Lesson Plan
iCivics

Wanted: A Just Right Government

For Teachers 6th - 11th Standards
What type of government did American colonists gain and seek after gaining their independence after the Revolutionary War? Here is lesson that will guide your young learners through the new nation's progression from the Articles of...
Lesson Plan
iCivics

Why Government?

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Why do people create governments? Where did we get our ideas about government? This is a fantastic introductory lesson for your American government class that begins by reviewing the philosophies of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke in...
Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Lesson 2: Religion and the Argument for American Independence

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Young scholars examine how religion affected arguments justifying American independence. They read and analyze primary source documents, and write an essay analyzing how Americans used religious arguments to justify revolution against a...
Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Lesson 1: The First Great Awakening

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
High schoolers examine the First Great Awakening and how it affected religious belief in colonial America. They read and analyze primary source documents, explore various websites, and write a five-paragraph essay examining the beliefs...
Lesson Plan
Center for History Education

The Iran Hostage Crisis

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
While the Iranian Hostage Crisis was a watershed moment, few history classes take on the complex series of events leading up to it. Using declassified documents, including a hostage's diary, young historians create their own reports to...
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
Center for History Education

Daily Lives of Slaves - What Really Happened?

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
The stories of enslaved people are preserved forever thanks to the Great Depression. Budding historians explore slave narratives gathered by a federal government initiative to discover what life was actually like for enslaved people....
Lesson Plan
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1
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...
Lesson Plan
1
1
National Endowment for the Humanities

The Question of Representation at the 1787 Convention

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
While the Constitution is considered enshrined today, its current form is the result of haggling at a secret convention in 1787. Using transcripts from the meetings and various plans as drafted by the delegates, class members unpack the...
Lesson Plan
1
1
National Endowment for the Humanities

The Road to the Constitutional Convention

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
After defeating the most powerful nation in the world, the United States had to deal with its own weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation. Activities in the instructional activity include analyzing primary sources from the Founding...
Activity
Constitutional Rights Foundation

What Should the US Do About North Korea's Nuclear Weapons?

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
North Korea, a shadowy nation distrustful of America, is working on a nuclear weapons program. What should the United States do? The question has plagued American presidents for years, but now young scholars get to make their...
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
Cuban Revolution

The Cuban Revolution and Its Impact on Latin America

For Teachers 8th - 12th Standards
Fidel Castro was the iconic leader of Cuba. Yet, individuals may know little about the man or his motivations. In an engaging Web quest activity, scholars investigate Castro's political aspirations and his more ephemeral personal life...
Primary
Cornell College

Dred Scott v. Sandford Supreme Court Decision

For Students 8th - 12th Standards
Dred Scott was a harbinger of the Civil War. An enslaved man claimed freedom because his owner had taken him into free territory. Not only did the Supreme Court rule that Dred Scott and his wife were to remain enslaved, but it also ruled...
Lesson Plan
3
3
Curated OER

Centers of the Storm: The Lyceum and the Circle at the University of Mississippi

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Greek Revival architecture and the Civil Rights Movement? Sure! Examine how the Lyceum and Circle, two historic buildings located on the campus of the University of Mississippi, relate to integration and the 1962 riot on the university...
Lesson Plan
1
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National Park Service

Freedom at Antietam

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Explore how the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation affected everyday individuals in the Civil War era. Learners are given the opportunity to read and evaluate primary and secondary source material, and then to compose a writing...
Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

The Debate in the United States over the League of Nations: Five Camps: From Voices of Consent to Voices of Dissent

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Students explore and discuss Woodrow Wilson's concepts for peace and the League of Nations. They understand efforts made to foster American support for the League and discuss the opposition shown in the Senate.
Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Slavery and the American Founding: The "Inconsistency Not to Be Excused"

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
High schoolers examine slavery in the revolutionary and colonial eras of the United States. In this slavery lesson, students investigate the presence of slavery in early America, the language of the Constitution, and the intent of the...
Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Lesson 3: Religion and the Fight for American Independence

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Pupils explore the role religion played in the American Revolutionary War. Using primary documents and writing exercises, students understand how religion was used in support of the war efforts and how specific religious groups responded...
Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Lesson 2: The Debate in Congress on the Sedition Act

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Pupils research and discuss the provisions in the Constitution that supported the arguments for and against the Sedition Act. They articulate objections to and arguments in favor of the Sedition Act.
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...
Unit Plan
Georgia Department of Education

Ga Virtual Learning: Scholastic: Nonfiction [Pdf]

For Students 10th - 12th Standards
This is a PDF chart of the types, traits, and purposes of nonfiction provided by Scholastic.