The attitudes of European settlers toward the American wilderness, as reflected in art and literature, is the focus of this resource packet designed for teachers. Included in the unit overview you will find lists or paintings and...

Thoroughly delve into My Antonia by Willa Cather with a plethora of activities. Engage scholars with videos and web sites in this week-long unit that explains the historical context and creates pioneers in the field of research. An...

The Cleveland Museum of Art presents this interdisciplinary model unit that asks class members to explore how the same themes are presented in the folktales and art of several cultures.

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 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.

Students research the evolution of cultural and social issues in areas of Westward Expansion, Immigration, and Civil Rights. They practice writing clear details with supporting evidence and examples and evaluate ways of improving drafts...

Students investigate the cultures of Native Americans and Euro-Americans through their clothing.  In this photograph analysis lesson, students observe historic photographs and analyze the style of clothes people wore and how it...

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.

What does an ad reveal about a culture, or about the values of its intended audience? Class members examine a series of runaway slave ads—one of which was written by Thomas Jefferson—and consider what these primary source documents...

The first in a series of three resources designed to accompany a reading of Kate Chopin's The Awakening provides readers with background information about Chopin, Creole culture, literary realism, and women's suffrage.

Students are introduced to the romantic cultural movement in America. Reading examples of pictures of Washington Irving's home, they identify the characteristics of the movement. They view other paintings of artists from the same time...

Students discuss how Washington Irving is considered an important 19th century-American storyteller. They create their own version of a passage from 'The Legend' after listening to the story.

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.

Fifth graders analyze many examples of African-American poetry and examine how different poems reflect the cultural experiences of African-Americans. The poems and spirituals chosen are very effective for public presentation.

Students examine the contributions of African Americans in New Haven, Connecticut in the 19th and 20th centuries. After being introduced to new vocabulary, they review the elements of autobiographies and read excerpts of African...

Students are introduced to the ideas of the American Dream at the turn of the century. They present their ideas on the American Dream at the turn of the century through a person characterized in Edgar Lee Masters' Spoon River Anthology.

Students make a simple graph of labor supply and labor demand in the North and South in the early twentieth century. They conduct research to identify top contemporary African-American entrepreneurs.

Seventh graders explore The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus. In this The New Colossus lesson plan, 7th graders read the poem and analyze its meaning. Students discuss what the poem means about American culture and why it was engraved on the...

Students investigate modern transportation in the 19th century by examining artifacts.  For this U.S. history lesson, students read the story Joseph's Railroad Dreams, and discuss the Golden Spike used in the first transcontinental...

Nathaniel Hawthorne as a humorist? Really? The three lessons in this series focus on the the storytelling style, conventions, and literary techniques employed by Hawthorne, George Washington Harris, and Mark Twain. 

Terror, mystery, excitement. American writers of the 19th century, including Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, and Emily Dickinson, used these elements to create morally ambiguous tales that challenged the prevailing belief in...

Students use video and the Internet to research the life of Nellie Bly, a famous female reporter from the 19th century. They research a writer and present their information to the class in the style of a news reporter.

High schoolers examine 19th century gender roles. In this gender roles lesson, students read "The Daughter-in-Law" and discuss their impressions of etiquette and gender roles in the 19th century. High schoolers write etiquette guides...

Students examine American humor and character through analysis of works by Mark Twain. In this cross curricular activity, students develop a definition of American humor and determine how and why some consider Twain the 'first truly...