Lesson Plan
Anti-Defamation League

Understanding and Analyzing “The U.S. of Us” by Richard Blanco

For Teachers 8th - 12th Standards
Current immigration issues and the rhetoric surrounding the controversies come into focus with a lesson that uses Richard Blanco's anthem, "The U.S. of Us," written after the August 2019 attack in El Paso, Texas, to open a discussion of...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Diary of Anne Frank: Act 1 Scene 1 & 2

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders read act 1 scenes 1 & 2 of the play Diary of Anne Frank. In this Diary of Anne Frank lesson plan, 8th graders discuss how the setting of the play affects the mood of the story and answer short answer questions.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Transcontinental Railroad Web Quest

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students examine aspects of the Transcontinental Railroad. For this Westward Expansion lesson, students conduct a web-quest in order to gather information about the Transcontinental Railroad. Students will use their information to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Allen Ginsberg: Poetry and Politics

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explore the poetry of Allen Ginsberg. They read and analyze poems by Allen Ginsberg, conduct Internet research, collect examples of art of the 60s, and create a presentation.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Shakespeare Crowd

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Students study the life and times of Shakespeare. They read and analyze one of his plays and use the Internet and videos to gain an understanding of how Shakespeare engaged his audiences, then and still today.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Slices of American Pie: The 1960s Through Music

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders examine political, cultural, and social movements through music. In this 1960s American history lesson, 11th graders explore the music of the decade in order to better understand the complexity of the time period....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Second Inaugural Address (1865)—Restoring the American Union

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explore the content of Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address. In this Abraham Lincoln lesson, students analyze the text of the speech to determine how Lincoln sought to reconstruct the country as the Civil War drew to a close.
Lesson Plan
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media

War and Poetry

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
A band of brothers or the Devil's agents? Nobel warriors freeing the oppressed or mercenaries working for the military/industrial complex? Groups examine poems from the Civil War, World War I, and World War II to determine the poets'...
Worksheet
Curated OER

Sound Recording Analysis Worksheet

For Students 8th - 9th
In this sound recording analysis worksheet, students listen to a sound recording and analyze it in order to gain more information about the recording's subject.
Worksheet
Curated OER

Worksheet for Analysis of a Motion Picture

For Students 9th - 12th
In this primary source analysis worksheet, learners respond to 14 short answer questions that require them to analyze the motion picture of their choice.
Unit Plan
Curated OER

"Et tu, Brute?" - The Characters, Conflict and Historical context of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar

For Teachers 6th
Students analyze the Shakespearian play, "Julius Caesar" in this seven lesson unit. Through readings, hands-on projects, and the study of plot development, comparisons are made to the movie and the historical records available.
Worksheet
Curated OER

Worksheet for Analysis of Sheet Music

For Students 6th - 12th
In this primary source analysis worksheet, students respond to 20 short answer questions that require them to analyze sheet music of their choice.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Dream Factory

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students compare postcard samples from Los Angeles, CA and Austin, TX. They examine them to find common elements they share (tone, mood, romanticized themes, artistic elements, etc.) They create postcards to show the "real" Austin.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Voices of Tragedy and Horror: Remembering the Holocaust

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Young scholars consider the implications of the Holocaust. In this World War II lesson, students read the graphic novel Maus at the end of a unit on World War II. Young scholars discuss the impact of reading about the Holocaust as well...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Urban Concentration and Racial Violence

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students research one of the many urban race riots in U.S. history, from the New York City riots during the Civil War to the "Red Summer of 1919" or the hate-strikes of 1943. They present their findings in the form of a newspaper's front...