Curated OER
AIH-8: American Indian Lifestyles
Fifth graders explain how the history of the American Indian is affecting them today.
Curated OER
The Solid South Switcharoo
Learners examine primary sources. In this lesson on political parties, students view historic documents, speeches, and photos to trace the rise and fall of particular political parties. Learners will be looking at the success of each...
Curated OER
How the West was Won? Conflict and Change on the Western Frontier
Seventh graders assess the conflict and change that occurred in the westward expansion following the Civil War. They list specific reasons why different groups moved west and the interaction between the "white" European civilization and...
Curated OER
Longfellow Amongst His Contemporaries: the Ship of State Dbq
Young scholars evaluate the ship of state metaphor in relation to the historical events in America from the Revolutionary War to the Civil War. They synthesize ideas presented in ten different primary source documents and compose an...
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
The Homestead Act
To understand how the Homestead Act of 1862 changed the US and the lives of the people during that time, class members examine primary source materials including letters, broadsides, and images. They then assume the voice of a...
Oklahoma State Department of Education
Narrative Prompt
Reading about history is nothing like experiencing it firsthand. Encourage your eighth graders to do the next best thing with a historical narrative prompt, in which they describe the experience of a first-time traveler on the...
Weebly
Infographic Project
This multi-faceted, progressive project includes an array of activities for analyzing and evaluating a theme of American history. Learners begin by constructing a timeline of events in United States history using Google docs, create a...
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
What Brought Settlers to the Midwest?
Drawn by promises of fertile land, thousands of settlers poured West because of the Homestead Act of 1862. By examining images of the ads that drew them westward, learners consider the motivations for movement. They also consider how the...
Curated OER
Langston Hughes: Artist and Historian
Students examine the life and works of Langston Hughes. In groups, they research the characteristics of the Harlem Renaissance and how Hughes' poems relate to the era. They use the themes in his writings and relate it to the Great...
Curated OER
Southern Perspective on Reconstruction
Students analyze historical perspectives. In this Reconstruction lesson, students compare and contrast the Northern and Southern views on Reconstruction as they analyze letters from Robert E. Lee and read Confederate Military History.
Curated OER
Government: War Powers Limitations
Students examine historic examples of authority during wartime. They interpret the Fifth Amendment. They debate the merits of the Patriot Act.
Curated OER
Eleanor Roosevelt and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Students explore the leadership of Eleanor Roosevelt through the use of historical documents. They examine the complexity of the creation of international documents. Students explore the Human Rights Declaration.
Curated OER
Unit 2: Post-Revolution: The Critical Period 1781-1878
The post-Revolutionary Period of 1781-1787, also known as the Critical Period, is the focus of a series of lessons that prompt class members to examine primary source documents that reveal the instability of the period of the...
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
Who’s Got Rights? An Introduction to Human Rights and Human Rights Defenders
Pupils explore human rights issues. In this social justice lesson, students examine human rights as they read segments of the "Universal Declaration of Human Rights," discuss photographs with human rights implications, and play a human...
Curated OER
rkansas Black Pioneers: A History of African-American Colonies in Arkansas
Students identify various regions of early Arkansas as these regions relate to African American colonies that settled in Arkansas after the Civil War.
Curated OER
Letters from the Japanese American Internment
Learners examine letters of Japanese-American children during internment in World War II. They discover what it was like in the camps and how they were treated once they were released. They also view photographs of the camps.
Curated OER
Westward Expansion and the Frontier
Students explore U.S. history by researching a historic map. In this westward expansion instructional activity, students discuss the mystery of the western U.S. in the early 1800's and the impact expansion had on Native Americans and...
Curated OER
Participating in Democracy
Students analyze film clips in class. In this democracy lesson, students identify the differences between civil liberties, democracy and freedom. Students view a video regarding Japanese internment and answer study questions as well as...
Curated OER
Major Events Leading to the American Revolution
Learners explore the causes of the American Revolution. In this taxation without representation instructional activity, students analyze political cartoons in order to gain an understanding of the efforts of the colonists to resolve...
Curated OER
Looking at Photographs
Students evaluate photographs as historical documents and photographs as propaganda.
Curated OER
The House of Dies Drear
Students read The House of Dies Drear and understand how he filled a need and helped people. In this philanthropy lesson students understand how the people who helped on the "Underground Railroad" filled a need and helped others....
Facing History and Ourselves
Us and Them: Confronting Labels and Lies
Stereotyping and discrimination based on religion catalyze many atrocities in the world. Explain the awful treatment of Jews and the lies Nazis spread by using an informative yet sensitive resource. Learners participate in a warm-up and...
Curated OER
Tolerance in Times of Trial
Learners view the treatment of people of Japanese and German descent during World War II. They explore the problems in assigning blame to populations during times of war. They identify modern examples of discrimination and stereotyping.