diseases' effects on the countries they impacted.
Curated OER
Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. DuBois: The Problem of Negro Leadership
Students focus on the problem of African American leadership throughout American history. In groups, they research the life and works of Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois and how they worked to promote the need for African American...
Curated OER
Deep like Rivers: Four African American Poets of the 1920s and 1930s
Students examine work by outstanding African American poets from the time period of the 1920s and 1930s. They study aspects of American and African American social, cultural and artistic history that influenced the content of some of the...
Curated OER
African Americans in Aviation: The 1940s- A Decade of Change
Learners investigate African Americans in aviation. In this primary resources lesson plan, students examine primary resources to research the history of African American in aviation. Learners answer two research questions and write an...
Curated OER
A Look at Virginians During Reconstruction
Fourth graders examine slavery and Reconstruction in Virginia. In this Virginians during Reconstruction instructional activity, 4th graders research primary sources for the story of William Jasper and other slaves. Students hypothesize...
Curated OER
Birmingham Blues
Learners investigate racial inequality and prejudice in American history through the words of Langston Hughes, an American black poet. They develop and share thoughtful collages and presentations inspired by the words of Langston Hughes.
Curated OER
Family Origins and American Cultural Pluralism
Young scholars explore, analyze and discuss family origins, special legacies, and racial/cultural groups in literature and art that exposes them to positive examples in African-American history and culture. They encounter examples from...
Curated OER
Breaking the Chains, Rising out of Circumstances
Students research, write, and draw about Roman versus American slavery. In this slavery lesson plan, students look at the Roman portraits of slaves, its influence on Western European art, and compare Roman slavery to American slavery.
National First Ladies' Library
The Debate on Slavery
Young historians research the debate over slavery; some students take the pro-slavery side and others the anti-slavery side. They take the role of a character such as a plantation owner, a legislator, a free Black, a slave, or a northern...
Curated OER
Adopt a Constellation
Students adopt a constellation and find detailed information about their constellation. For this constellation lesson plan, students use the web to find information about a constellation of their choice. They identify the history of the...
Curated OER
Chinese Calligraphy
Students explore Chinese calligraphy. In this art and social science activity, students copy the Chinese character ideograms in order to create words or phrases.
Curated OER
With Malice toward None: Lincoln's Assassination
Students study the manhunt for, John Wilkes Booth, the man who assassinated Abraham Lincoln. In this lesson about a president, students write and role-play they are announcers who are informing the world of the assassination. Students...