Curated OER
Critique Sources
Students distinguish between primary and secondary sources. They study about fact, opinion, and recognize bias. Students find out if information is accurate or not and report on it. For the final project students create an annotated...
Curated OER
Establishment of Plainfield
Eighth graders analyze documents and maps of Plainfield, CT from different time periods, then, working in a small group, create a map for a giventime. In this Plainfield lesson, 8th graders read primary and secondary sources from local...
Curated OER
Symbols: A Reaction to Their Power
Students explore the concept of symbolism. In this social studies lesson, students examine primary and secondary sources regarding the use of symbols in the past and the impact of symbols in today's culture.
Curated OER
Magic Eye
Young scholars discuss the history of tobacco bag stringing. In this primary documents history lesson, students closely examine photographs of families who worked stringing tobacco bags. This lesson includes discussion questions and a...
Curated OER
Evaluating Books
What are the characteristics of a good research source? At the beginning of a research project, have your class brainstorm evaluative criteria for primary and secondary source material. They then use the generated list to guide their...
NYC Department of Records
Citizenship and Elections: The Importance of a Ballot
Approximately 58 prcent of those eligible voted in the 2016 US Presidential election. In an attempt to impress upon learners the importance of voting and voting rights, class members examine primary source documents related to the...
Curated OER
Alphabet Soup Job Descriptions
Eleventh graders investigate New Deal programs. In this Great Depression lesson, 11th graders read the provided source materials that detail the agendas of 3 New Deal agencies. Students complete the provided analysis sheets and then...
Curated OER
Lewis and Clark in Columbia River Country
Students interpret historical evidence presented in primary and secondary resources. In this research skills lesson, students research the death of Meriwether Lewis using forensic evidence presented in primary...
Curated OER
Labor Unions and Working Conditions:United We Stand
Students examine primary documents about the establishment of labor unions. For this organized labor lesson, students research the working conditions that contributed to the growth of the labor union movement. Students make classroom...
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
The Civil War: On the Homefront
Eighth graders examine the role of Indiana soldiers in the Civil War. In this American Civil War instructional activity, 8th graders listen to a lecture about the involvement of Indiana soldiers in the war and then analyze letters...
Curated OER
Immigrating to America
Students study the American immigration experience. In this Ellis Island lesson plan, students research primary documents from the immigration station, take a tour of the station, and then prepare and perform dramatic presentations based...
Curated OER
General Greene to General Marion: Your State is Invaded, Your All is at Stake
Third graders examine the contributions of Francis Marion and Nathaneal Greene. In this Revolutionary War lesson, 3rd graders use primary and secondary sources to research Marion and Greene and the accomplishments of their men during the...
Curated OER
Exothermic vs. Endothermic
The PowerPoint opens with video footage of the decomposition of nitrogen triiodide and then explains it with diagrams. Graphs of exothermic and endothermic reactions are exhibited, as well as one for the effect of a catalyst on reaction...
Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation
Making a Patriot Inquiry: Are Independence, Freedom, and Liberty the Same Thing?
As part of a study of the American Revolution, class members engage in an inquiry-based lesson that has them watch a scene from the play Slave Spy, examine multiple primary source documents, and then discuss the similarities and...
Curated OER
Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay Landscape Long Ago and Today
Combine a fantastic review of primary source analysis with a study of Captain John Smith's influence on the Chesapeake Bay region in the seventeenth century. Your young historians will use images, a primary source excerpt, and maps...
Smithsonian Institution
Latino Patriots
Pupils may not be familiar with Bernardo de Gálvez or Juan Seguín, but these Latinx patriots played important roles in American history. Using biographies of the Revolutionary War hero and Texan politician, historians consider how Latinx...
Library of Congress
Marco Paul's Travels on the Erie Canal: An Educational Voyage
Following the book, Marco Paul's Travels on the Erie Canal, readers complete an activity for each chapter, take part in discussions, and respond to several questions. To show what they know, scholars create an alphabet book using primary...
Arizona Department of Education
American History Impact of the Women’s Movement
Take a look at important images that depict the women's suffrage movement, the support for the Equal Rights Amendment, and wage equity for women over the last two centuries. As class members work through a instructional activity on...
Curated OER
To Strike or Not to Strike in 1830s Lowell: A Role Play
Role play as a person living in the 1830s working in a Lowell factory. The class will take on the role of factory owner, girl on strike, talk show host, and girl not wanting to strike. Each group will analyze and research their character...
University of California
The Civil War: The Road to War
The United States Civil War resulted in the highest mortality rate for Americans since the nation's inception. Delve deeper into the causes for the drastic separation of states with a history lesson plan that features analysis charts,...
Curated OER
Why Do Governments Exist? Locke, Hobbes, Montesquieu, and Rousseau
Here is a great secondary source reading that includes the primary ideas and philosophies of the famed Enlightenment philosophers: Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Charles Montesquieu, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. In additional to discussing...
Curated OER
1704 Attack on Deerfield
Class groups examine conflicting primary and secondary sources describing the 1704 attack on the fort at Deerfield by French and Native Americans and analyze the implications of discrepancies.
Curated OER
Meet Hannah the Weaver
Students analyze primary and secondary sources to explore slavery and emancipation, and write letter or diary entry from point of view of slave Hannah Harris or plantation owner Robert Carter. Students then dramatize their creative...