University of Wisconsin
Analyzing Presidential Campaign Propaganda
Campaign propaganda has evolved from 1952 through the presidential election of 2008. A social studies activity prompts class members to analyze the devices used in ads and political cartoons, noting strategies they believe would work to...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Candidate Flip-Flop or Evolution?
Beware political rhetoric! Connotation is everything! Groups select a presidential candidate and investigate how the candidate's position has changed on a specific issue. After analyzing the situation, the group determines whether they...
Curated OER
The Black Death: 1347 - 1351
Grim and gruesome, the Black Death literally infects history with its social and political ramification. Your class will be positively agog over the details of the Plague, from its causes to its symptoms, and eventually to its grisly end...
Curated OER
Cartoon and Political Poster Analysis
Students explore the late 1800s as a time of demographic change in the US. They view the role of media during this time in the form of posters and political cartoons. They create a political poster/cartoon that deals with current...
Curated OER
Activism and Social Reform in America from 1800-1850
Students discuss idea of social status, examine antebellum social reform movements, and compare and contrast experiences of activists who sought to improve workers' lives, end slavery, reform immigration laws, and establish voting rights...
Curated OER
A Changing Society: Industrialization and Urbanization
Students participate in activities that teach them about the Gilded Age of industrialization and urbanization. In this social changing lesson plan, students answer questions, watch videos, have discussions, read texts, and more to teach...
Curated OER
The Art of Political Cartoons in Revolutionary America
Students analyze political cartoons. In this colonial America lesson, students examine the provided political cartoons and respond to analytical questions about each of them.
Curated OER
Cartoons for the Classroom: Stand by for Regime Change
In this current events activity, learners analyze a political cartoon about the lame-duck period for Presidents-elect and respond to 3 talking point questions.
Curated OER
How Secure is Social Security?
Students explore the Social Security System including its history, benefits, funds, problems, and its future.
Annenberg Foundation
Social Realism
Many American writers in the late nineteenth century wanted their writing to reflect real life. Individuals watch and discuss a video, read and explore author biographies, write a journal entry and a poem, and complete a multimedia...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Plyler v. Doe: Can States Deny Public Benefits to Illegal Immigrants?
Illegal immigration is an ever-changing source of consistent controversy. A reading passage about the rights of undocumented workers and illegal immigrants—and the lack thereof—guides high schoolers into a mock trial activity. Three...
Humanities Texas
Primary Source Worksheet: Udo J. Keppler, “Next!”
Standard Oil's stranglehold on the US government is the subject of a 1904 political cartoon. Kids use the questions on the provided worksheet to prompt their analysis of this primary source.
Curated OER
Political Cartoons
Students analyze cartoons by identifying the symbols, characters and information and its significance in history. They examine the economic and political changes in contemporary America. They determine that political cartoons play an...
Curated OER
The Brief American Pageant: Twenty-Three Political Paralysis in the Gilded Age
Detailing the Presidential elections of 1876, 1884, and 1892, this slideshow focuses on the final years of the 19th century in the United States. Additionally, slides include information on the changes in Southern plantations and growth...
Center for Civic Education
Martin Luther King Jr. and the Power of Words
It is easy to forget the power that written or spoken word can have in effecting change. Using quotations from such inspirational leaders as Maya Angelou, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr., encourage your class members to...
Curated OER
Global Warming
A series of independent learning activities teaches learners about global warming as it relates to economics and industrialization. The culminating project requires them to create a multimedia presentation identifying the problems,...
Curated OER
Teacher Notes
Gathering information, distinguishing between arguments, preparing an oral presentation; these skills are fostered as 10th graders explore aspects of global trade and politics. They use the Internet to gather information about NATO, The...
City University of New York
Jim Crow and the Fight for Civil Rights
The history of voting rights in America has always been rocky, especially in the time period after the Civil War. Learn about the ways that Jim Crow laws affected the voting rights of African Americans with a lesson featuring primary...
Brown University
Considering the Role of Values in Public Policy
Strong opinions come from deeply held values. Young citizens explore the values that are most important to them in a class discussion and activity. As they prioritize a list of values cards that include freedom, justice, and democracy,...
Curated OER
Lesson: Looking Closer: The Artwork of Martha Rosler
Have a class discussion to better understand the art of Martha Rosler. Young art critics consider Martha's art as it is used to express issues of political unrest and social awareness. They look at each of the five images and use the...
Curated OER
The Changing Role of Women
Eleventh graders examine the evolution of women's rights in America. As they analyze primary documents and discuss historical events, learners determine how Abigail Adams, Eleanor Roosevelt, Lady Bird Johnson, Margaret Sanger, and James...
Facing History and Ourselves
The Nazi Party Platform
Not all party platforms stay democratic. A resource covers many political issues in Germany during the time of World War II, and teaches pupils about the Nazi party platform and what went wrong. Individuals participate in a warm-up...
C-SPAN
How will COVID-19 Impact Campaign Strategies in 2020?
While COVID-19 has changed almost everything about daily life, it's also had a tremendous impact on the 2020 presidential contest. Using video clips featuring political advisors from both sides of the aisle, learners brainstorm what they...
Curated OER
Cartoons for the Classroom: Bipartisan Filibusters
There is no doubt many changes or lack of changes are due to bipartisanism in the capital. Learners analyze a political cartoon that describes the issues surrounding changes to the current health care system, and consider whether...