Lesson Plan
Center for History Education

Debating Social Security: Understanding and Evaluating the Social Security Act of 1935

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
With throngs of Americans out of work and hungry, Franklin D. Roosevelt made the bold move to establish a social safety net with programs such as Social Security. The move was—and still is—controversial. Using documents from the 1930s,...
Lesson Plan
Center for History Education

The Freedmen's Bureau: Success or Failure?

For Teachers 6th - 9th Standards
What is freedom? The United States grappled with the question at the end of the Civil War after four million enslaved people were freed. Using circulars and images from the Reconstruction period, individuals examine how successful the...
Lesson Plan
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National Endowment for the Humanities

Creating the Office of the Presidency

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The United States needed an executive power, but it wanted to avoid a monarchy. Using James Madison's notes on the Constitutional Convention, young historians look at the juggling act the Founding Fathers did to create a role for the...
Interactive
iCivics

DBQuest: The Nashville Sit-In Movement

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
What was it like to be a part of the sit-ins during the Civil Rights Movement? Learners consider the question and whether the protests were effective using an online documents-based investigation. The program allows for virtual...
Lesson Plan
Eastconn

Learning to Analyze Political Cartoons with Lincoln as a Case Study

For Teachers 8th - 10th Standards
Discover the five main elements political cartoonists use—symbolism, captioning and labels, analogy, irony, and exaggeration—to convey their point of view.
Activity
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Active 770

Greek Mythology Research Project

For Teachers 6th - 10th Standards
As part of a study of Greek mythology, class members research a god, goddess, hero, or creature and prepare a PowerPoint to present their subject to the class.
Worksheet
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Renaissance and Reformation Chapter Test

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
This simple textbook assessment begins with a series of five short answer questions on major ideas from the Renaissance and Reformation. Then, young historians use their knowledge of artistic styles and developments from the period to...
Lesson Plan
Discovery Education

Women Monarchs and Heads of State

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
From Queen Elizabeth I of England in the sixteenth century to Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan in modern times, your class members will assume the roles of influential female rulers and take part in an informative and engaging...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Spread of Enlightenment Ideas

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Looking for a simple and straightforward reference on the Enlightenment for your young historians? Check out this list of key terms and important figures from the period, followed by a traditional assessment where your learners will be...
Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart: Oral and Literary Strategies

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Readers are first introduced to Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart by making a map of Africa. They will better understand the novel's historical and literary contexts, European and African literary traditions, and how...
Activity
Library of Congress

Loc: How to Find a Novel,etc. Without Knowing Its Title or Author

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
Use this guide to help identify a literary work when they know only its plot or subject, or other textual information such as a character's name, a line of poetry, or a unique word or phrase. Trusted databases, library catalogs, and more...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

History Matters: The u.s. Survey Course on the Web

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
Designed for high school and college teachers and students, History Matters serves as a gateway to web resources and offers other useful materials for teaching U.S. history.
Unit Plan
Georgia Department of Education

Ga Virtual Learning: "Compare/contrast Essay Help Sheet" [Pdf]

For Students 10th - 12th Standards
This is the 2-page PDF "Compare/Contrast Essay Help Sheet" which features an explanation of the three methods of comparison and contrast and a list of transition words that compare/contrast.
Unit Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Neh: Edsit Ement: Mapping the Past

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
This lesson plan requires the students to examine past maps from various cultures in order to learn how the people from that time period interacted and understood their world.
Website
HyperHistory Online

Hyper History Online

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
HyperHistory Online houses a collection of timelines that graphically displays 3,000 years of world history. Uses charts, images, maps, and color-coded text to reinforce the relationships among important persons and significant events in...
Unit Plan
University of Missouri

Interpreting Citations Tutorial

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
Want to make sense of the crazy-looking symbols and abbreviations in many periodical indexes? This clearly presented, quick tutorial can show you exactly what each strange symbol and abbreviation means.
Unit Plan
Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian Education: Artifact & Analysis: Historical Interpretation

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
A companion to American history courses, Artifact & Analysis features historical artifacts and documents about consumerism and the nation expanding, teacher's guide, writing assignments, and essays.
Handout
Internet FAQ Archive

Faq Archives: Encyclopedia of Children and Childhood in History and Society: Family Patterns

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
The structure of families in medieval and modern times, and the patterns they follow are examined. These include topics such as household composition, age of marriage, life expectancy, inheritance customs, financial resources, disruptive...
Lesson Plan
Newspapers in Education

Ni Eonline: Cartoons for the Classroom: Lessons Library

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
Newspapers in Education and the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists publish simple, inventive lesson plans and ideas for classes in editorial cartooning, caption writing, and news analysis. Lessons include "cartoon blanks" that...
Handout
Other

Teaching and Learning Resources: Learning Theories

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
Presents a table comparing three major learning theories - behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism. Lists major theorists for each, the role of the teacher, key ideas, how learning happens, the place of educational technology,...
Lesson Plan
Other

George W. Bush Library: What Do Historical Objects Tell Me? [Pdf]

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
A comprehensive lesson training students to analyze historical objects to determine features, reliability, authenticity, and provenance through observation skills encouraged through a variety of activities.
Handout
Other

Suny Albany: Talking History

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
SUNY Albany presents archives of the weekly broadcast/internet radio program, Talking History, begun in 1996 and focusing on all aspects of history. The goal is "to provide teachers, students, researchers and the general public with as...
Website
PBS

Pbs News Hour Extra: A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
A lesson where students examine documentary photographs, the events that were taking place when they were taken, and where they fit into American history. They will also look at the effect a photograph can have on people's emotions, and...
Professional Doc
Annenberg Foundation

Annenberg Learner: Balancing Sources

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
This is from an American history course designed for teachers to enrich their knowledge and their teaching practice. This interactive is a set of nine exercises where teachers evaluate primary resources related to a specific event in...