Curated OER
Before We Travel, We Research
Young scholars conduct research on a historical site in preparation for a field trip. In small groups, they conduct research, and present the information to the class in the form of a PowerPoint presentation or poster.
Curated OER
Preserving History for Illuminating Today's Values and Traditions
Students use the processes of oral history and the latest technology to engage in historical inquiry and the preservation of the past. The work in cooperative groups or individually to discover and capture the past by interviewing family...
Curated OER
Telling the Stories the Past Tells Us
Students create historical stories based on factual evidence. In this Telling the Stories the Past Tells Us lesson, students write historical stories using strategies such as characters, plot, setting, and voice. Students analyze several...
Curated OER
Bill of Rights: Shapers of Meaning
Students review the Bill of Rights as a class. In groups, they use the internet to research the contributions made by historical figures in forming these rights. They create a poster showing the information they collected and present...
Curated OER
Analyzing and Evaluating Holocaust Literature
Students examine the history of the Holocaust through literature. Using different pieces of literature, they critique the items in terms of being historical accurate and its value in telling the stories of the Holocaust. They create a...
Smithsonian Institution
Hidden George Washington: Word Search with a Twist
Learners identify significant people, places, events and milestones in George Washington's personal and professional life. They complete crossword using facts about George Washington.
Curated OER
History Talks
Students engage in a lesson that deals with a historical figure from the area of Mississippi. Then questions are asked of them using a game show format that is followed with additional ones used for brainstorming for more ideas of inquiry.
Curated OER
Will the Real Samuel Adams Please Stand Up
Students participate in a "To Tell The Truth" game show activity in order to determine the role of Sam Adams in the Revolutionary events that took place in the Boston area. They ask questions of three students posing as Sam Adams to...
Curated OER
Primary Sources in the Classroom: A Gold Rush Perspective
Students develop and hone their historical inquiry and analytical abilities. They draw up a list of 20 essential items they would have to bring to survive one year as a Gold Rush stampeder.
Curated OER
Slavery and Abolition: Three Unforgettable Names
Students research the people and events involved in the abolitionist movement prior to the U.S. Civil War. They read about and discuss the roles of Nat Turner, Harriet Tubman, and John Brown. Students complete a word splash, Venn...
Curated OER
American Colonial Life in the Late 1700s: Distant Cousins
Students explore daily life and its influences in the late 1700s for two families in different colonies- Delaware and Massachusetts by becoming historical detectives. After gathering information from artifacts to make inferences about...
Curated OER
1984: How Much Fact in Fiction?
Students compare and contrast the society in Orwell's 1984 with modern society. For this 1984 lesson, students research the historical climate in which Orwell wrote the novel. Students create a comparison chart of privacy issues in the...
Curated OER
Freedom is Not Free, Lest We Forget
Learners explore the causes of the American Revolution. In this American Revolution lesson plan, students describe the major and important people of the Ameican Revolution. Learners watch videos fill out timelines do Internet research to...
Curated OER
All Aboard- Central Pacific Railroad
Second graders explore the construction of the Central Pacific Railroad. In this U.S. history lesson, 2nd graders discuss vocabulary and events that occurred in the 1860s pertaining to the construction of the Central Pacific Railroad....
Curated OER
An Ancient Revolution: The Written Word
Students examine the Bible, one of the earliest written sources, as a compilation of narratives, and search the resources on the HERITAGE DVD-ROM for historical "proof" as well as create their own stories and scripts based on ancient...
Curated OER
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?
Learners work in groups to imagine, research and simulate a dinner party involving an author, a fictional character, and a significant historical figure as dinner guests. The activity uses Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and the time...
Curated OER
The History of the Holocaust From A Personal Perspective
Young scholars research and identify how Holocaust events affected lives of real people who lived in Europe from 1933 through 1945 and after, and create original artwork, poetry, and essays that reflect understanding of Holocaust, and...
Curated OER
In Memory
Students examine the issues that designers and civic planners face in designing memorials to historic tragedies, wars and other events. They design memorials dedicated to the events of September 11, 2001.
Curated OER
Create a Hero Trophy
Students research and read about the lives of some famous American heroes. They examine the qualities that make or made these people heroes and how the time period they lived in influenced their images as heroes.
Curated OER
Get to Know Your Bill of Rights
Sixth graders research and examine the first ten amendments to the Constitution of the United States of America. They sequence events significant to this time period, read and discuss text, and in small groups prepare and present the...
Curated OER
Civil Rights Movement
Students identify and acquire an understanding of what the Civil Rights Movement consisted of, the issues that sparked the Movement, the people who participated and the events that occurred during the Movement. They also identify how to...
Curated OER
Notable Nebraskan Research and Student Presentations
Fourth graders explore notable Nebraska. In this instructional activity on the history of Nebraska, 4th graders will use primary sources to research people of events from Nebraska's history. Students will create a presentation to share...
Curated OER
Keith Haring & Social Awareness
Students view four sections of one of Haring's paintings. They describe the people and characters they see. Students participate in a variety of classroom art activities such as: Making a treasure box modeled after Keith Haring's work,...
Curated OER
Revolutionary War
Students discover that one to explore about the past is to read historical novels. They see that in every war there are many viewpoints to consider. Students are introduced to the young adult historical novel My Brother Sam Is Dead. ...