To better understand early American literature, which was usually written by Puritans coming to the new world, learners pretend they have just landed on Mars. They compose a letter home describing their experiences, the new landscape,...

Get your historians to hop into someone else's 18th century shoes with a simulation on rights in early America. Each individual gets an identity card, indicating their race, gender, and status (slave or free). Areas around the room are...

Scholars know him for his role in the American Revolution, but Ben Franklin was also a journalist and printer. Learners investigate his standards for what was fit to print using primary sources—including writings where Franklin explains...

Students investigate the First U.S. Industrial Revolution. They identify positive and negative effects of early industrialization, read first-hand accounts, role-play and interview individuals, and participate in a debate.

Each group is assigned a character to play in a mock debate. They read the provided materials, build an argument, and then debate their points of view as their perspective character. The debate focuses on ensuring equality for...

Students, divided into three groups, representing the Northeastern, Southern, Western United States. They research these areas in early American history and as a group prepare charts, graphs and reports. They explain their needs and...

Students explore lives of African-Americans in Iowa. Students will examine biographies and discuss perspectives of African-Americans. They will then create posters illustrating elements of those lives finally, putting on a five act play...

Fourth graders analyze colonial rule and policies with regard to the causes of the American Revolution. In this Colonial America simulation lesson, 4th graders role play in an Independence Game, reacting to a variety of "events" that...

How did Colonists react to British rule prior to the American Revolution? Give your high schoolers a taste of oppression with this role-play activity, then let them come up with a revolution of their own. This excercise is intended to...

Eleventh graders analyze the fight of African Americans.  In this American History lesson, 11th graders analyze the attitudes towards blacks in the military during WWI.  Students debate the performance of the 92nd division. 

Students study early Native American-European trade. They play bartering games to discover trade as an economic funtion, as well as other implications of trading one good for another.

The Albany Congress was one of the first attempts at colonial unity. While it was an effort against the French during the French and Indian War, it was one of the events leading up to the American Revolution. Scholars consider the...

Students use readings, maps and photos to examine the life of Japanese-American immigrants in Locke and Walnut Grove in the early 1900s. They discuss their research findings, role-play the lives of immigrants and write responses.

Students investigate Native American culture reading and writing about early Native American authors. They listen to an expert to extend their understanding of the culture.

Students examine the causes of the American Revolution. In this colonial America lesson, students read handouts regarding the sequence of events that led to the commencement of the war. Students complete the provided worksheets and...

Taking on the roles of a fiery Boston patriot, a Philadelphia merchant's wife, and a prominent abolitionist, your young historians will consider the reactions of these early Americans to the creation of the Declaration of...

What was it like to pass through Ellis Island? Learners move through the immigration process of the early 1900s in a simulation activity. A comprehensive activity includes role-playing profiles and other manipulative items such as...

Explore The Tempest and how language and power are intertwined in the play. Through a series of questions (provided) and an intense activity that has groups translate Caliban's speech into American Sign Language, learners recognize...

Role-play and simulation exercises are fantastic ways to help learners understand the reality behind many social and historical events. Pretending they are colonists, upper graders choose a location, create a history, establish laws, and...

Fifth graders examine how the environment and climate affected Pre-Colombian settlements. In this civilization lesson, 5th graders view pictures of different Native American tribes in different places and discuss how different groups...

Throughout history, newspapers have reported the events of the day as they unfolded. Using primary and secondary sources from World War I, scholars uncover how the American people learned of the events of the War to End All Wars. History...

While the Constitutional Convention lay the foundation of the new government for the United States, the protections given under the Bill of Rights were controversial. Using documents, such as James Madison's and Thomas Jefferson's...

Students explore the era of imperialism and expansion of the United States. In this American history lesson, students play a game regarding the U.S. attempts to expand the nation in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Students explore human health by participating in a medicine class activity. In this herbs lesson, students identify plants which Native Americans used throughout history to cure illnesses. Students research specific herbs in groups and...