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Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: Assassination of the President:attempted Murder of Secretary Seward

For Students 7th - 8th
This excerpt from an 1865 newspaper, Evening Star, contains multiple accounts of the night President Abraham Lincoln and Secretary of State William Seward were attacked. The attack came only five days after Confederate General Robert E....
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Website
PBS

Pbs: American Experience: Earth Days: Timeline:the Modern Environmental Movement

For Students 9th - 10th
Trace the advance of the environmental movement from 1948 through the 1980s. Read about the legislation promoting a healthy environment passed under both Democratic and Republican presidents.
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Activity
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University

De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: A New Day [Pdf]

For Teachers 4th
"A New Day" is a one-page, fictional reading passage about children who learned about civil rights marches while visiting their grandfather in Mississippi. They helped people register to vote before President Obama was elected for the...
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Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: "Day of Infamy" Speech

For Students 9th - 10th
A learning module that begins with "'Day of Infamy' Speech" by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned online...
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Graphic
Harp Week

Cartoon of the Day: On This Day: May 13, 1882

For Students 9th - 10th
Flooding along the Mississippi River system has been a problem for many states and presidents. Look over this political cartoon drawn by Thomas Nast and read a little history behind the problem and see why President Arthur vetoed the...
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Lesson Plan
Digital History

Digital History: The First Hundred Days

For Teachers 9th - 10th
It is truly amazing to see how much legislation President Franklin Roosevelt was able to get through Congress in the first one hundred days of his administration. Read about the many programs that were implemented in an attempt to stem...
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Website
New York Times

New York Times: On This Day: Harry S. Truman: Decisive President

For Students 9th - 10th
A New York Times obituary of Harry S. Truman, which outlines his life as a Senator, Vice-President, and President. Read about his domestic and foreign policy decisions.
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Article
BBC

Bbc News: On This Day: 7 February 1945: Black Sea Talks Plan Defeat of Germany

For Students 9th - 10th
Read about the meeting in Yalta in February, 1945, between President Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Marshal Joseph Stalin. Find the statement released on February 7 that discusses the purpose of the meeting, and read a...
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Website
Library of Congress

Loc: America's Story: Abraham Lincoln's Inauguration

For Students 3rd - 5th
Review the events of the day when Abraham Lincoln was sworn into the office as President and read portions of his first inaugural address.
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Handout
Other

Mr. Lincoln's Whitehouse: Andrew Johnson

For Students 9th - 10th
A look at Andrew Johnson, Lincoln's vice-president in his second term. Descriptions of him on Inauguration Day are interesting to read. The surprise selection, of course, became president upon Lincoln's death.
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Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: Environmental Reform

For Students 5th - 8th
Environmental awareness in the United States became more focused upon the publication of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring. Read about student protests, presidential legislation, and a new desire to protect the environment.
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Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Neh: Edsit Ement: Presidential Inaugurations

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
This resource provides step-by-step lesson plans that detail the Presidential Inauguration. It offers links to superb primary sources (photos, poems, audio, etc.) that catalog past inaugurations. This resource will certainly help...
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Website
PBS

Wnet: Thirteen: Freedom: A History of the u.s: New Deal

For Students 6th - 8th
Read about Franklin Roosevelt's background, his political experience before he was elected president in 1932, and his actions to help the people of the United States in the grips of the Great Depression.
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Website
Harp Week

Harp Week: Presidential Elections: 1908 Taft v. Bryan Overview

For Students 9th - 10th
What a great resource this is. The four-page oveview of the campaign of 1908 begins with a review of the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt. Read about the nomination of William Howard Taft, Roosevelt's acolyte, sure to carry on the...
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Primary
Other

U.s. Securities and Exchange Commission: Securities Act of 1933 [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th
President Roosevelt and his administration accomplished a lot during his first one hundred days in office. One piece of legislation was the Securities Act of 1933. Read the text of the entire act on this site. [pdf]
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Website
Digital History

Digital History: Franklin Roosevelt and the Depression [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th
After reading brief biographical information about Franklin Roosevelt, find out what he did immediately upon being sworn in as president in 1933. Find out about the legislation that aimed to encourage trust in banks, and the legislation...
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Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: A Bank Holiday

For Students 5th - 8th
Actions taken by Franklin D. Roosevelt upon becoming president in 1933. Read about how he took immediate steps to restore confidence in the banking segment of the American economy.
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Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: Woodrow Wilson's New Freedom

For Students 5th - 8th
Read about the domestic legislation of Woodrow Wilson, a progressive president who won the election of 1912. See how the policies he proposed won him the support of those who believed in the platform of the Bull Moose Party.
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Website
Digital History

Digital History: The War Is Finished [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th
Read about the end of the Vietnam War after the peace agreement in January, 1973. Find out about the violations of the agreement by both the North and South Vietnamese and the eventual fall of the South Vietnamese government.
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Website
Digital History

Digital History: Politics During the 1920s

For Students 9th - 10th
Read about the presidents who held office during most of the 1920s. Both were essentially unremarkable, but Warren Harding, whose administration was beset by scandal, did have some accomplishments. See why Calvin Coolidge was such a...
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Handout
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: "Massive Resistance" and the Little Rock Nine

For Students 9th - 10th
Read about the famous civil rights protest in Little Rock, Kansas in 1957 when nine African American students attempted to enter Central High School on the first day of school. Despite the presence of federal troops at the school for the...
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Website
Digital History

Digital History: The Farmer and the Depression [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th
One of the first laws passed in Franklin Roosevelt's first hundred days was the Agricultural Adjustment Act. Read about how it helped farmers in crisis. and how it was the forerunner of the federal farm program in existence today. [pdf]
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Website
Digital History

Digital History: The Farmers' Plight

For Students 9th - 10th
Read about the plight of American farmers in the Great Depression. Franklin Roosevelt instituted several programs to help the rural population, the most important of which was the Agricultural Adjustment Act. Find out whom this act...
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Interactive
PBS

Pbs Kids: Painting Presidential Portraits

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Want to be president for a day? This online lesson plan will have students exploring the role of our presidents past and present. Through art connections the learners will be led through a series of fun activities on their way to...