Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Learning to Read Primary Documents

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Young scholars research primary source documents related to the Canadian Loyalist theme at Canada's Learning Center website. They examine a painting, a list and a discharge notice of a soldier.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sorting the Loyalist Documents

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students organize the Canadian Loyalist primary source documents and add more information to their primary source document concept maps.
Website
Library of Congress

Loc: Gettysburg Address

For Students 9th - 10th
An exhibition showcasing key documents linked to Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. Included are drafts of the address, transcriptions of the address in English and 28 other languages, Lincoln's invitation to Gettysburg, the only...
Primary
University of Groningen

American History: Documents: Dred Scott Case

For Students 9th - 10th
Here you will find the primary source text of the case and the opinions of the Supreme Court Justices in the Scott v Sandford case which ultimately ruled on the constitutionality of the Missouri Compromise.
Primary
Library of Congress

Loc: American Treasures: A More Perfect Union: Gallery B

For Students 9th - 10th
This is a large site from American Treasures covering primary source documents from the early 1800s through the Civil War and on to Western Expansion.
Lesson Plan
Library of Congress

Loc: Teachers: Suffrage Strategies: Voices for Votes Lesson Plan

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students will learn all about the history of suffrage for women and what influences were used to change people's attitudes. They will then use their understanding to create a modern-day election document of ephemera, for example, a...
Website
Library of Congress

Loc: Online Exhibition: The Cultures and History of the Americas

For Students 9th - 10th
Examine some of the rare books, maps, prints and other artifacts in this online exhibition. The exhibition explores several themes on the cultures and history of the Americas. The collection focuses on the period of pre-contact through...
Graphic
Library of Congress

Loc: From the Home Front and the Front Lines

For Students 9th - 10th
Exhibition consisting of original materials and oral histories drawn from the Veterans History Project collections.
Interactive
PBS

Pbs: Learning Media: Why Should Women Vote? The Suffrage Question

For Students 9th - 10th
In this activity, students view eleven different documents arguing both for and against women's right to vote. They must click and drag them in the order that they were created. As they work, they need to make a list of the arguments...
Activity
US Holocaust Memorial Museum

U.s. Holocaust Memorial Museum: Auschwitz Through Lens of the Ss

For Students 9th - 10th
A moving online exhibit of photographs from an album of a Nazi officer who was the commandant at Auschwitz. The accompanying commentary includes a video, podcast, and comparison of the photos of Nazi officials to those of the inhabitants...
Primary
Other

Colorado College: Tutt Library: Sand Creek Papers 1861 1864

For Students 9th - 10th
Provides links to images of the actual pages of documents involving the Sand Creek Massacre.
Primary
Yale University

Avalon Project: The Louisiana Purchase 1803

For Students 9th - 10th
A series of primary source documents all related to the Louisiana Purchase. Includes the text of the final agreement, speeches by Jefferson and others. Great stuff!
Lesson Plan
Rutgers University

Digital Archive of New Jersey History: New Jersey in the Civil War

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Lesson plans that use primary sources to teach the role of New Jersey in the Civil War. Plans tie literature with history and provide opportunities for many learning styles.
Interactive
Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of American History: The Gettysburg Address

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
The National Museum of American History has assembled a collection of resources that underscore the significance of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, including a draft of the speech in Lincoln's own hand, a video of the Lincoln Bedroom,...
Primary
Texas State Library and Archives Commission

Texas State Library and Archives Commission: About Texas: Reconstruction Acts: 1867

For Students 9th - 10th
The text of the Reconstruction Acts of 1867. Section one establishes military districts in the South.
Handout
Library of Congress

Loc: Alfred Whital Stern Collection of Lincolniana

For Students 9th - 10th
The Library of Congress takes an in-depth look into the life of Abraham Lincoln through the use of Alfred Whital Stern's collection of Lincoln memorabilia. View letters written by Lincoln as well as various objects from his life....
Activity
US National Archives

National Archives: Bring History to Life

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
How can you actually bring history to life? Here are some tools from the National Archives that allow students to create their own projects using primary-source based activities that develop historical thinking skills. Special historical...
Unit Plan
Annenberg Foundation

Annenberg Learner: America's History in the Making: Civil War, a Nation Divided

For Teachers 9th - 10th
A wonderful resource using primary and secondary source materials to explore many facets of the Civil War from the war itself to its impact on the home front. Includes video and text downloads.
Unit Plan
Library of Congress

Loc: Walt Whitman Notebooks

For Students 9th - 10th
An amazing site, full of primary source documents, that offers a glimpse into the life and thoughts of American poet Walt Whitman. By paging through Whitman's notebooks, you can see a record of his ideas and witness lines of verse taking...
Website
Stanford University

Beyond the Bubble: History Assessments

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
[Free Registration/Login Required] A collection of innovative assessments, interactive rubrics, and annotated samples of student work with an emphasis on primary source documents for the use in a wide range of history concepts.
Website
University of California

University of California, Davis: The History Project

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
The History Project is a growing collection of lesson plans, teaching tools, digitized images, and documents for the teaching of history. Includes assignments for having students apply analytical skills to primary sources.
Unit Plan
Washington State University

Washington State University: Brief Timeline of American Literature and Events

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
A timeline of the social, political, historical, and literary history of America from the 1500s to the 1920s. It offers links to primary sources including historical and literary works including the original U.S. Constitution. RL.11-12.9...
Primary
Other

Gettysburg College: Civil War Era Collection

For Students 9th - 10th
A special collection of political cartoons, maps, letters, photographs, artifacts, etc. all relating to the Civil War Era.
Unit Plan
Thinkport Education

Thinkport: America Goes to War

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
This module uses excerpts from four presidential speeches delivered during World War ll as a means to instruct students about finding the central idea and supporting evidence in primary source documents.