Curated OER
A Lens into the Past
Explore the history of immigration through photographs. Scholars will view and discuss photographs depicting the culture and lifestyle of late 19th and early 20th century immigrants. They take pictures of current examples of culture in...
Curated OER
Nellie Bly's Newspaper Club: Introducing the Art of Writing
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.
Curated OER
The Art and Science of Impressionist Color
Discover Impressionist painting as young scholars investigate the 19th century combinations of colors characteristically used. Students experiment with their own paintings, utilizing primary and secondary colors.
ReadWriteThink
Beyond the Story: A Dickens of a Party
It's time to party like it's 1899! Incorporate a research-based celebration of the Victorian Era into your unit on A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. After learners read the novella or view a production of the play, they craft a...
National Endowment for the Humanities
The 1828 Campaign of Andrew Jackson: Changes in Voting Participation
Students give examples to indicate how voting participation changed in the first half of the 19th century, and make connections between changes in voting participation and the results of the election of 1828.
Curated OER
Gender Roles in the Mid-Nineteenth CenturyWhat Fiction Tells Us
Students 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. Students write etiquette guides that address...
Curated OER
Prairie Activity: Prairie Quilt
Pupils investigate prairie life in the 19th century. They research quilts and prairie images online, take a photo of an object related to prairie life, transfer the image onto fabric, and create a class quilt.
Curated OER
Lifestyles of the Rich and/or Famous
Students explore and analyze the detailed, yet complicated profiles that society placed on the lives of the prosperous as well as those with economic disadvantages in 19th century New York. In addition, by seeing the Merchant House...
Curated OER
Mastering the Sea
Learners investigate what life was like on early 19th century ships. They participate in a Webquest, explore the website for the movie, 'Master and Commander,' watch movie excerpts, take an interactive tour of a ship, and answer...
Curated OER
Understanding Centuries
In this centuries learning exercise, 5th graders fill in the missing time periods for 15 centuries and write 15 original time periods with equivalent centuries to years.
Curated OER
Encountering Very Different Ways of Life
Learners explore the concept of crossing cultures through reading the stories "Help! My Father is Coming!" and "The Visit to Vijay's." In this culture lesson, students predict what will happen next in the stories. Learners discuss the...
Curated OER
Germans and Irish in Augusta and Franklin Counties
Students examine 19th century newspapers, a last and testament, and census manuscripts to analyze the Irish and German immigrant communities in the 1850s and 1860s. They write a letter from the perspective of an Irish or German immigrant.
Curated OER
My Life had stood – a Loaded Gun – Questions
In this poetry discussion learning exercise, students consider the elements of poetry as they respond to 6 short answer and essay questions based on the poem "My Life had stood – a Loaded Gun –."
Curated OER
The Importance of Religion in Political Life in the 19th Century: Abraham Lincoln's Experience
Eleventh graders explore the importance of religion in community building in frontier America. They analyze the importance of religion in political life in the 19th century.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Kate Chopin's The Awakening: Searching for Women and Identity in Chopin's "The Awakening"
The final activity of a three-part series on Kate Chopin's The Awakening has scholars investigate life as a woman in late nineteenth-century America. They research the role of women in society through the eyes of the characters in the...
Curated OER
Storytelling In America
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.
Curated OER
Boom and Bust in the Ozark Forests
Here is a hard-hitting, cross-curricular lesson on the effects that the deforestation of the Ozark forests in the 19th century had on the people, animals, and ecosystems of the area. The Dr. Seuss book The Lorax is used as a way of...
Center for History and New Media
A Look at Virginians During Reconstruction, 1865-1877
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...
Annenberg Foundation
Gothic Undercurrents
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...
Curated OER
Exploring Louisiana's Land Down Under - The World of Kate Chopin's The Awakening.
Visit 19th century Grand Isle, Cheniere Caminada, and New Orleans! Meet the inhabitants, learn about their history and culture, and view landmarks and industries! After reading Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, class groups research the...
Curated OER
Understanding the 1855 Census Database
Use data from the 1855 New York census to better understand the Irish immigrant experience during the late 19th century. Young historians analyze information from the census and build three hypotheses regarding the residents of the Five...
Curated OER
The Industrial Revolution
Contrasting between the "Haves" and the "Have-Nots" of 18th-19th century Europe, this presentation explores the social and technological implications of the Industrial Revolution. Inventions, social trends, and scientific breakthroughs...
Curated OER
Paris, a XIXth- Century City
Students plan a visit to Musse d'Orsay to examine Paris in the 19th century. For this visual arts lesson, students explore the Haussmanian period and urban life in the 19th century. Students discuss the relationship between art and...
Curated OER
Life of a Logger
Students are introduced to the work and lives of 19th century lumberjacks through a living history slide show presentation. They compare and contrast life 150 years ago with the present. Students describe the history of logging in...