Curated OER
Cold War Roots and Events
Ninth graders examine the causes and major events of the Cold War. They listen to a lecture and fill in the blanks on a handout, and in two groups develop a proposal to deal with the Cuban Missile Crisis.
National Endowment for the Humanities
The Strategy of Containment, 1947–1948
How do people stop the spread of an ideology they don't think is right? Scholars research the policy of containment during the start of the Cold War. Small groups analyze primary sources to determine how the United States combated...
National WWII Museum
On Leave in Paris: Maps as Primary Sources
Primary sources—even those that seem mundane—offer a window into those who experienced history. Using a Red Cross map offered to soldiers stationed in Paris after World War II alongside worksheet questions, scholars consider what life...
Curated OER
Maus Lesson Plan
The artistic choices Art Spiegelman made in his graphic novel, Maus, are the focus of an exercise that asks class members to compare classic comic book forms with Spiegelman’s panels and frames. Directed to specific pages and guided by a...
K20 LEARN
Word Warriors: The Code Talkers of Oklahoma
The battle between code makers and code breakers has been going on for centuries and is a key tool of warfare. The contributions of the Native American Code Talkers of World Wars I and II are celebrated in a instructional activity that...
Curated OER
The failure of Diplomacy, September-December 1941
High schoolers investigate four main issues of concern between US and Japan prior to US involvement in World War II. In this role play lesson, students will take the role of US and Japanese negotiators trying to find a diplomatic...
Curated OER
Wartime Posters
Students recognize that, America's eventual involvement in World War II, not everyone initially agreed that intervention was the answer. They conduct research about the political, economic, sociological, and historical factors in the...
Curated OER
Meet Molly An American Girl
Students examine concepts of personal finance. In this personal finance lesson, students use Valerie Tripp's, Meet Molly, An American Girl, to learn about saving and spending after World War II. They compare financial decisions after...
Curated OER
Lines From Behind the Lines
Fifth graders create a timeline of events in a soldiers life. In this World War I lesson, 5th graders learn about the Great Depression and World War I. Students watch video segments about World War I and examine primary sources from...
Curated OER
Gaining Insight into the WWII Era Through Electronic Records and the National Archives
Students are introduced to the variety of resources that are available to them online with regards to national archives and enlistment records. Individually, they use the database to find someone they know who enlisted before or during...
Curated OER
Code Talkers
Students investigate the Navajo code talkers contributions to World War II. They read and discuss a fact sheet, and create and decode secret messages using a Navajo code talkers' dictionary.
Curated OER
Introduction to the Holocaust
Young scholars examine the events surrounding the Holocaust in World War II. After viewing a clip from "The War", they work together in groups to research the various responses from governments on the tradegy. To end the lesson, they...
Curated OER
The Perilous Fight: WWII - Up Close and Personal
Students research World War II primary source documents and write first person historical point of view stories.
University of California
The End of the Cold War (1979-1991)
Scholars use primary and secondary documents, as well as video evidence, to investigate the end of the Cold War. After completing the final installment of an eight-part series, class members better understand the issues surrounding the...
Facing History and Ourselves
Analyzing Historical Evidence
High schoolers examine World War I war crimes. In this world history instructional activity, students use primary and secondary sources to research and understand the systematic nature of the Armenian Genocide. High schoolers reflect on...
Facing History and Ourselves
We and They, the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire
Learners examine World War I war crimes. For this world history instructional activity, learners use primary and secondary sources to research and understand the action taken by the United States during the Armenian Genocide. Learners...
Curated OER
Immigration and Identity
Young scholars will analyze four historical events: The Annexation of U.S. Southwest, The Mexican Revolution, The Great Depression, and World War II. They determine how each event affected immigration to the U.S. from Mexico and Central...
Curated OER
The Rise of Hitler
Eleventh graders investigate how Hitler was able to harness Germany. In this World War II activity, 11th graders conduct primary and secondary source research to determine how Hitler used the Great Depression, charisma, scapegoats, and...
National Endowment for the Humanities
People and Places in the North and South
North and South: two opposite directions and two opposite economic and social systems in time of the Civil War. Pupils peruse census websites and primary source photographs to understand what life was like for the everyday person before...
University of California
Roots of the Cold War
When and how did the Cold War begin? To answer this question, you will not find a better-organized, in-depth, activity- and inquiry-based resource than this! Executing best teaching practices throughout, each portion of this inquiry...
Curated OER
Maus: Cubing Questioning Strategy
Maus is the text for a postreading activity that has class members using a cubing strategy to analyze, in depth, topics (racism, past and present, forgetting/remembering the Holocaust, representing the Holocaust) associated with Art...
City University of New York
Jim Crow and Voting Rights
Class groups examine primary source documents to determine how the voting rights of African Americans were restricted after the failure of Reconstruction, and how African American participation in World War II lead to change.
Little Kids Rock
The Influence of Latin Music in Postwar New York City
Music has often been called the international language that transcends cultures and regions. Scholars analyze the impact of Latin American music on New York City culture in the years following World War II. They research music, video,...
Curated OER
Weapons of World War I
Ninth graders discover the weapons of World War I. They compare and contrast the weapons used during that time period with the weapons that are used in warfare today. They create a digital slide show with the history, uses, and...