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Angel Island Immigrant Journeys
Young historians study the Angel Island Immigration Station with activities examining primary and secondary source materials, maps, and websites. The unit begins with individuals creating a map of Angel Island, labeling sites on the...
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A President's Vision: Franklin D. Roosevelt
Young historians, prompted by questions on worksheets, practice analyzing primary source documents (an editorial cartoon, letters, and excerpts from one of Roosevelt’s fireside chats) related to the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt....
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Echoes & Reflections: Teaching the Holocaust, Inspiring the Classroom
A collection includes 11 units designed to help instructors consider the complexities of teaching about the Holocaust and other genocides. The lessons provide students with accurate information and sensitive instruction as they examine...
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Looking Back Reaching Forward: Exploring the Promise of Brown v. Board of Education in Contemporary Times
A six-lesson unit commemorates the historic Supreme Court decision Brown V. Board of Education. High schoolers discuss key elements of the decision and examine documents detailing the history of school desegregation and the conditions...
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Overcoming Obstacles: Service Learning Handbook
Being asked to design and perform a service learning project may seem overwhelming to middle and high school students. The nine lessons in the Service Learning Handbook Module break the process into manageable steps and ask participants...
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The Jungle, Muckrakers, and Teddy Roosevelt
Two lessons comprise "The Jungle, Muckrakers, and Teddy Roosevelt" unit module that asks middle schoolers to consider whether investigative journalism is beneficial or detrimental. The lessons focus on the evidence Upton Sinclair used to...
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Magical Realism in One Hundred Years of Solitude
How does Gabriel Garcia Marquez make the magical elements in his novel One Hundred Years of Solitude seem real? That is the essential question for readers of his acclaimed novel to tackle in a three-lesson unit module. Scholars begin by...
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Pearl Harbor Classroom Activities
President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “Day of Infamy” speech is the focus of a seven-lesson series that has young historians researching information about the December 7, 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Using both an audio version of...
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Latinx Rights in 1960s California
The two lessons in the Latinx Rights in 1960s California unit module examine two protests: The East LA school walkouts and the California grape workers strike of 1965-66. The East LA School walkouts lesson plan looks at the importance of...
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Ben Across the Curriculum: Middle School
Ben Across the Curriculum is a set of interdisciplinary lesson plans that highlight the five central themes in the international traveling exhibition Benjamin Franklin: In Search of a Better World. These themes are Character Matters, B....
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Becoming Us: Belonging
The Becoming Us: Belonging module examines how the American ideal of shared identity has been challenged by fear and insecurity. The first of three case studies focus on the deportation of Mexican American citizens during the Great...
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Becoming Us: Policy
Studying the laws and policies enacted to restrict or reform immigration, including or excluding certain groups of people, is essential to understanding the complicated history of immigration in our nation's democracy. Three case studies...
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Becoming Us: Education
The Becoming Us: Education module examines the history of the fight for racial justice and educational equity today. The first case study looks at the re-segregation of American schools, while the second explores the resistance to school...
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Becoming Us: Borderlands
Three case studies make up a unit the looks at the power contentions and exchanges in the borderlands that have shaped the United States. The first case study focuses on creating the US southern border and the experiences of people...
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Reconstruction: America After the Civil War
Excerpts from Reconstruction: America After the Civil War, Henry Louis Gates Jr.’s documentary series provide young historians with insight into the struggles the country faced in the years after the Civil war. Viewers learn about the...
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Alexis de Tocqueville on the Tyranny of the Majority
The writings of a French diplomat and political philosopher, Alexis de Tocqueville, offer young scholars much to think about. In the three-lesson unit, class members examine Tocqueville’s arguments about the power of the majority and...
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The Diplomacy Challenge
A seven-lesson unit module offers high schoolers an opportunity to investigate the role diplomats play in an interconnected world. Acting as Early Modern era (1450-1750) diplomats, groups negotiate treaties to further the interests of...
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A President's Vision: Thomas Jefferson
Former president, Thomas Jefferson, is the focus of seven lessons that challenge pupils to analyze primary source documents associated with his presidency. Pupils perform a close reading of several messages to Congress and an excerpt of...
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A President's Vision: Ronald Reagan
The programs of Ronald Reagan, the 40th President of the United States, are the focus of seven worksheets that teach young historians how to analyze primary source documents—including a poster, excerpts from speeches, and political...
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A President's Vision: George Washington
Worksheets guide 21st-century learners through an examination of primary source documents related to the presidency of George Washington. The worksheets in the collection allow students to identify the context, meaning, and significance...
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A President's Vision: Lyndon B. Johnson
The 1964 Civil Rights Act, the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968 are all statues pushed by Lyndon Baines Johnson. Presdient Johnson also established programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and Head Start. Young...
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Center for Civic Education: Black History Month
Six lesson plans in the Black History Month collection introduce middle and high schoolers to nonviolent actions as a means to resist oppression and encourage reform. Lessons look at the Children’s March, music, and citizenship schools...
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Ben Across the Curriculum: High School
Benjamin Franklin: The man, the scientist, the inventor, the statesman, the legend. A 10-lesson collection introduces high schoolers to the many facets of Franklin’s character. Although developed for the International Traveling...
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Ben Across the Curriculum: Elementary School
Benjamin Franklin, statesman, inventor, President is the subject of a collection targeting young historians. The interdisciplinary lesson plans were originally designed to accompany the 2018 international traveling exhibition, “Benjamin...