Curated OER
Life in a Coal Patch
Young scholars study life in a coal patch town. In this American History instructional activity, students read material about life for coal miners and their families. They answer questions, create a poster, and complete a creative...
Curated OER
Speaking of the Speaker
Students deconstruct an obituary and examine the elements and incidents of a person's life that were chosen to memorialize in an obituary. They research a notable American and write and obituary about their life.
Curated OER
The Wrecks of Urca de Lima and San Pedro
Students complete a variety of activities that go along with the study of and possible fieldtrip to Urca de Lima and San Pedro wreck sites in St. Lucie and Monroe Counties in Florida. They discuss the importance of preserving such wrech...
Curated OER
Historical Fashions - Interdisciplinary Experience, Art & Social Studies
Seventh graders research styles, construction, fabrics, colors, and cost of Colonial era clothing. They create a life-sized model of themselves wearing Colonial period clothing and write a report about the clothes they designed.
Curated OER
Playing Historical Detective: Great Grandmother's Dress and Other Clues to the Life and Times of Annie Steel
Students draw conclusions about an mystery person based on documents and artifacts provided. In this drawing conclusions activity, students become detectives by reading and analyzing evidence provided. This activity includes...
Curated OER
Causes of the American Revolution
Students access websites for background information and learn how to interpret political cartoons. They incorporate higher-order thinking skills to determine if the information presented in the cartoons is accurate, what the colonists...
Historical Thinking Matters
Rosa Parks: 5 Day Lesson
What led to the success of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and how might historians approach this question differently? This rich series of lessons includes a short introductory video clip, analysis of six primary source documents, and...
Oklahoma City Public Schools Native American Student Services
A Story of Survival: The Wampanoag and the English
Redesign your holiday celebrations with the aid of a lesson plan booklet packed with facts, images, maps, activities, and readings about the three-day feast that marked the English settlers' first successful harvest.
Curated OER
Nov. 17, 1973 | Nixon Declares 'I Am Not a Crook'
Connect events of the past to events of today. Budding historians read an eight paragraph passage describing the Watergate scandal. They then connect the Nixon scandal to sex scandals of recent times. There are six critical thinking...
Learning to Give
Heroes with Heart
This resource provides a lesson that will have learners explain how women and minority figures worked for the common good of their community.
Curated OER
Learning from the Past: A New Approach
Young scholars research nonprofit organizations. As they research, they learn how those living in the colonial period formed community organizations to provide for the common good of their society. Each pupil chooses one organization to...
Albert Shanker Institute
Economic Causes of the March on Washington
Money can't buy happiness, but it can put food on the table and pay the bills. The first of a five-lesson unit teaches pupils about the unemployment rate in 1963 and its relationship with the March on Washington. They learn how to create...
Scholastic
Perfect Postcards: Illinois
Connect the geography and history of Illinois using an art-centered instructional activity on the railroads. The railroad connected once-distant places, particularly in the Midwest. Using research, class members create postcards of...
Curated OER
What's In The Bag?
Pupils research a historical figure from the United States and introduce their classmates to items associated with this person. They also predict how that historical figure would fit into today's society.
Curated OER
Using Primary Sources: Letters from the Presidents
Students research the life of a president by reading personal letters on the American Presidents web site, and explore the ways that the character and personality of the president affected the ways they handled historical events.
Curated OER
Sailing Through History
Students research examples of different types of sailing ships, investigating the vessels as well as the politics, economy, and people at the historical time and place the boat was launched. They create displays for a museum exhibit...
Curated OER
An Encounter of Former Foes
Students examine a timeline on the internet showing the relationship between the American Government and the Nez Perce in the 19th Century. After looking at the timeline and included map, students answer questions.
Curated OER
Official Statements
Students research the viewpoints of famous Americans, and then write commencement speeches reflecting these viewpoints to be delivered to high school graduates of today.
Curated OER
Stars and Bars Forever?
Students investigate icons, monuments and places that serve as symbols of American history, assessing how and why the meanings of these historic symbols evolve through time to acquire new or different significance.
Curated OER
Presidential Places
Students investigate American presidential landmarks throughout the continental United States. They research and analyze American presidential landmarks to determine their value to American history and how they have been preserved over...
Curated OER
Objects of Memory
Students consider the importance of individual artifacts in memorializing important historic events. They read and evaluate an article discussing the removal of the last steel beam from the World Trade Center site.
Curated OER
Stanza Proud
Students examine different decades in American history, finding connections between the historical events and the poetry written during these time periods. They write their own poetry based on current world events.
Curated OER
Where Does History Stand on the Last Stand?
Students examine the Battle of Little Bighorn and its impact on United States and Native American culture through reading current and historic New York Times articles and by creating a research-based exhibit about this historic event.
Curated OER
Ella Fitzgerald: Something to Live For
Students examine the basic characteristics of jazz, and its relationship to African-American culture and history. They listen to examples of jazz, conduct research, and create a 20th century timeline of music and historical events.