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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

All Aboard

For Teachers 2nd - 3rd
Explore the U.S.S. Nevada. Researchers use primary sources, secondary sources, children's books and websites to study the naval ship. Their study commences with a class alphabet book on the ship. Intended to be part of a lesson on...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Reporting on the 1920s

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Use this roaring 1920s history lesson to have young writers research primary and secondary sources. They use their research to examine the events or famous public figures of the time period. Next, they imagine they're in the 1920s and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Olaudah Equiano

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders describe in detail a time in their life when they were the most afraid, causes of the fear and how they overcame it. This experience is compared/contrasted to the actual circumstances behind slave auction blocks. They read...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ft. St. Louis: A Do-It-Yourself History

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders explore Fort St. Louis. In this Texas history lesson, 7th graders research Internet and print sources regarding the history of fort and the settlement. Students use their research findings to create illustrated books...
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Lesson Plan
National History Day

“War Is Hell. We Know it Now.” American Soldiers in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Understanding the soldier's experiences during World War I sometimes takes a newscast. Learners see the importance of understanding multiple points of view with a newscast project surrounding the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. Compare and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What Can We Learn From the Past?

For Teachers 7th - 11th
What would future archeologists learn from your scholars' personal belongings? Have them bring in a box of "primary sources" from their home. Discuss the difference between observations and inference, using some of your own items to...
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Standing Up Against Injustice

For Teachers 9th - 12th
“Sometimes things are lawful yet are actually wrong.” Researchers examine primary and secondary source materials as they study five legal cases involving civil rights attorney William Kunstler in which he attempted to use the legal...
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Lesson Plan
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Alabama Department of Archives and History

Strange Fruit: Lynching in America

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
To continue their study of the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the beginning of the civil rights movement, class members watch the YouTube video of Billie Holiday singing "Strange Fruit" as an introduction to an examination of lynching in...
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Lesson Plan
Harry S. Truman Library & Museum

Marshall Plan: Convince the American People

For Teachers 11th - 12th Standards
This is an excellent resource for US history classes, especially AP history. After learning some background on the Marshall Plan, the class, divided into two groups, researches opposing positions on this aid program. Groups read and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

But Where Is It On This Modern Map? A problem-solving, mind-boggling experience!

For Teachers 4th
Trace Columbus' voyages by locating them on 21st Century maps.  Using a navigators lesson, 4th graders will examine the Age of Exploration and trace Columbus's routes accurately on laminated world maps using different maps. Note: You...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Danger on the Underground Railroad

For Teachers 7th
Student examines the role of the Underground railroad. In this Post-Civil War lesson, 7th graders read and analyze primary sources. Students create a timeline that details the events of the stories.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Creating a Primary Source Archive: All History Is Local

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students explore personal, local, state, and national history. In this historiography lesson, students search the Library of Congress digital collections for primary sources regarding their family histories framed in local, state, and...
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Lesson Plan
Smithsonian Institution

The Suffragist: Educator's Guide for Classroom Video

For Teachers 5th - 12th Standards
Class members take on the role of historical investigators to determine why it took 40 years for women in the United States to get the right to vote. Sleuths view videos and analyze primary sources and images to gather evidence to answer...
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Activity
University of California

Jewish Holidays

For Teachers 6th Standards
Modern Jewish holidays have ancient roots with many connections to today. Using photographs of primary sources, such as fragments of a shofar, as well as texts, such as the Hebrew Tanakh, learners explore how Jewish holidays reflect...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Gift to the Future

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders examine the different ways that primary sources are reserved.  In this Social Studies lesson plan, 7th graders analyze documents and photographs.  Students watch video clips and answer questions on a graphic organizer.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Solar Car Races: Build and retrofit for speed

For Teachers 6th - 9th
If you have solar car kits for your junior high schoolers, they can experiment with photovoltaic cell angle, light intensity, and aerodynamic design to discover what makes their car move more quickly. This is a classic activity to use...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Citing Sources

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Pupils explore the purpose and requirements for a bibliography. They examine where to find bibliographic information in a variety of print and non-print sources on an assigned topic. Students prepare a bibliography online using a...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Citing Sources

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Practice citation skills with this activity, which takes learners to the Library/Media center. There, they will view a Powerpoint presentation and practice collecting data in both print and non-print sources. All necessary materials are...
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Lesson Plan
University of Chicago

Women and Family in the Islamic World

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
How does the Qur'an detail the role of women? What modern social issues are linked to Islamic law? Address these questions with your young historians through close analysis of primary and secondary source documents.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Be a Sourceerer's Apprentice

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students examine and discuss various primary and secondary sources. They bring in an example of a primary source, explain how it is a primary source, and complete a worksheet about interviewing a primary source.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Using Pictures to Read the Past

For Teachers 8th - 10th
Students use primary and secondary sources, using the Internet and other media.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Cabeza de Vaca Meets the Coahuiltecans

For Teachers 4th - 7th
Students examine the difference between primary and secondary sources by examining the journal of Cabeza de Vaca and creating a poster about the Coahuitecan Indian groups. They portray a scene of the groups in 16th Century south Texas.
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Lesson Plan
Briscoe Center for American History

Applying the SOAPS Method of Analyzing Historical Documents

For Teachers 4th - 7th Standards
Young historians use the SOAPS (Speaker, Occasion, Audience, Purpose, Subject) method of questioning to determine the historical value of primary source documents. The third in a series of five lessons that model for learners how...
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Lesson Plan
Briscoe Center for American History

Mary Maverick and Texas History - Part 1

For Teachers 4th - 7th Standards
What's the difference between a diary and a memoir? Young historians explore the ramifications of this question as they learn how to use primary source materials to gain an understanding of life on the Texas frontier.

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