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Unit Plan
Student Achievement Partners

You've Been Lied To: The REAL Christopher Columbus

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Looking for resources that explore alternative perspectives of the Christopher Columbus story? Check out the images, videos, cartoons, primary source documents, and other texts in a packet designed to spark debate.        
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Interactive
DocsTeach

How Effective were the Efforts of the Freedmen’s Bureau?

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Effective or ineffective? As part of a study of post Civil War America, young historians analyze a series of primary sources to evaluate the effectiveness of the Freedmen's Bureau in addressing the challenges faced by the slaves freed by...
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Lesson Plan
Library of Virginia

Emancipation and the Thirteenth Amendment

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Why didn't the Emancipation Proclamation free all slaves? Young historians study primary source documents including Lincoln's proclamation and the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution. Groups also investigate the three...
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Lesson Plan
Library of Virginia

Death or Liberty

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
What would you do to protect your own freedom? How far would you go to protest injustice? Class members are asked to consider these questions as they read primary source documents that detail events in the lives of Gabriel, Nat Turner,...
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Lesson Plan
Library of Virginia

Life as a Liberated People

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Imagine having no control over your life and then suddenly having to provide for yourself. Such was the challenge faced by many American slaves after emancipation. Class members are asked to consider these challenges are they examine...
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Interactive
National Constitution Center

Abraham Lincoln's Crossroads

For Students 3rd - 8th Standards
History enthusiasts participate in an interactive website that brings Abraham Lincoln to life as he shares his personal experiences between 1854-1864. Scholars listen and read carefully to form their own opinions and discover if they...
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eBook
University of Virginia

Uncle Tom's Cabin: The Text

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Harriet Beecher Stowe's groundbreaking work Uncle Tom's Cabin is both historically and literarily relevant today. Read the entire text in an easily navigated site that allows learners to select their chapters and easily move to the next...
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Activity
Library of Congress

Uncle Tom’s Cabin and the Fugitive Slave Act

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
From the time of its publication, Uncle Tom's Cabin has been controversial. To better understand the debate, class members first examine a broadside decrying the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, and then two newspaper reviews of the novel...
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Audio
University of Virginia

The Songs in Uncle Tom's Cabin

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Experience Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin in an innovative, musical way. A list of audio links leads class members to spirituals from the novel, such as "Die in the Field," "The Wings in the Morning," and "Blow Ye the Trumpet."
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Unit Plan
University of Virginia

Uncle Tom's Cabin: Starting Out

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Prior knowledge is key when starting any novel unit, but it's essential before introducing Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. Three lessons provide primary documents, historical discussions, and extended reading activities that...
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AP Test Prep5:14
Bill of Rights Institute

Economics of the North and South Before the Civil War

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
How did economic issues lead to war? Viewers watch an AP review video to examine one of the main causes of the American Civil War, the Tariff of Abominations. They examine the issues concerning the economies of the North and South prior...
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Frederick Douglass: Orator, Editor, and Abolitionist

For Teachers 3rd - 7th Standards
Imagine the task of designing a national memorial for a former slave, orator, editor, and abolitionist! Scholars research and analyze the impact of the life of Frederick Douglass. Incorporating primary and secondary sources as well as...
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Lesson Plan
NET Foundation for Television

1850-1874 The Kansas-Nebraska Act

For Teachers 4th - 12th Standards
How the Kansas-Nebraska Act created Bleeding Kansas is complicated—until scholars research and examine documents from the time. After completing activities that include mapping, photo, document analysis, and discussion, learners...
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Website
Independence Hall Association

American History: From Pre-Columbian to the New Millennium

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Need an online resource to supplement the paper textbook in your classroom? An all-encompassing website covers historical events throughout the last half of the second millenium, leading right up to the third. From the pre-Columbian...
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Worksheet
Reading Through History

The Emancipation Proclamation

For Students 8th Standards
The Emancipation Proclamation: one of the most important primary sources for studying American history! An interdisciplinary resource includes a reading of Abraham Lincoln's seminal speech quoted directly. Following the reading, pupils...
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Unit Plan
Annenberg Foundation

Antebellum Reform

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Scholars investigate the Antebellum period in the United States in an engaging lesson. Groups analyze technological, religious, economic, and social changes occurring during the time period prior to the Civil War. Using their new...
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Activity
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Council for Economic Education

The Columbian Exchange

For Students 5th - 8th Standards
What did you have for dinner last night? Many scholars ask that question without considering the history behind the foods they eat. Using a simulation, scholars investigate how the foods they eat are the product of the Columbian...
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Study Guide
Reed Novel Studies

The Slave Dancer: Novel Study

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
What are the effects of a good literary cliffhanger? Using the novel study for Paula Fox's The Slave Dancer, pupils consider why the author chose to end the first chapter with suspense. They also answer text-based questions, practice new...
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Lesson Plan
Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation

What Was Everyday Life like in Colonial Virginia?

For Teachers 5th - 12th Standards
After reflecting on jobs people perform in the present day, scholars discuss what they believe jobs would have been like in Colonial Virginia during the American Revolution. Small groups then perform a jigsaw using informational packets....
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Lesson Plan
Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation

What Was Everyday Life like in Colonial Virginia?

For Teachers 3rd - 5th Standards
What was everyday life like in Colonial Virginia? To find the answer cooperative groups work collaboratively to read an informational handout and complete a graphic organizer. The speaker of the group then shares their new-found...
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Lesson Plan
Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation

How Do We Know about Colonial Life?

For Students 3rd - 8th Standards
Young history sleuths examine an inventory of the belongings of a Virginia colonist and use deductive reasoning to determine what the document reveals about colonial life. They then use a Venn diagram to compare the inventory with a...
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Lesson Plan
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Smithsonian Institution

John Brown’s Legacy

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
So who exactly was John Brown? John Brown fought for abolition during the Civil War. Scholars learn all about his legacy through the variety of activities in the sixth of 15 lessons, including viewing and analyzing primary source...
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Unit Plan
Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation

Colonial Tobacco Economy

For Teachers 4th - 8th Standards
Tobacco as money? Middle schoolers investigate how eighteenth-century Virginia farmers used tobacco as a cash crop to buy tools, livestock, and household goods. They also examine the connection between tobacco production and the slave...
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Lesson Plan
National Constitution Center

Dred Scott v. Sanford

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Dred Scott v. Sanford was a watershed moment for the country—and a key moment leading up to the Civil War. Using videos and analytical worksheets, scholars consider the facts of the case and then develop their own arguments before the...

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