Digital Public Library of America
The American Whaling Industry
When thinking about the American whaling industry most imagine Moby Dick and Nantucket sleigh rides, harpoons and scrimshaw, whale-oil lamps and baleen in women's corsets. But it may come as a surprise that the industry was also...
Purdue University
Animal Diversity and Tracking
What exactly are those glowing eyes in the night? Learners run an experiment to attract local wildlife and then document the number of visitors by identifying their tracks. They then analyze the data to draw conclusions about the types...
EngageNY
Building Background Knowledge: The Desegregation of Schools and Brown v. Board of Education
Scholars gain interest in the case of Brown v. Board of Education by watching a video clip and completing a quick write. They then independently read excerpts from Brown v. Board of Education and work through a Steps for Getting the Gist...
EngageNY
Advantages and Disadvantages of Various Mediums: The Montgomery Bus Boycott Speech
Text, speech, phone call. Scholars discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using speech and written text to express ideas. They use an Analyzing Mediums graphic organizer to analyze speeches by Martin Luther King Jr. They then...
American Battlefield Trust
Gettysburg Address: Abraham Lincoln's Greatest Speech
Most Americans have heard of the Gettysburg Address, but may not know what it means and why is it so important. Following guidance and scaffolded prompts, scholars analyze the short document that left an undeniable impact on the American...
American Museum of Natural History
Feed the Birds
What kinds of birds are common in the area? Young scientists use household supplies to create bird feeders. They then document the birds that come to their feeders by keeping journals.
EngageNY
Individual Research
Class members choose an ad they want to analyze for their performance task. They then read specific text based on the ad they chose. The instructor guides learners through a Model Research Synthesis document in which they try to...
EngageNY
Analyzing Douglass’s Purpose: Learning to Read
Three for three. Groups of three complete Analysis note catchers that cover excerpt three of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Before beginning, learners discuss group work by looking at the excerpt analysis role document and...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Why We Have Freedom of the Press
A newspaper receives documents that reveal not only a devastating secret the public needs to know, but also troop movements that could put American lives at risk: to publish or not to publish? Using background readings, discussion...
Facing History and Ourselves
Making Rights Universal
Class members continue their discussion of Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). After examining an infographic the summarizes the document, groups examine four of the rights to decide if they are or are not universal, and if...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Presidential Electability
There are specific constitutional requirements that candidates must meet to become president of the United States. In addition, there are societal opinions that affect a candidate's electability. Class members examine historical...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Impeachment Explainer
Andrew Johnson (1868) Bill Clinton (1998) and Donald Trump (2019) were impeached by the House of Representatives. To demonstrate their understanding of the impeachment process, individual create their own "Impeachment Explainer." Writers...
American Museum of Natural History
Create Your Own Time Capsule
The corona virus pandemic is indeed a historic event. A time capsule activity permits young historians to document these days of social distancing, remote learning, and quarantine by collecting artifacts that capture what their lives are...
Facing History and Ourselves
Defining Freedom
The Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves in the Confederate states. The Thirteenth Amendment banned slavery in the United States. However, neither document defined freedom. The second lesson in the Reconstruction Era series examines...
EngageNY
Analyzing Author’s Point of View: Earthquake Excerpt of “Comprehending the Calamity”
How do authors convey their points of view? Using the resource, scholars read an excerpt from a primary source document about the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Then, they complete graphic organizers to analyze the author's point of view.
EngageNY
Finding the Gist of the Immediate Aftermath: Excerpt of “Comprehending the Calamity”
Brace for the aftershocks! Scholars read an excerpt from a primary source document about the immediate aftermath of the 1906 San Francisco fire and earthquake. Next, pupils complete an anchor chart, analyzing how the author introduces,...
DocsTeach
Analyzing a Petition about Slavery
Practice analyzing primary sources in a thought-provoking lesson on the impact of slavery. Young historians read a petition regarding the Fugitive Slave Law and answer a series of questions to understand the importance of the document....
DocsTeach
Deborah Sampson Gannett: A Woman Soldier in the Revolutionary War
Fact or fiction: Women fought as soldiers in the Revolutionary War. The resource highlights the life of Deborah Sampson Gannett, a woman who disguised herself as a man to fight during the war. Academics decipher a legal document and...
DocsTeach
Election of 1800
The 2020 election is not the only unpredictable one in history. The Election of 1800 highlighted an unforeseen event in a presidential election. The activity reviews documents from the elections and what happened when the electoral...
DocsTeach
Why Did Women Want the Right to Vote?
No taxation without representation may have been the battle cry of the American Revolution, but women used the same argument when demanding their right to vote in the late 1800 and early 1900s. Young historians examine petitions from...
DocsTeach
The Impact of Westward Expansion on Native American Communities
Although Westward Expansion is often romanticized, its impact was devastating on Native American communities. Primary source documents, including pictures of United States troops invading indigenous lands and Native American tribes, tell...
Facing History and Ourselves
After Charlottesville: Contested History and the Fight against Bigotry
History doesn't always reflect all sides. Academics discover how the remembered history of the Civil War differs for White and African Americans. The instructional activity explores how Civil War monuments and celebrations have racist...
Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation
The Chinese Exclusion Act
As part of a study of Angel Island Immigration Station, young historians examine the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the first restriction on the United States immigration based on race and nationality. They complete a matrix identifying...
DocsTeach
Extending Suffrage to Women
Votes for women! The activity highlights the push for the Nineteenth Amendment giving women the right to vote. High school scholars learn how the Fifteenth Amendment giving African American men the right to vote helped to spark the...
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