Curated OER
The Grapes of Wrath: Scrapbooks and Artifacts
Students interpret historical evidence presented in primary and secondary sources. In this Great Depression lesson, students read John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath and use ethnographic research processes...
Curated OER
Ninteenth Century Women: Struggle and Triumph
Young scholars examine the role of women in US society during the 19th century and how this role evolved and changed in time. They then write a persuasive letter that domonstrates their comprehensin of the subject.
Library of Congress
Oral History and Social History
Students examine the Great Depression. In this oral and social histories instructional activity, students analyze primary sources to develop an understanding of the America in the 1930's.
Curated OER
Out of the Dust: Visions of Dust Bowl History Lesson Overview
Students complete activities with the book Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse. In this literature lesson, students read this story and view the Dust Bowl history from the eyes of a child. They discover the Great Depression and life in the...
Curated OER
Twentieth Century Entertainment: When Work is Done
Students determine how Americans enjoy leisure time. In this 20th century America lesson, students research primary sources to study how Americans gained leisure time during the century and what they did with it.
Curated OER
American Lives in Two Centuries:What Is an American?
High schoolers decide what it means to be an American. In this historical perspectives lesson, students read Crevecoeur's "Letter from an American Farmer," and interviews with everyday Americans from the Works Progress Administration....
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Drake's West Indian Voyage 1588-1589
Young scholars investigate several maps detailing Sir Francis Drake's voyages. In this geography lesson, students practice reading maps and locating the precise locations of where Sir Francis Drake visited. Young scholars create an...
Curated OER
Waldseemuller's Map: World 1507
Learners investigate the 1507 word map. In this world geography lesson, students examine the details of each section of the map and then draw conclusions about how the people of 1507 understood the world. Learners are evalated on...
Curated OER
How Transportation Transformed America
Eleventh graders focus on the role of transportation. In this transportation instructional activity, 11th graders look at the lives of Americans at the turn of the centuries. They compare and contrast 2000 to 1900.
Curated OER
Women's Suffrage: Their Rights and Nothing Less
Students explore women's rights. In this women's history activity, students examine primary and secondary sources regarding the women's suffrage movement in the United States. Students compare and contrast the states' methods for...
Curated OER
Waldseemüller’s Map: World 1507
Learners take a closer look at historical maps. For this primary source analysis lesson, students examine the first world map produced by Martin Waldseemuller. Learners complete the included map analysis worksheet and then write letters...
Curated OER
Tools to Live By
Third graders compare life in the early 1900's with the life today. In this technology lesson, 3rd graders research about the development of a certain technological tool. They collect data and report findings in class.
Curated OER
Mapmaker, Mapmaker, Make Me a Map!
Learners evaluate the different types of historical and geographical information that one can gather through close study of historical maps from the 16th through the 19th centuries. They create their own maps.
Curated OER
On the Oregon Trail
Learners work with primary documents and latter-day photographs to recapture the experience of traveling on the Oregon Trail. Working in groups, they write a scene for the movie that is historically accurate and based on the kinds of...
Curated OER
Immigration to the Golden Land: Jewish Life in America
High schoolers examine waves of Jewish immigration during three time periods and analyze a variety of primary sources, including letters, memoirs, and laws, to gain insight into both the American immigrant experience and American society...
Curated OER
A Soldier's Letters
Learners explore the role letters play in a soldier's life and learn background information about Vietnam in the 1960s.
Curated OER
Immigration and Migration Today and During the Great Depression
Students conduct oral history interviews and research primary resources to explain changes in immigration and migration over time.
Curated OER
Cosmic Wheels
Young scholars build a scale model of the Solar System and determine the time other planets take to travel around the Sun in comparison to the time of the Earth's revolution. The velocity of the planets are also determined in this lesson.
Curated OER
Not Just A Man's War
Students write 2 letters from a woman who may have lived during the Civil War and 2 letters from her relative which include factual information that they have research using the Internet and other resources, along with other activities.
Curated OER
Analyzing Poetic Devices: Robert Hayden's "Those Winter Sundays" and Theodore Roethke's "My Papa's Waltz"
Students examine how Robert Hayden and Theodore Roethke incorporate poetic devices to convey meaning in the poems, 'Those Winter Sundays,' and 'My Papa's Waltz.' They listen to audio clips, explore websites, and write an analysis of the...
Curated OER
"Jazz is About Freedom": Billie Holiday's Anti-lynching Song Strange Fruit
Working in small teams, learners analyze a variety of primary source materials related to lynching (news articles, letters written to or written by prominent Americans, pamphlets, broadsides, etc.) in order to assess the effectiveness of...
Curated OER
Gwendolyn Brooks
Students examine the contributions of the author Gwendolyn Brooks. They create a journal, read and discuss poems by Brooks, write a poem about themselves, and create a timeline of their own lives.
Curated OER
Language Arts: Putting Together a Position Paper
Students are able to identify the target audience for their writing. They are able to create an appropriate format for their papers. Students are able to focus on the developing clear arguments and supporting all key points with facts.
Curated OER
Family Interviews: The Grandparent/Elder Project
Learners explore key concepts/facts in 20th Century history, develop interview questions, and produce master list of questions that can be used in project. Students then interview grandparent, great-grandparent, or other elder about...