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Lesson Plan
National WWII Museum

Life in Auschwitz: Evaluating Primary Sources

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Historians explain what happened during the Holocaust, but only primary sources portray the true horror of places such as Auschwitz. Using accounts from those who survived the camps, as well as a Nazi government official's memoirs, class...
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Lesson Plan
National WWII Museum

On Leave in Paris: Maps as Primary Sources

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Primary sources—even those that seem mundane—offer a window into those who experienced history. Using a Red Cross map offered to soldiers stationed in Paris after World War II alongside worksheet questions, scholars consider what life...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Straight to the Source

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Research famous figures from history through the primary sources they created! Explore how these types of documents can enrich our study of the past with your middle and high school learners. They create picture books to illustrate...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Neighborhood or Slum? Snapshots of Five Points: 1827-1867

For Teachers 9th - 11th
How has your local neighborhood changed throughout recent history? Young researchers evaluate census data, images, and primary source descriptions describing the living situation in the antebellum Five Points neighborhood. They consider...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Comparing SLaves and Servants in Colonial New York

For Teachers 9th - 11th
Young historians compare and contrast differences in the laws that regulated the activities of slaves and servants. They review and analyze a series of primary source documents to explain the social constructs related to slaves and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Exploring the Irish in America Through Found Poetry

For Teachers 7th - 9th
What was life like for Irish immigrants settling in America during the late 1800's? Learners examine primary source documents, such as lyrics, poems, and letters, to understand the immigrant experience. They then use those primary source...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Using Primary Sources to Study the Holocaust

For Teachers 5th - 10th
Engage your middle schoolers with Pastor Martin Niemoller's famous poem that begins, "First they came for the communists." Now that you have their attention, send learners to the various work stations you created to have them explore...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

1900 America: Primary Sources and Epic Poetry

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Using Walt Whitman's Song of Myself and Hart Crane's The Bridge as models, class groups first craft their own epic poems for 1900 and, using primary sources, create a multi-media presentation that captures the sights and sounds of life...
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Lesson Plan
Civil War Trust

Civil War Photography: Photography as a Primary Source

For Teachers 4th - 7th Standards
Can we learn a thing or two about history by looking at pictures from the past? As young historians view 2-D and 3-D primary source photographs, they respond to a series of worksheets that guides them toward unveiling clues about the past. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Communities in Crisis Lesson 1: Primary Source? What is That?

For Teachers 5th - 10th
Distinguish between primary and secondary source documents using the theme of philanthropy. Middle schoolers discuss Anne Frank: The Diary of Young Girl as a way to study the past using a primary source. Then they investigate how to...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Who Freed the Slaves During the Civil War?

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Pose the question to your historians: who really freed the slaves? They critically assess various arguments, using primary sources as evidence. In small groups, scholars jigsaw 5 primary source documents (linked), and fill out an...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Qualifying to Vote Under Jim Crow

For Teachers 8th - 10th
Literacy tests, poll taxes, grandfather laws? Scholars study the systematic ways African-Americans were kept from voting even after it was made a law. They analyze a series of primary source documents, complete a worksheet, and engaged...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Primary Sources

For Teachers 9th - 11th
Materials provided by The Lower East Side Tenement Museum, located in New York City, offer researchers an opportunity to examine primary sources and use these sources to understand the past. Class groups analyze different documents to...
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Using Primary Sources: Wide Open Town

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
A picture speaks a thousand words, no matter how old! Scholars use political cartoons from the era of Prohibition and the Temperance Movement to analyze what, a primary document (in this case, a bootlegger's notebook) is telling them...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Applying KWL Guides to Sources with Elementary Students

For Teachers 2nd - 7th
What is a KWL chart? Here is a well thought-out lesson that has learners use KWL charts to gain historical perspective. Your class examines primary sources about historical events and identifies what they know, want to know, and,...
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Activity
Thomas Jefferson Foundation

Personal Morals vs. Political Moves Document Based Essay

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Was Thomas Jefferson a hypocrite? Tackle this question with primary source analysis and an essay. The packet includes historical background, a writing prompt, a combined outline and checklist, and ten primary documents paired with...
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Lesson Plan
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National Endowment for the Humanities

Using Historic Digital Newspapers for National History Day

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Your learners will take a trip through history as they peruse through historic digitalized newspapers, reading real articles from such historical periods in the United States as the Temperance movement and passage of the Thirteenth...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Worksheet for Analysis of a Letter

For Students 7th - 12th
Dear Nancy, how do you analyze a letter? Love, Trez. Dear Trez, you use a Letter Analysis Worksheet. Love, Nancy. This richly detailed worksheet provides multiple questions that lead researchers step-by-step through the process of...
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Lesson Plan
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Elizabeth Murray Project

Gender and Opportunity in Colonial America

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
What was life like for women in Colonial America? What restrictions were placed upon them and what opportunities were they afforded? A case study of Elizabeth Murray offers high schoolers a chance to investigate primary source documents...
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Worksheet
2
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Humanities Texas

Primary Source Worksheet: Thomas Jefferson, Message to Congress Concerning Louisiana

For Students 8th - 11th
Proficient reading of informational text, especially primary source documents, requires practice. This message from Thomas Jefferson about the Louisiana Purchase offers readers a chance to develop these comprehension skills.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

William Apess and the Mashpee "Revolt" of 1833

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Prompt your class with the following question: What was the status of American Indians in Massachusetts during Jackson's presidency? To answer this question, class members will read a series of primary source documents (attached),...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Chaucer's Wife of Bath

For Teachers 11th - Higher Ed
A thorough and well-designed resource for older young scholars, this lesson focuses on Chaucer's character the Wife of Bath from his classic novel, The Canterbury Tales. As a way of understanding Chaucer's complex characterization and...
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Lesson Plan
Library of Congress

To Kill A Mockingbird: A Historical Perspective

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students study the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. Through studying primary source materials from American Memory and other online resources, students of all backgrounds study the relationships between blacks and whites.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Create a Magic Lantern Show; Freed People in the Reconstruction South

For Teachers 8th - 11th
Engage your scholars by having them create "magic lantern shows" inspired by the film Dr. Toer's Amazing Magic Lantern Show: A Different View of Emancipation. As they study the South's Reconstruction through primary sources, learners...