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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Primary Sources

For Teachers 9th - 11th
Materials provided by The Lower East Side Tenement Museum, located in New York City, offer researchers an opportunity to examine primary sources and use these sources to understand the past. Class groups analyze different documents to...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

1900 America: Primary Sources and Epic Poetry

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Using Walt Whitman's Song of Myself and Hart Crane's The Bridge as models, class groups first craft their own epic poems for 1900 and, using primary sources, create a multi-media presentation that captures the sights and sounds of life...
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Lesson Plan
Historic New Orleans Collection

Exploring Primary Sources: Music in New Orleans

For Teachers 5th - 12th Standards
Looking for a new and exciting way to teach young historians the art of primary source analysis? Jazz up your lesson with a resource that asks class members to analyze photos, travel documents, and letters written by some of New Orleans'...
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Lesson Plan
Digital Public Library of America

Teaching Guide: Exploring Little Women

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Louisa May Alcott's Little Women is a literary masterpiece as well as a timestamp of the formative mid-nineteenth century in America. Using a primary source set of photographs, letters, and portraits, readers discuss the ways...
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Activity
PBS

Primary Source Set: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
What did Jo write her stories with? How did the March sisters dress? A primary source set designed for Louisa May Alcott's Little Women prompts learners to look over images of household items and clothes from the 1860s before engaging in...
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Activity
Digital Public Library of America

Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin has generated controversy since its publication in 1852. Here is a set of 12 primary sources that capture the controversies of the times while adding dimension and depth to any study of the novel.
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Activity
Digital Public Library of America

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is the focus of a teaching guide that introduces readers to some of the many controversies surrounding the use of the novel in classrooms. The packet includes 15 primary source excerpts and...
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Lesson Plan
Library of Congress

To Kill A Mockingbird: A Historical Perspective

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students study the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. Through studying primary source materials from American Memory and other online resources, students of all backgrounds study the relationships between blacks and whites.
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Lesson Plan
2
2
Curated OER

Old Hobbits Are Hard to Break

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Explore film adaptation of literature with this lesson, which focuses on the world of film advertisements. Middle schoolers discuss various films (including The Lord of the Rings) and create advertisements for a pretend film based on a...
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Activity
Library of Congress

The Harlem Renaissance

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The Harlem Renaissance brought forth many American art forms including jazz, and the writings of Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes. Using a carefully curated set of documents from the Library of Congress, pupils see the cultural...
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Lesson Plan
1
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Curated OER

Hamlet Research Paper: Find, Evaluate, and Select Appropriate Research Sources

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Help young researchers find credible sources online. Modeling with a Google search for information about Shakespeare’s Macbeth, use a computer projector or Smart Board to show class members how weak the top three search results are....
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Chaucer's Wife of Bath

For Teachers 11th - Higher Ed
A thorough and well-designed resource for older students, this lesson focuses on Chaucer's character the Wife of Bath from his classic novel, The Canterbury Tales. As a way of understanding Chaucer's complex characterization and...
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Activity
Digital Public Library of America

A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
A set of 14 primary sources provides background for a study of Lorraine Hansberry's drama, A Raisin in the Sun. Featured are images from stage productions of the play, white supremacy protests, a clip from a television interview, and...
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Activity
Digital Public Library of America

The Poetry of Maya Angelou

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Maya Angelou's work reflects her passion for life, civil rights, and justice for all. A collection of 12 primary sources provide scholars with insight into this amazing woman. The set includes photographs, articles, recordings of...
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Lesson Plan
1
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Curated OER

That's Moor Like It!

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
How do modern adaptations of Shakespearean plays relate to their original source material? Middle and high schoolers focus on Shakespeare's play Othello and its screen adaptation "O" to explore how modern film adaptations of Shakespeare...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sample Lesson 1: Is This Source Credible? Useful? Why and Why Not?

For Teachers 8th - 11th Standards
  Build background knowledge for The Book Thief by Markus Zusak while teaching your pupils how to determine the credibility of online sources. The plan is designed to take place over the course of two days. On the first day, model how to...
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AP Test Prep
College Board

2011 AP® English Language and Composition Free-Response Questions Form B

For Students 10th - 12th Standards
Strong writers support their points with direct evidence and details. A series of free-response questions from the 2011 AP® English Language and Composition exam require the use of details to obtain a good score. The first prompt...
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AP Test Prep
College Board

2009 AP® English Language and Composition Free-Response Questions Form B

For Students 10th - 12th Standards
In writing, an argument can be considered valid if writers have evidence to support it. Free-response questions from the AP® English Language and Composition exam ask writers to craft three argumentative essays. One prompt asks test...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Great Gatsby: Primary Sources from the Roaring Twenties

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students research the Roaring Twenties. In this 1920's America lesson, students analyze primary sources to develop an understanding of lifestyles and values of the era as they read F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby.
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Activity
Digital Public Library of America

The Poetry of Emily Dickinson

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Are you contemplating a poetry study featuring Emily Dickinson? Finding good primary sources to accompany the study can be a challenge—never fear, help is here! Check out this primary source set that includes manuscripts of several of...
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Activity
Digital Public Library of America

The Watsons Go To Birmingham—1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
A primary source set of photographs, videos, newspaper articles, and FBI reports provides insight into race relations during the 1960s, the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing, and the murder of Emmitt Till. Designed to be used to...
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Activity
Digital Public Library of America

Beloved by Toni Morrison

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Any classroom study of Toni Morrison's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Beloved requires careful planning and scaffolding. A primary source set that includes a video, illustrations, photos of artifacts, and a broadside of the Fugitive Slave...
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Activity
Digital Public Library of America

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Zora Neale Hurston's novel Their eyes Were Watching God has been highly praised and severely criticized for its depiction of African American folk culture. A set of primary source materials, including photographs, articles, essays, and...
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

Fake News Through History: Analyzing Historical Sources

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Unfortunately, fake news, fuzzy facts, and bogus news stories are not new phenomena. Class members use a "Fake News Through History" worksheet to analyze historical examples of false, invented, made-up news. Researchers share their...

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