+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Anti-Railroad Propaganda Poster -- The Growth of Regionalism, 1800 - 1860

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students research the anti-railroad movement of the mid-19th century. They review propaganda from the period and consider various points of view. They develop role-plays and write essays using their research.
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lincoln's Spot Resolutions

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers examine the controversy and varying points of view leading up to the 19th century Mexican War. They research examples of anti-war movements throughout history and write editorials about their findings.
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Discovering New Species

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students identify animals observed by Lewis and Clark while evaluating the animal's habitat and describing the animal's behavior. Students construct a food web mobile to illustrate the animal's position in the food web in the 19th...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Orphan Trains

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students use readings and discussion to investigate the 19th century practice of Orphan Trains - sending U.S. urban orphans from the East to the Midwest in hopes of procuring them a home. They focus on the concept of social trade-offs.
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Roots of Prohibition: Examining the Effort to Prohibit Alcohol in America

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Five segements from Ken Burns' documentary series Prohibition, easily accessed on the PBS website, are at the center of a terrific short unit on the roots of America's ambivalent relationship with alcohol. Engage your secondary class...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sondheim: Voice of Cultural Change

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explore Stephen Sondheim's contributions to musical theatre in the context of the dramatic cultural shift that occurred in American life in the late 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's Christmas Bells

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Learners read and analyze the anti-slavery poem, "Christmas Bells" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. They discuss the content and form of the poem, write an essay, write an original poem, examine how this anti-slavery poem was converted...
+
Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Tales of the Supernatural

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Scary stuff! Whether approached as the first horror story or a "serious imaginative exploration of the human condition," Frankenstein continues to engage readers. Here's a packet of activities that uses Mary Shelley's gothic novel to...
+
Handout
ProCon

Is Homework Beneficial?

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Does homework improve student achievement, or does it increase stress? Scholars use the included debate topics website to prepare for a class discussion or debate about whether homework is advantageous. After reading a brief background...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Photography and the National Park Service

For Teachers 9th - 12th
During the 1800s the United States was expanding westward; land was there for the taking.  Kids explore how some early photographers used their photography to influenced the US Congress to save areas like Mirror Lake. They complete a...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

De-Mystifying Poetry: Understanding Narrative Poetry

For Teachers 10th
Tenth graders explore narrative poetry. They analyze sections of a poem and present to groups. They compose their own narrative poems using pictures as prompts. They exchange their poems and analyze their classmate's poem.
+
Unit Plan
Folger Shakespeare Library

Julius Caesar Curriculum Guide

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
You needn't beware using Shakespeare's Julius Caesar in your classroom. You, too, can be valiant and let loose your young actor's creativity, guided by the suggestions in a curriculum guide so filled with a delightful mix of elements...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Critical Ways of Seeing The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in Context

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students complete a unit of lessons examining the cultural context of the novel, 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.' They write a critique of the novel, compare/contrast two published critiques, and explore various websites.
+
Lesson Plan
1
1
National Endowment for the Humanities

Mark Twain and American Humor

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
“The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” is famous, in part, because it established a uniquely American form of humor. For this famous story, Mark Twain combines the tall-tale, the dialect story, and satire. Here is a resource...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Myth and the Reality: Pioneering in the Midwest

For Teachers 8th - 10th
Students examine the myth and reality of settlement in the Upper Midwest during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Red Studio Turns 100!

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Students observe the art of Henri Matisse and discuss the ideas and feelings his art brings about. For this Henri Matisse lesson plan, students look at many of his artistic paintings and discuss and write in a journal the point of view...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

"Leap, plashless": Emily Dickinson & Poetic Imagination

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students examine different poems from Emily Dickinson. They practice listening for meter in the poems and make connections between the texts. They also practice their own creative writing skills.
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ship of Gold

For Teachers 6th - 10th
Students research the events that were taking place in the U.S. during the time period when the SS Central America sank, and explore the adventurous, innovative, and individualistic traits that often define the American spirit.
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Constitutional Change During the Progressive Era

For Teachers 9th - 11th
Students analyze the passage of the 16th through 19th amendments during the Progressive Era around the turn of the century. Using research skills, they write papers and create portfolios supporting and opposing the adoption of each...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

American Music Styles - Lesson 1

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students describe some of the distinguishing characteristics of rock, folk, blues, and country music. They identify two main musical roots of today's American popular music.
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Apotheosis ofGeorge Washington

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students examine the image of George Washington. In this Washington presidency lesson, students use the provided analysis handout to analyze the character of Washington conveyed in several pieces of art and speeches. Students share their...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Coal Camps and Mining Towns

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Young scholars should gain a better understanding of the processes involved in extracting coal from the Earth as a result of this lesson. They reearch the history of coal mining, look into coal mining towns, and create a short story...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A New Life, A New Home

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders use photographs to tell the story of immigrants. They use the Internet to help them research immigration.
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Crane, London, and Literary Naturalism

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers analyze "To Build a Fire" by Jack London and "The Open boat" by Stephen Crane. They write an essay in which they compare and contrast the narrators and plots in each story.

Other popular searches