As part of a living history research project, learners research a chosen historical figure that they will study and physically represent in a gallery walk. This resource includes a project description, letter to parents,...

What is an oral history interview? What goes into the planning and what should be said? Why is it important that we know and learn from oral history? This is an excellent activity to support your young historians as they conduct...

Learners investigate historic events through the eyes of people who were their age when the event happened. Through personal interviews, students gain insights on the impact of these events on these people's lives and on the world at large.

Young scholars consider the insight to the past that oral histories can provide. They, in groups, analyze oral histories, prepare to interview a family member on their recollections of a historical event and then write a historical...

What is oral tradition, and what unique tool did the Native Americans of the Northern Great Plains use to help them remember their complex histories? Through pictograph analysis, discussion, research, and an engaging hands-on activity,...

Bring U.S. history to your language arts class with this lesson. Middle schoolers complete an interview for an oral history project, and discuss the importance of oral histories - and how they embellish written accounts. They write...

Ziggurats, cuneiform writing, the Tower of Babel, hieroglyphics, pyramids, the Great Wall. Launch a unit on ancient cultures, with a presentation that introduces viewers to ancient Mesopotamia, Babylonia, Sumer, Egypt, Indus, and China....

While Roe v. Wade and the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment often get top billing in women's history, other lesser-known laws impact their daily lives. Pupils research cases such as Planned Parenthood v. Casey and use a jigsaw model to...

Students create a living history book about themselves and read it to a senior friend. In this living history lesson plan, students complete a project about the living history of their lives by filling out venn diagrams and sharing it...

Use oral history as a way to help learners develop communication skills. They interview a trusted adult about their life as a young person, challenges they overcame, and what they are proud of. Learners are then interviewed themselves in...

Young scholars conduct research on a German anti-Nazi group named "Die Weisse Rose", the White Rose, that eventually lost their lives for their resistance to Nazi rule. They view films, access the Internet, prepare responsive narratives...

What a great way to have your class learn about the lives of children in Victorian England. Learners sharpen their research skills as they study the history of children who worked in England. They choose extension projects to complete.

Students gather information from a senior friend to write a biography. In this living history books lesson, students organize information to complete a book about their senior friend. Detailed teacher instructions for completing the book...

Young scholars create living artifacts dealing with different times and cultures. They explore Ancient Rome, the Middle Ages, Islam, Africa, and the United States.

The history of the northern states' involvement in the slave trade is not widely known. This resource uses the PBS documentary, Traces of the Trade, and the nonfiction book, Children of the New England Slave Trade, to examine this aspect...

Excerpts from Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan and from Gloria Steinem's "Living the Revolution" provide high schoolers an opportunity to study the feminism of the 1950s and 1960s, sometimes called the "Second Wave of Feminism."

The lives of middle-class Victorian women were circumscribed by strict standards that governed all aspects of behavior. To gain a better understanding of the Victorian Ideals for women, class members research the life of a middle-class...

Young historians envision what life was like for African Americans living in the Jim Crow South through hands-on, experiential activities. 

Students study online resources to examine the ancient Olympic Games and athletes. They investigate the qualities of ancient Olympic athletes and role interviews with the athletes.

Everyone living in the United States today is a descendant from an immigrant—even Native Americans. Learn about the tumultuous history of American immigration with a reading passage that discusses the ancient migration over the Bering...

Pupils complete readings, a group activity using cards, and a writing activity to better understand people's lives during the American Revolution. The resource emphasizes people such as the militiamen, women, officers, and children,...

Young historians investigate the often-hidden history of free and enslaved African American women before the Civil War. Using a collection of primary and secondary sources, including speeches, diaries, and poems, they evaluate the often...