Curated OER
Mastering the Document-Based Essay Question
High schoolers use a primary source document from the Civil War period of history in order to derive meaning for an essay question. The essay is based completely on the document with no other research to support the content.
Middle Tennessee State University
John Brown: Hero or Villain?
"Love it or leave it." "You're either for us or against us." Rhetoric and it's polarizing effects are the focus of a lesson that uses John Brown's attack on Harper's Ferry as an exemplar. Groups examine primary source documents,...
West Virginia Department of Education
Editorials: The Guiding Voice of Authority?
How much can opinion influence a news story? A standalone resource discusses the importance of John Brown's Raid through the lens of journalism. Learners analyze two different texts, one from the perspective of the North and the other of...
West Virginia Department of Education
Harpers Ferry Letters
Scholars write letters as if they were someone who heard the story of John Brown's raid. The resource, a standalone, covers information from primary sources that is important to West Virginian history: the Harpers Ferry Letters.
Curated OER
Jackie Steals Home
Students read articles relating to Jackie Robinson's breaking of the racial barrier in professional baseball. This leads to a deeper exploration of racism in the United States. They use a variety of worksheets imbedded in this plan to...
Curated OER
Bad Brother
Students deal with the historian's dilemma of how to write about people in the past who committed wicked deeds. They analyze a well-known cartoon, "Satan Tempting Booth to the Murder of the President."
Curated OER
American Music Styles - Lesson 1
Students describe some of the distinguishing characteristics of rock, folk, blues, and country music. They identify two main musical roots of today's American popular music.
Curated OER
Sportswriting
Learners complete a variety of activities (using the Washington Post Newspaper) that reinforce concepts involved in sports writing.
Curated OER
Held Accountable
Students examine and draw conclusions from an excerpt from a slave narrative. They analyze excerpts from two recently discovered slave narratives.
They draw connections among the narrative excerpts and historical texts by investigating...
Curated OER
The Talking Goat Lesson
Students analyze the meanings and patterns of a folk tale. They respond in their reading journals to the following prompts: How do you feel about the way "The Talking Goat" ended? Why? Which did you like better: your group's predicted...
Curated OER
What Sharing Really Means
Students read the story "Sharing in Africa". As a class, they brainstorm a list of holidays and celebrations in various cultures and identify the Congo on a world map. To end the lesson, they focus on one paragraph of the story,...
Curated OER
Who Was Marc Antony?
Students explore the relationship between Marc Antony and Cleopatra. In this World History lesson, students research Marc Antony, Julius Caesar and Cleopatra, then answer specific questions about how they are all related. Activities...
Curated OER
Twain: Tom Sawyer—Mythic Adventurer
Students take a closer look at archetypes. In this characterization lesson, students examine the setting and the characters of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer as they read and analyze the novel. Students consider how Twain mythically...
Curated OER
4 Corners Pre-reading Strategy for A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
High schoolers consider different statements based on the themes from Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun, and decide what they think of the statement. They share their ideas as a class and discuss all sides to a idea.
Curated OER
Press Perception of Jack Johnson
Students role-play the role of journalists during the 19th and 20th centuries. They create their own sports newspapers. They report on Jack Johnson's life and career.
Curated OER
Rockin’ the World: Rock and Roll and Social Protest in 20th Century America
Pupils explore protest songs. In this interdisciplinary lesson plan, students examine issues-based music by summarizing lyrics and revealing inferences, generalizations, conclusions, and points of view found in the songs.
Curated OER
"And That's The Way It Is..." Today in History
Students research an event in history from different perspectives. They discuss the characteristics of a nightly news broadcast and create their own based on the history event they researched. They work together to produce this...
Curated OER
They Were All Stars: An Introduction to Leagues Baseball
Students identify the basic knowledge of Negro Leagues baseball.
Students identify and analyze the important individuals and events associated with Negro Leagues baseball history.
Students identify key vocabulary related to this period...
Curated OER
Fugitive from Labor Cases: Henry Garnett (1850) and Moses Honner (1860)
Young scholars engage in the comparison of cases which demonstrate the increasingly volatile political crisis in the 1850s arising over the issue of slavery and the necessity for the enactment of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to...
Curated OER
Slave Narratives
Students use a database to find and read examples of slave narratives. In groups, they read the various narratives and discuss their feelings about them. They also research the time period in which the narratives were written to end...
Curated OER
The Bill of Rights in Times of National Crisis
Learners examine the ability of the government to suspend individual rights in times of national crisis. They formulate a constitutional amendment that clearly states if, when, how and by whom the rights of individuals can be suspended.
Curated OER
Native Lands: Indians in Georgia , Losing Ground: Removal, 1802-1838
Pupils investigate the removal of the Creek Indians from Georgia. Students read the story of the Creek removal from Georgia, locate sites mentioned on a map, and create a related timeline. Pupils share their thoughts on the Creek removal...
Curated OER
A Fish Tale
Young scholars brainstorm a list of famous events that took place on the sea. They write a poem or short story from the fish's perspective about the famous event they have chosen. Students share their work with the class.
Curated OER
Myths of the Wild West
Young scholars examine the Wild West as it was depicted in films and books. In groups, they compare this information to what it was really like as they find out in books. They also discover the role of the Native Americans in the Wild...