Curated OER
Current Event Project
One of the best ways to make history relevant and engaging is to analyze current events before they become history! Check out these project guidelines for a current event research paper, outlining the major required sections of the...
Curated OER
Create a Magic Lantern Show; Freed People in the Reconstruction South
Engage your scholars by having them create "magic lantern shows" inspired by the film Dr. Toer's Amazing Magic Lantern Show: A Different View of Emancipation. As they study the South's Reconstruction through primary sources, learners...
Curated OER
Information Shuffle
Gather some information, print it onto sentence strips, and then have your class physically shuffle the cards to better understand the importance of organizational patterns in writing. Middle school learners examine information for a...
PBS
Predicting/Making a Hypothesis
As an introduction to the hypothesis and testing method of investigation, young history detectives engage in a special investigation of a family artifact. After watching a short video that demonstrates the method, they develop a...
BrainPOP
World History Lesson Plan: Uncovering Essential Questions
Have you ever noticed a news story revolves around an essential question? Scholars research methods of reporting historical events. Working in groups, they use an interactive module to gather information on a historical topic, uncovering...
Curated OER
1960 America: Foreign Policy
The 1960's marked shifts in American culture, politics, and policy. Your class groups up to research a series of primary source documents resulting in a timeline and a 15 minute oral presentation. Active learning all the way.
Curated OER
Children of War
Take a closer look at the impact of war in this language arts and social studies activity. Middle schoolers use primary sources to conduct research as they relate to the effects of war on children. They compare and contrast the effects...
Curated OER
Things Fall Apart: Research, Writing & Presentation Project
A great resource for your unit on Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart. Small groups conduct research about related topics (list included), write papers, present PowerPoint slide shows, and take a student-created test. Fill in a few gaps to...
Made by Educators
Sociological Methods
First year undergraduate sociology students can prepare for their exams with an application that provides practice questions in six categories: Quantitative and Qualitative Data, Sources of Data, Primary and Secondary Data, Positivism...
Ford's Theatre
How Perspective Shapes Understanding of History
The Boston Massacre may be an iconic event in American history, but perhaps the British soldiers had another point of view. Using primary sources, including reports from Boston newspapers and secondary sources from the British...
University of California
The Cold War (America)
The Cold War—with its roots in World War II—impacts the world today. Using an extensive curriculum, scholars consider its impact through primary sources, including speeches and propaganda, as well as other skills-enhancing activities. An...
Curated OER
The Women’s Suffrage Movement
A set of lessons about the women's suffrage movement will bring history to life for your middle schoolers. Learners study primary documents, learn about famous suffragettes, and compare the suffrage movement to current events...
Curated OER
Creating a Primary Source Archive: All History Is Local
Students explore personal, local, state, and national history. In this historiography lesson, students search the Library of Congress digital collections for primary sources regarding their family histories framed in local, state, and...
Curated OER
Color Mixing
Pupils experiment with primary colored water to mix new colors. They record new colors on a simple data sheet and share opinions on their work.
Virginia Department of Education
Meiosis
Intrigue the class by completing a lesson on meiosis, filled with challenging and insightful activities to spark the interest of every person in the room. Each member of the class learns about genetic disorders due to faulty meiosis, and...
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...
University of Virginia
Uncle Tom's Cabin: Starting Out
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...
Curated OER
Southern Society during the Civil War: Black Society
Students research and discuss the societal changes during the Civil War as it relates to various parts of southern society. In this southern society during the civil war lesson, students examine what life was like for slaves during the...
Curated OER
A Colony is Born : Lesson 5 - Dear Mem
Discover colonies! Young historians will listen to a primary source journal entry read aloud with a backdrop of wave sounds. They discuss the entry, add historical facts to a chart and personal insights to another. Then they listen to...
Curated OER
Runaway Ads
Fourth graders distinguish between primary and secondary sources while creating an underground railroad presentation. In this underground railroad lesson, 4th graders research the underground railroad using copies of primary and...
Curated OER
Immigrating to America
Students study the American immigration experience. In this Ellis Island lesson, students research primary documents from the immigration station, take a tour of the station, and then prepare and perform dramatic presentations based on...
Curated OER
Can You Hear Me Now?
Students explore the industry involving communication and put communication devices into activities. In this communication lesson plan, students put items into chronological order, review primary sources, compare and contrast items, and...
Curated OER
Are All Children at the Same Starting Gate?
Students examine the education experience around the world. In this global studies lesson, students research education standards and practices in developing and developed nations. Students share their research findings in a class project...