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Lesson Plan
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media

Founding Documents

For Teachers 3rd - 5th Standards
Teach the class about the predecessor to Declaration of Independence—the Virginia Declaration of Rights. Using the foundational documents, scholars examine the two writings to consider how they are similar and how they are different. A...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Exploring the Irish in America Through Found Poetry

For Teachers 7th - 9th
What was life like for Irish immigrants settling in America during the late 1800's? Learners examine primary source documents, such as lyrics, poems, and letters, to understand the immigrant experience. They then use those primary source...
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Interactive
DocsTeach

Comparing American and French Revolutionary Documents

For Teachers 9th - 12th
This document or that? Historians compare crucial documents from both the American and French Revolution to gain a better understanding of the purpose and impact the documents had on each nation. Academics read excerpts from both...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Constitutional Convention: Four Founding Fathers You May Never Have Met

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers read biographies of their assigned Founding Father. They present an oral argument that their assignee deserves to be better known by making connections between regional politics and postions defined by character.
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Lesson Plan
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Center for History and New Media

Founding of the Laurel Grove School and Other "Colored" Schools in Fairfax County, 1860–1890

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The right to public education was not always so clear in American history. Readers study several primary and secondary source documents, including property deeds, maps, and photographs, about the founding of local schools during the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson 2: The Constitution: Our Guiding Document

For Teachers 3rd - 6th Standards
Explore the structure and content of the US Constitution in the second lesson of this five-part social studies series. A collection of activities, games, and videos complement a class reading of a document summarizing the US...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson 1: English-Indian Encounters

For Teachers 8th - 10th
What did the English settlers think of the Native Americans inhabiting the Chesapeake region of the United States? Learners analyze a series of documents and images to determine the English perception of the local inhabitants. A great...
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Interactive
US National Archives

Benjamin Franklin: Politician and Diplomat

For Students 7th - 12th Standards
A scientist, inventor, entrepreneur, politician, and the founder of a nation—and that's just one person! Learners investigate the many lives of Benjamin Franklin. Using a hands-on interactive online resource, they analyze primary...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Documents and Symbols and American Freedom

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students complete a unit of lessons on the documents, symbols, and famous people involved in the founding of the U.S. government. They create a personal bill of rights, write a found poem, design a flag, conduct research, and role-play...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Adapting Documents for the Classroom: Equity and Access

For Teachers 2nd - 12th
Learners examine primary sources to gain historical perspectives. In this historical analysis lesson, students analyze documents that their instructors have adapted to make more user-friendly. Example adapted primary documents are included.
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Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Teaching With Documents: U.S. Constitution Workshop

For Teachers 4th - 12th
What does it mean to be American? Explore the constitution and what it really means to be a citizen here. First, learners of all ages will investigate different primary source documents. Then, they establish each document's...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Documenting Research: Sorting and Recording Information About the Wheelwright

For Teachers 4th Standards
Fourth graders practice using a graphic organizer to record their notes and answer text-dependent questions while supplying evidence of how they found their answer. They focus on a machine called the wheelright, which was commonly used...
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Myth of the West: Lonely But Free I’ll Be Found

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Tumbling tumbleweeds! Scholars work with video clips, primary and secondary documents, and song lyrics to uncover life in the Old West. They examine song's lyrics to uncover myths told in the 1930s about life in the Wild West. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Citizens Together

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students examine the bill of rights as it relates to founding documents and their significance today. For this bill of rights lesson plan, students use newspapers as sources to answer critical questions regarding democratic citizenship....
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AP Test Prep
Curated OER

2001 AP® United States History Free-Response Questions

For Students 10th - 12th
Rigorous and challenging, the AP Test for AP United States History contains a document-based question (with nine documents), as well as two additional free-response questions. Students who are preparing for the test will appreciate the...
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Interactive
PBS

Why Should Women Vote? The Suffrage Question

For Students 6th - Higher Ed
An online interactive activity asks learners to analyze a group of documents related to the women's suffrage movement and then place the documents on a timeline. The results assess users understanding of the progression of the women's...
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Writing
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Oklahoma State Department of Education

Narrative Prompt

For Students 8th Standards
Reading about history is nothing like experiencing it firsthand. Encourage your eighth graders to do the next best thing with a historical narrative prompt, in which they describe the experience of a first-time traveler on the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What Experiences Shaped the Founders' Thinking about Government?

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students study the ideas and experiences that shaped the founding fathers' perspective about government. In this the government lesson plan, students examine the Articles of Confederation as they relate to the power of government....
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Constitutional Convention: What the Founding Fathers Said

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students list some ideas proposed and debated during the Constitutional Convention, and discuss the important issues requiring compromise during the Constitutional Convention.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Creating a Bill of Rights

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Creating a Bill of Rights isn't easy! Help your scholars experience what the Founding Fathers did by challenging them to write a Bill of Rights. Groups pretend they are a new democratic country and proceed to create that country's Bill...
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Unit Plan
Bill of Rights Institute

Preserving the Bill of Rights

For Students 8th - 12th Standards
Consider how America's founding fathers and their experiences contributed to the rights we all enjoy today. A collection of reading, writing, and collaborative exercises prompt high schoolers to think about the ways their current lives...
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Interactive
DocsTeach

To Sign or Not to Sign

For Teachers 6th - 8th
To sign or not to sign, that is the question. Scholars review the Declaration of Independence and discuss the Framers' decisions for signing the document. The activity uses primary text, a worksheet, and group discussion to help...
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Activity
National Constitution Center

Thirteenth Amendment Poster

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
President Lincoln believed in the Thirteenth Amendment so strongly that he signed 14 copies of it, but died before he could see it passed on December 18, 1965. Explore the text that forever abolished slavery in America with a document...
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Interactive
Ashbrook Center at Ashland University

Ratification of the Constitution

For Students 6th - 12th Standards
How difficult was it to get everyone to agree on the contents of the Constitution? Historians analyze the task of the Founding Fathers in creating the United States Constitution. They research a directory of video clips, primary sources,...