A unit focuses on the Civil War. Second graders follow along with an informational reading about the war—why it started, how it ended, and essential individuals such as Harriet Beecher Stow, Harriet Tubman, Abraham Lincoln, Ulisses, S....

Take a longer look at a formative time in history with a lesson that explores the causes of the American Civil War. After viewing a series of images and explanations for various forces at play, middle schoolers choose the images that...

Middle schoolers may be surprised to learn that before the American Civil War there were more slaves living in New York than there were in Kentucky! Young historians examine maps and census data to gather statistics about...

Over three weeks, second graders listen to stories about the United States Civil War. Informational texts explore the war, slavery, Harriet Tubman, Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, Clara Barton, the Emancipation Proclamation, and Ulysses...

Primary sources are valuable for understanding the context of historical events, but the diction and dialect in these documents can be difficult to understand. Middle and high schoolers participation in a transcription process in which...

What part did Kentucky play in the Civil War? A constructed response essay assignment tests to ensure scholars understand the concepts and the arguments for the causes of the Civil War. Learners must read a primary source quote and then...

How do you teach the Civil War and all its intricacies within the time limits of an average school day? Using a three-part plan, teachers easily integrate coverage of key Civil War battles into the unit. The lesson includes activities to...

Choosing sides is no easy matter, and this was certainly true for the citizens of Baltimore in the beginning stages of the Civil War. Using video, group analysis of several primary sources, and discussion, this detailed and thorough...

Learners create a standing cube with four panels that display information on the North and South's economy, geography and climate, society, and means of transportation before the Civil War. Through discussion and reading...

"Words, words, words." Despite Hamlet's opinion, words can be significant. In this inquiry lesson, middle schoolers learn how the words in Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, in the view of many, lead to the American Civil War. To...

What was life like for enslaved and free black people before the American Civil War? Explore the building tension between states and the freedom of individuals with a thorough social studies lesson. Learners of all ages explore...

What did Lincoln want? Historians still debate this question, and perhaps people will never fully know. Class members examine the legacies of the war, including the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments. The lesson plan also...

Volume One of the 299-page Core Knowledge History of the United States covers events from the Precolonial Period to the 1800s.

The transition between rebellion to reunification was not smooth after the Civil War. Young historians compare primary and secondary source documents in a study of the Reconstruction era in Virginia, noting the rights that were not...

Women and children played key roles during the Civil War, even if their voices are often lost in history. By studying letters and personal testimony from them, budding historians get a glimpse into the day-to-day life of civilians during...

The man who invented the earliest examples of chemical engineering was an American-born, French-educated, free man of color before the Civil War, and went on to translate Egyptian hieroglyphics. There is something of...

Scholars generally agree on the emancipation of enslaved people in the United States. This inquiry-based lesson asks high schoolers to consider more than the claims of who freed the enslaved people but the significance of the issues...

Learn about the diverse perspectives involved in the Six Day War by having learners examine and annotate presidential speeches given by the three nations—Egypt, Israel, and the United States—at the heart of the conflict and producing...

Can schools ban t-shirts picturing musical groups or bands? Your young citizens will find out with this resource, which includes a summary of a United States Supreme Court case from the 1960s about a similar dispute over students wearing...

Even though American slaves were officially emancipated in 1865, the effects of slavery perpetuated throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Middle and high schoolers learn about the ways that discrimination and the Jim Crow laws...

How did free and enslaved blacks work to craft freedom for themselves and their families before the Civil War? Young historians read about the life of Thomas Day, a free black man who also owned slaves and had abolitionist ties in...

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...

History enthusiasts participate in an interactive website that brings Abraham Lincoln to life as he shares his personal experiences between 1854-1864. Scholars listen and read carefully to form their own opinions and discover if they...

It's time to test those skills! Assess pupils' knowledge of US history and government with short answer questions, multiple-choice items, and essays. The resource serves as a standardized test that functions well for a final exam....