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Primary
Library of Congress

Loc: Exploring the Early Americas: Columbus and the Taino

For Students 9th - 10th
An on-line exhibit displaying copies of Columbus' journals, other writings about his voyages and findings, as well as information and artifacts of the Taino, the Native Americans Columbus encountered on San Salvador.
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Activity
Library of Congress

Loc: America's Story: Daniel Boone First Saw the Woodlands of Kentucky

For Students 3rd - 8th
Explore the wilderness of Kentucky with Daniel Boone. Here is a brief summary of his travels. Also features a portrait of Boone, a photograph of his cabin, and a beautiful engraving of Cumberland Gap.
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Activity
University of Virginia

University of Virginia: Innocents Abroad; Or, the New Pilgrim's Progress

For Students 9th - 10th
Extensive collection from the University of Virginia that explores many aspects of Twain's short story, "Innocents Abroad; or, The New Pilgrim's Progress." Included are links that examine pre-texts, letters, sales, advertisement,...
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Primary
Other

All the News? American Revolution & Maryland's Press

For Students 9th - 10th
Explore this collection of digitized historical newspapers and broadsides from the 1760s about pre-Revolutionary topics. Requires Adobe Reader.
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Lesson Plan
Other

Bringing History Home: Communities Long Ago

For Teachers K - 1st
This Grade 1 unit explores U.S. communities in a historical context. By exploring their own community's buildings and services of both long ago and today, children in non-Native American communities are introduced to concepts of change,...
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Article
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: Teacher Serve: Jazz and the African American Literary Tradition

For Students 9th - 10th
Article explores the influence of jazz on African American literature from the early history of jazz, noted jazz artists, the black-white tensions within jazz, to its literary influence after World War II.
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Handout
University of Groningen

American History: Outlines: The Literature of Exploration

For Students 9th - 10th
Had history taken a different turn, the United States easily could have been a part of the great Spanish or French overseas empires. Its present inhabitants might speak Spanish and form one nation with Mexico, or speak French and be...
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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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Website
Other

Mississippi State: Sacred Harp Singing

For Students 9th - 10th
A comprehensive website on Sacred Harp singing, a non-denominational community singing event that focuses on group participation. Explore this rich tradition at this website with historic background and audio files.
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Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Air and Space Museum: Black Wings

For Students 9th - 10th
An excellent resource to celebrate early black American aviators. Students will find thrilling tales of true courage concerning black Americans and the "Quest for Equal Opportunity."
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Website
University of Toronto (Canada)

University of Toronto: History of the English Language

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
What do you know about the origins of the English language? Explore this resource to learn more about this topic. This resource features links to several helpful sites.
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Website
McGraw Hill

Mc Graw Hill Higher Education: Old World, New Worlds

For Students 9th - 10th
This article from McGraw-Hill Higher Education discusses European exploration in the late 1400s and 1500s and its impact on English colonization hundreds of years later.
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Handout
American Museum of Natural History

American Museum of Natural History: Pelecanimimus Polyodon O Logy Card

For Students 3rd - 8th
Flip this interactive card to start learning about Pelecanimimus polyodon. Answer multiple-choice and fact-or-fiction questions and review some fast facts about this theropod dinosaur.
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Lesson Plan
Alabama Learning Exchange

Alex: Notable American Female Social Reformers

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This lesson will utilize the Internet to explore some of the more notable female social reformers in the United States from the mid-1850s to the early 1900s. Ideas for this lesson could include individual, group, or peer-to-peer...
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Lesson Plan
Library of Virginia

Virginia Memory: Blank Space: Mapping the Unknown

For Teachers 9th - 10th
How did early maps show the mapmakers' perception of the known world? Early mapmakers used maps drawn from coastal explorations, land travels, and even information heard word of mouth from American Indians or from colonists or traders....
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Website
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

Colonial Williamsburg: Numismatics: Coins and Currency in Colonial America

For Students 9th - 10th
Valuable lessons in the history of Europeans' early exploration and settlement of America can be gained by following the money used in trade. Coins and Currency exhibition lets you examine evidence of Spanish, British, Dutch, French, and...
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eBook
OpenStax

Open Stax: Challenges to Spain's Supremacy

For Students 11th - 12th
This section of a chapter on "Early Globalization" identifies regions where the English, French, and Dutch explored and established settlements, describes the differences among the early colonies, and explains the role of the American...
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Activity
Constitutional Rights Foundation

Constitutional Rights Foundation: Mendez v. Westminster: Paving the Way to School Desegregation

For Students 9th - 10th
Article and activity on early school desegregation case brought by the Mexican-American community of California. Students explore background information and evaluate the impact Mendez v. Westminster had on school desegregation, and then...
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Website
Library of Congress

Loc: The Atlantic World: America and the Netherlands

For Students 9th - 10th
Available in both English and Dutch, this Library of Congress and Library of the Netherlands collaborative project offers over 11,000 digitized images relating to the Dutch in America. Includes a letter describing the purchase of...
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Primary
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Living the Revolution: America, 1789 1820

For Students 9th - 10th
Over thirty primary sources explore the American Revolution covering the topics of early republican life, religion, politics, expansion, and equality. Includes notes and discussion questions.
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Unit Plan
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Huac: Backlash and Implications

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
These videos and support materials explore the intense division experienced by those who testified before and blacklisted by HUAC during the Cold War, focusing on the testimony of Elia Kazan. The videos are from American Masters None...
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Unit Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Neh: Edsit Ement: Mapping the Past

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Students will examine European world maps from the Middle Ages, the Age of Discovery, and the period of New World exploration. They will then look at maps that record the early exploration of the American West and collect present-day...
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Website
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

Colonial Williamsburg: Colonial Religion

For Students 9th - 10th
The site provides a detailed overview of role religion played in the lives of the colonists. Content explores how religion played a part in the Revolution, and the statute for religious freedom, as well as providing a lesson plan, a link...
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Lesson Plan
George Mason University

Chnm: Differences Among Colonial Regions

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Learners will explore the differences among the three colonial regions of New England, Mid-Atlantic/Middle, and the Southern colonies. In small groups for each region, students will observe and note details of pictures, maps, and...