Propaganda is often used to shape public opinion. Scholars investigate the persuasive techniques used by the pro- and anti-suffrage movements. Groups compare how these devices were used during the suffrage movement with how the same...

Any classroom study of Toni Morrison's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Beloved requires careful planning and scaffolding. A primary source set that includes a video, illustrations, photos of artifacts, and a broadside of the Fugitive...

Agriculture was more revolutionary than some might think. Using a primary source set—including photos of artifacts from Mesopotamia and an amusing comic—learners consider the impacts of the neolithic, agricultural, and green revolutions....

People could take a page in ingenuity and survival from the Powhatans. Deer skins became clothes, and the members of the Native American group farmed the rich Virginia soil and hunted in its forests for food. Using images of artifacts...

It's nothing new—America has always been a melting pot of cultures. The resource explores the diversity of individuals living in the American colonies during the Revolutionary War. Scholars examine artifacts and primary sources to...

Young historians learn more about the history of Angel Island Immigration Station through their analysis of primary source images. Guided by a list of inferential questions, scholars learn how to make and record observations on a...

The topic of the peopling of the Americas offers the opportunity for a fascinating discussion. Give your class the knowledge they need to understand the migration across Beringia, the hunter-gatherer lifestyle, and the impact of...

While the Roman empire often conjures up images of soldiers and emperors, its culture was more complex. Using primary sources, including ancient historians and pictures of artifacts, pupils consider the religious influences on Roman...

Students analyze and interpret artifacts from the 1920s and explore the Great Migration. In this 1920s history lesson plan, students review background information about the Great Migration and use artifacts to study history of Chicago....

Students view pictures of classmates' homes, make list of different objects in picture, and discuss what they can tell about place from evidence in picture. Students then observe artifact pictures, and read and complete artifact chart.

Students discuss the United States Postal Service and choose an artifact from one decade. In this art lesson, students research how the artifact chosen relates to Chicago and the United States. Students create their own postage stamp...

Learners begin their timelines with the first narrative that they read and add to the timeline as they go. They create a list of history topics and themes that are important to the story. Students add these as sub-headings to the...

Students are introduced to the basic vocabulary of archeology. Using the vocabulary, they classify artifacts and make inferences about their uses. In groups, they create a chart for the criteria needed to analyze artifacts and share...

Students analyze and interpret artifacts and a timeline to get specific information.  In this timeline lesson plan students work in groups to research an Indian tribe and write an information piece of their research. 

As learners continue to examine a short story of their choice, they take some time to look at analysis completed by others on the same story. In the eleventh lesson in a series of fourteen, pupils explore various sites for literary...

Did you know that more than three million people fought in the Civil War? Through artifacts, graphics, and passages class members learn about the stark divide between North and South that led to the war, as well as about the events...

Discover the society of Benin through analysis of several artifacts and rich primary source materials. Here you'll find worksheets on topics as the work of Benin craftsmen, the influence of the all-powerful Oba, explanations for the...

Students view photographs of an area where artifacts where recently taken. Using the artifacts, they work together to try to determine the occupations, diet and other information about a specific group of people. They write an artifact...

Second graders leave clues from the past for students of the future by creating time capsules filled with artifacts from the year. These artifacts are buried along with others on school grounds somewhere. Students identify and analyze...

Fourth graders build an explorer vehicle which they program through an obstacle course to enter the tomb or temple to discover artifacts.

Seventh graders are introduced to making inferences about artifacts. Using a grid system, they locate the artifacts and determine where they originated from. They use this information to make conclusions about the way people lived...

Fifth graders listen to a read aloud of David Mc Cauley's book Motel of the Mysteries. They discuss an unknown artifact and decide what it might be used for. They research other artifacts and play "What's that Relic?"

Students locate and analyze clues about ancient Greek life. In this ancient Greece lesson, students look at art, architecture, and artifacts to determine what was important to the Greeks and discover details about their culture. Students...

Young scholars observe and identify characteristics of artifacts and fossils; explain how artifacts and fossils are used to explore the past; and identify ways that Native Americans prepared food and made tools