Prestwick House
Reading Nonfiction: Analyzing Joseph McCarthy's "Enemies from Within" Speech
Looking for a lesson plan that teaches class members how to analyze nonfiction? Use Joseph McCarthy's famous "Enemies from Within" speech as a instructional text. Worksheet questions direct readers' attention to the many historical...
Curated OER
Interpreting Christopher Columbus
High schoolers compare historical interpretations. For this research skills lesson, students use Internet and print resources to research the controversy regarding Christopher Columbus's work as an explorer. High schoolers use their...
Curated OER
Fear, Civil Rights and Personal Freedoms
High schoolers write and perform a one-act play. They present constitutional, personal and cultural issues of the internment camps of the 1940's. They research and present a historical examine internernment camps.
Curated OER
Southern Perspective on Reconstruction
Students analyze historical perspectives. For this Reconstruction lesson, students compare and contrast the Northern and Southern views on Reconstruction as they analyze letters from Robert E. Lee and read Confederate Military History.
Curated OER
Historical Witness - social Messaging
High schoolers examine and develop artwork that shows women's roles during different eras. In this women's role lesson, students look at artwork that shows women at work during the mid-nineteenth to early twentieth century. They design a...
Rockefeller Archive Center
Understanding Mass Media News
In an age of fake news and photoshopped images, it is vital that 21st century learners development the skills they need to evaluate mass media and assess its validity. A great way to launch such a study is with a carefully crafted lesson...
Curated OER
Using Primary Source Documents
Students examine copies of primary source documents and determine the document's value to a researcher. They analyze and evaluate the document for bias or contradiction. They know the difference between a primary and secondary source.
Curated OER
Emmett Till: A Classroom Sonnet
Who is Emmet Till? An important historical figure, your kids will be shocked by his story! Discover the details of his life and collaborate to write a crown of sonnets in the style of Marilyn Nelson.
Walters Art Museum
The Symbolism of Allegorical Art
Introduce learners to allegorical art with four bronze sculptures by Francesco Bertos. After modeling how to recognize bias and allegory in Bertos' Africa, class groups examine the other three sculptures in the series before creating...
Curated OER
Worksheet for Analysis of a Newspaper Article
In this primary source analysis worksheet, students respond to 20 short answer questions that require them to analyze their selected newspaper articles.
Curated OER
Infusing Equity by Gender into the Classroom: Those Ancient Greeks
Students compare the treatment of men and women in Athens and Sparta. In this gender roles lesson plan, students research daily life in the Greek cities and create charts that compare the lives of women and men in both of the cities.
Curated OER
Worksheet for Analysis of a Broadside or Leaflet
In this primary source analysis instructional activity, students respond to 15 short answer questions that require them to analyze leaflets or brochures of their choice.
University of Pennsylvania
Using Comic Strips to Teach Multiple Perspectives
Scholars view comics from two different perspectives; one paints the Alfred Dreyfus as innocent, while the other portrays the exact opposite. They solve the mystery of what happened by analyzing the source, working in groups, and...
Museum of Tolerance
Influence of Media
We are bombarded with media images expressly designed to influence viewers. Learning how to analyze the intended effects of these images is essential and the focus of an activity that asks viewers to use the provided questions to guide...
Center for History Education
Women's Rights in the American Century
Today, many young people find it hard to understand why it took over 150 years for women in the United States to get the right to vote—why there was even a need for the suffrage movement. As they read a series of primary source...
Anti-Defamation League
10 Ideas for Teaching Black History Month
Celebrate Black History Month with the help of 10 ideas that delve deep into the history, major events, contributions, famous African Americans, and sheds light on how scholars today can take a proactive stance on current civil rights...
Facing History and Ourselves
The Nazis in Power: Propaganda and Conformity
The Nazis used the power of propaganda to encourage confirmative views and the discrimination of Jews. A social studies resource illustrates these issues through discussion, image analysis, and a writing exercise.
Teaching Tolerance
Listen Up! PSA for Change
Challenge scholars to speak up about a topic by creating a public service announcement or social media blitz about an issue they feel passionate about. Have them research their issues, then decide the best way to take their messages to...
Anti-Defamation League
Harriet Tubman on the $20 Bill: The Power of Symbols
How important are symbols and symbolic gestures in society? Middle schoolers have an opportunity to analyze the importance of symbols on American currency with a lesson that investigates the controversies surrounding redesigning the $5,...
Curated OER
Who Was Cinque?
Students examine the Amistad revolt and its significance in the American debate over slavery. They review and discuss period newspaper reports about the revolt.
Curated OER
America Moves to the City (1865-1900)
Statistical data can show shifts in human populations without bias or a prescribed historical point of view. View bar graphs and charts that describe new influxes in urbanization, immigration, and suffrage by state during the turn of the...
Curated OER
The Art of Persuasion-Analysis of Argument
Analyze advertising techniques in order to pinpoint persuasive strategies that writers use. These same techniques are then examined in persuasive speeches. You will have to find your own advertisements, but speeches are included. Finish...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
History of Immigration Through the 1850s
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...
Curated OER
Holes
Students distinguish between primary and secondary sources when researching on the Internet and evaluating historical records. They recognize important features of a primary source such as the type of document, who created it, what is...