Use this exceptional resource to examine the discourse and debate that occurred at the start of the War of 1812 with your class. Learners will first consider their own position on the war in a silent journal writing activity. Then after...

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...

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...

Match game for the win! Build learners' historical vocabulary using an interactive matching game. Class members match each term to its definition with a tap. A writing prompt rounds out the lesson, leading to further discussion on how...

Democracy cannot exist where not everyone has equal rights. Discuss the state of democracy and women's suffrage during World War I with class discussions, debates, and primary source analysis, in order for class members to connect...

A New Order in Europe calls for a new lesson plan! This third plan in a series of four sequential lessons encourages high schoolers to read primary sources about the development of the New Order and follow up their knowledge with a...

Should the United States continue the practice of using drone strikes abroad? Readers explore the top pro and con arguments in preparation for a debate or discussion about the topic. They read about the history of drone strikes, view a...

Though often used in shows of patriotism, Bruce Springsteen's 1985 song "Born in the U.S.A." is critical of America's role in the Vietnam war and its treatment of American veterans. High schoolers analyze the song's lyrics in an activity...

Was the Southern states' decision to secede from the Union protected by the United States Constitution? Eighth graders discuss the constitutionality of the South's justification for secession, particularly the secession of South...

The United States may have pulled its troops from the Vietnam War in 1973, but the conflict was far from over for the citizens living in Asia at the time. An informative resource lets learners know about the wave of over 220,000...

Though the Statue of Liberty welcomes political refugees to her shores, the welcoming sentiment has not always been reflected in the American citizenry. High schoolers read about the regrettable period in United States history...

Was bombing German cities an effective means to an end, or was it a war crime? Could it be both? Young historians ponder these questions with an activity that prompts them to use primary sources to summarize the debate surrounding RAF...

As if surviving a journey to America wasn't enough of a feat for early 20th century immigrants, they then needed to settle into American life. Learn about the ways New York public education attempted to meet the needs of its learners,...

The presidencies of John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, and Ronald Reagan were defined by the Cold War. Using primary source documents and scaffolded analysis questions, pupils explore the effect the Cold War had on these presidencies. A...

While the United States is now one of the strongest countries in the world, at its founding, it was plagued by controversies over the ratification of the Constitution, the Louisiana Purchase, and the expansion of slavery. Using a...

What led to the United States Civil War? Interested historians consider a variety of political, social, and economic factors using primary sources and an essay prompt in an authentic high-stakes test. Primary sources include political...

Though the scientists who developed the atom bomb did not believe it should be used to end World War II, American President Harry S. Truman and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill were of like mind in their decision to drop the bomb...

While America says it welcomes from other countries the tired and poor yearning to be free, the record is mixed on whether there has been a warm reception for immigrants. Class members use an interactive graphic scale and primary source...

Everyone living in the United States today is a descendant from an immigrant—even Native Americans. Learn about the tumultuous history of American immigration with a reading passage that discusses the ancient migration over the Bering...

Discover the ways America has opened its borders to international refugees, and the ways other countries have been more or less welcoming, with an informational passage about United States and international policies on refugees....

The Statue of Liberty may embrace the huddled masses of the world, but has American society always joined in? After young historians read a passage about the history of American immigration in the 19th and 20th centuries, focusing on...

Here is a great secondary source reading that includes the primary ideas and philosophies of the famed Enlightenment philosophers: Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Charles Montesquieu, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. In additional to discussing...

Did Scopes violate the Butler Act? Why did so many Americans follow the Scopes trial? See analytical reading in action with a fantastic five-day lesson plan in which class members consider the historical context that provoked public...

A tutorial that looks at the main causes of the American Civil War. A PDF file of the tutorial is available.