US House of Representatives
Hispanic Americans in Congress
Based on contextual essays from the book "Hispanic Americans in Congress," four lesson plans examine the Hispanic pioneers who served on Capitol Hill from 1822 to 2012. The first lesson features materials from the Louisiana Purchase to...
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The Civil Rights Movement: Grades 9-12th
With sit-ins, boycotts, and marches, the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s became a model of using civil disobedience to effect change. This collection of unit plans, lesson plans, interactives, videos, and activities...
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Women in Congress
Designed to be used in conjunction with the Women in Congress publication, seven lesson plans look at the women pioneers who served in congress from 1917 to 2006. The collection includes essays, photographs, artifacts, and quotations.
US House of Representatives
Black Americans in Congress
Seven lessons make up a unit about African Americans who served in the United States Congress from 1870 to 2007. Young historians read contextual essays, engage in activities, examine primary source images, and artifacts to gain an...
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National Constitution Center: Hall Pass Videos
The National Constitution Center offers this collection of informative and entertaining videos intended to start conversations and develop critical thinking skills. Viewers learn about the rights granted by the constitution, about the...
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Learning for Justice: The Color of Law
Three powerful, pertinent, and thought-provoking lessons make up the “The Color of Law: The Role of Government in Shaping Racial Inequity” unit. High schoolers examine primary sources, watch videos, and read testimonies that document how...
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Persuasion Across Time and Space Instructional Unit
Five lessons comprise the Persuasion Across Time and Space Instructional Unit module. Middle schoolers examine the persuasive techniques used in video and print advertisements and how ethos, pathos, and logos appeals are used in...
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Rights and Responsibilities: Grades 9-12
What responsibilities do individuals have to uphold human rights? That is the essential question for the five lessons and activities in the Rights and Responsibilities module designed for high school civics and U.S. history classes....
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Beyond Rosa Parks: Powerful Voices for Civil Rights and Social Justice
The lessons in the "Beyond Rosa Parks: Powerful Voices for Civil Rights and Social Justice" unit module introduce young historians to four African-American women who made significant contributions to the modern civil rights movement....
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NAACP's Anti-Lynching Campaigns: The Quest for Social Justice in the Interwar Years
The NAACP's Anti-Lynching Campaigns: The Quest for Social Justice in the Interwar Years unit module has high schoolers investigate the anti-lynching campaigns of the NAACP in the 1920s and 1930s. For the first instructional activity,...
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NewseumED: Civil Rights
As part of a social, economic, and legal/political civil rights study, class members brainstorm a list of current civil rights issues that affect their community and then select one issue that they think they could work to change as a...
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His Soul Goes Marching On: The Life and Legacy of John Brown
His Soul Goes Marching On: The Life and Legacy of John Brown looks at an event that became an important part of United States history. The seven resources cover the raid, John Brown's life, his reactions to the event, as well as news...
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Understanding Bias
The resources in the Confronting Bias: Ethics in the Classroom collection focus on understanding bias, experiencing bias and addressing bias. The 11 videos and interactives in the Understanding Bias segment are designed to help educators...
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Becoming Us
The mission statement of the National Museum of American History’s Becoming US: Teaching Immigration and Migration History in the 21st Century series is to provide “educational resources for high school teachers and students to learn...
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Becoming Us: Education
The Becoming Us: Education module examines the history of the fight for racial justice and educational equity today. The first case study looks at the re-segregation of American schools, while the second explores the resistance to school...
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Judicial Learning Center: Landmark Cases
Five fact-filled lessons look at landmark Supreme Court Cases. Young scholars begin their study by examining the importance of these cases, key terms necessary for studying the court cases, and the relationship between court cases and...
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Judicial Learning Center: The Role of the Federal Courts
Informational, interesting, and easy-to-understand, the five resources in the Role of the Federal Courts collection provide an overview of the historical context, important principles, and content of the US Constitution regarding the...
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Reconstruction: America After the Civil War
Excerpts from Reconstruction: America After the Civil War, Henry Louis Gates Jr.’s documentary series provide young historians with insight into the struggles the country faced in the years after the Civil war. Viewers learn about the...
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Teaching 'The New Jim Crow'
Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow is the anchor text in a 10-lesson unit that looks at some of the issues of race and justice in American society and how issues have changed over time. High schoolers look at the history of race and...
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The Reconstruction Era and The Fragility of Democracy
Seven lessons examine the Reconstruction Era that followed the United States Civil War. The series of detailed lessons provide background information on the era, teaching strategies, videos, and primary source materials.
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Civil Rights and Martin Luther King Jr. Worksheets
Expand a celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday as well as Black History Month with a collection of eight worksheets that include biographical questions about Dr. Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks, word searches and word...
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What Makes Democracy Work?
Eight lessons make up a collection designed to help high schoolers make sense of an election year. Class members learn about voting rights, the importance of a free press, and civic participation. The focus is on the 2020 presidential...
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History Blueprint: The Cold War (US History)
In this well-organized and inquiry-based collection, high schoolers examine primary and secondary source documents and video clips in preparation for an investigation into the Cold War. Scholars analyze its beginnings, the global impact...
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History Blueprint: The Cold War (World History)
A five-lesson collection examines the history of the Cold War from a global point of view. World History students analyze primary and secondary source documents, as well as video clips, to investigate the beginnings of the Cold War, its...