Echoes & Reflections
Survivors and Liberators
The end was just the beginning. The period immediately after the end of World War II and the Holocaust is often called "The Return to Life" as survivors looked to reunite and recreate broken families and shattered lives. A two-lesson...
Historical Thinking Matters
Social Security: 3 Day Lesson
What does social security reveal about the political and social culture of the 1930s? After beginning with a brief introductory video on the impact of the Great Depression and how various Americans, such as Huey Long and Francis...
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
Differences Among Colonial Regions
Classes look at and analyze primary source images to explore the differences between the colonial regions during the Revolutionary era. They break into groups to tackle each region and then present their findings to the class. A final...
Humanities Texas
Primary Source Worksheet: John T. McCutcheon, “A Wise Economist Asks a Question”
No joke! Kids learn how to read political cartoons using McCutcheon's drawing as a starting point and then progressing to other images found online.
Curated OER
Primary Sources and Archaeology in the Study of Ancient Mediterranean Trade
Tenth graders begin the lesson by plotting trade routes, major empires and items traded. Using primary sources, they examine their own values regarding trading items for royality. They participate in a role-play exercise in which they...
City University of New York
Urban Politics: Machines and Reformers
Take a trip to the turn of the twentieth century with a resource about industrialism in America. With primary source documents and focus questions, learners think about the ways that government groups and organizations paved the way for...
American Battlefield Trust
1861: The Country Goes to War
What was it like to know the Civil War was coming? Using a graphic timeline activity and excerpts of speeches from Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis, learners consider the early days of the conflict. The resource includes prompts for...
Curated OER
Henry VII - How Did Henry VII Get Up In the Morning?
Examine the daily life of Henry VII. In this Henry VII lesson, learners answer questions about the life in Medieval times after looking at primary source documents which are translated into contemporary English.
Center for History Education
Lincoln and the Republicans: The Cause of the War?
In today's political rhetoric, many forget the pivotal role the Republican Party played in the causes of the Civil War. The party's formation was the final straw for Southerners who saw the enslavement of people of African descent a...
Curated OER
What Were the Main Achievements of the Mayan Civilization?
Guided reading questions can keep kids focused. Here they read about Mayan Civilization and then answer 9 fill-in-the-blank questions. They must use evidence from their readings to support their answers. The worksheet includes 3...
K12 Reader
Finding Text Evidence: Frederick Douglass
After reading a very brief excerpt from Frederick Douglass' autobiography, learners cite textual evidence to support a main idea of the primary source about Douglass' humiliating experience with slavery. This is a brief exercise that...
US National Archives
WWII: Asia 1939-45 – Singapore
The fall of Singapore in World War II was shocking news for the Allied forces—but why? High schoolers explore primary source documents and videos to determine why February 15, 1942 was a wake-up call to the British Empire and its allies...
PBS
Civil War: Blacks on the Battlefield
Imagine a war being fought to free slaves, with slaves on the front line. Scholars use primary documents, videos, and research in the second installment of a three-part series to guide their analysis of the first African-Americans on the...
National Endowment for the Humanities
“From Time to Time”: Presidents and Communicating with the Public
While the Constitution requires a "State of the Union" address, it doesn't give many details. In fact, it wasn't until Woodrow Wilson that the periodic update to Congress was given in-person. Using primary sources, recordings and...
Center for History Education
Maryland: A Middle Ground?
Is Maryland in or out? Using primary source documents that examine the state's geopolitical location, learners discuss whether the Old Line State is Northern or Southern to its core. The resource includes numerous documents and...
National Endowment for the Humanities
David Walker vs. John Day: Two Nineteenth-Century Free Black Men
What was the most beneficial policy for nineteenth-century African Americans: to stay in the United States and work for freedom, or to immigrate to a new place and build a society elsewhere? Your young historians will construct an...
Echoes & Reflections
Jewish Resistance
Resistance to the Holocaust took on many forms. Learners explore the passive and active resistance of Jewish people who continued their practices and observances, as well as organized resistance against the evils of the Nazis. An...
Curated OER
Propaganda, WWII, Ghetto‘s, and Analysis of Primary Resources
Students consider the implications of anti-Semitism. In this World War II lesson, students examine selected documents and images featuring the propaganda that promoted Jewish persecution. Students write essays that highlight how the Nazi...
Curated OER
Confino Primary Source Activity Lesson Plan
Students examine methods of accounting for historical events. In this local history lesson, students use primary sources to explore the story of a tenement house family in New York. Students discuss the sources they encounter as they...
New York State Education Department
Global History and Geography Examination: August 2011
The Mongols, Spanish, and Ottomans all rewrote history with their conquest and control of empires. Yet, each made its mark differently. Using a variety of secondary and primary sources, pupils consider the similarities and differences...
DocsTeach
The Impact of Westward Expansion on Native American Communities
Although Westward Expansion is often romanticized, its impact was devastating on Native American communities. Primary source documents, including pictures of United States troops invading indigenous lands and Native American tribes, tell...
Center for History Education
Northern Racism and the New York City Draft Riots of 1863
Just how racist were some people in the North during the American Civil War? Using excerpts of the Conscription Act, as well as graphic images of lynchings, young historians consider why white people in New York City rioted and killed...
K20 LEARN
Blue or Gray? Perspectives on the Civil War
Using primary and secondary sources, such as letters and diaries from soldiers and civilians, learners consider why people fought in the American Civil War. A role-playing Historical Mingle activity, as well as discussion questions and...
DocsTeach
To What Extent was Reconstruction a Revolution? (Part 1)
Some scholars consider the Civil War and Reconstruction a second American Revolution. Class members weigh in after examining primary sources, including a Congressional resolution calling for the Fifteenth Amendment and the credentials of...