Why do many Native Americans live on reservations? An interactive resource teaches about how reservations came to be and the tragic history behind Native Americans moving from their lands. Teenagers read passages, view images, and click...

Scholars generally agree on the emancipation of enslaved people in the United States. This inquiry-based lesson asks high schoolers to consider more than the claims of who freed the enslaved people but the significance of the issues...

Seventh graders explore the goals of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s.  In this US History instructional activity, 7th graders read a newspaper article that reported a significant event during this era. ...

Students investigate civil liberties in the U.S. They watch and discuss a PowerPoint presentation, conduct research on an event from a timeline, complete a worksheet, take an ideology quiz, and conduct a debate.

Students prepare for and respond to literature selections. This package includes fourteen lessons from the American Literature, The Civil War and Its Aftermath: 1845-1880 series, each covering a different reading selection. Pre-reading...

Students identify the causes of the American Civil War. Using the internet and print sources, they read about the causes and personal backgrounds of those who participated in the war. They choose a character from the time period that...

Tenth graders study songs and music of the US Civil War period. They use technology to compose a song that highlights an event or concept from the war.

Students examine the role of Matthew Brady photographing the Civil War and compare it with the role of photographers embedded in the War in Iraq.

Students identify the key issue in the election of 1856, they also identify some of the key people invovled in the election. Students discuss the role of propaganda in politics. Also, students discuss the significance of the election of...

Railways not only cross the US, but they are also intertwined with the history of America. Using a timeline format, individuals explore the connections between major events in American history—such as the Civil War—and the rise of the...

Students study the Reconstruction Era after the US Civil War. In this Reconstruction lesson set, students examine the problems that were encountered by the South after the Civil War, look at different plans for Reconstruction, and...

Sixth graders investigate Civil Rights by participating in role-playing activities.  In this U.S. History lesson, 6th graders research the history of slavery in order to portray a story through their debating and acting...

Learn about the diverse perspectives involved in the Six Day War by having learners examine and annotate presidential speeches given by the three nations—Egypt, Israel, and the United States—at the heart of the conflict and producing...

Walt Whitman's poem "As I Walk These Broad Majestic Days" offers scholars an opportunity to practice their noticing skills. They first examine a postcard of the Newport News Shipyard listing things they notice about the image and how...

The traditions, costumes, and the music of the Mardi Gras Indians, African-Americans and those with African American or Native American Heritage are the focus of a unit that introduces class members to a little-known group that...

The era after the Civil War saw a flourishing of African Americans exercising their rights. Using graphic organizers and Internet research, pupils consider the legacy of Benjamin Sterling Turner, who sat in Congress. Afterward, they...

Students draw a time line on graph paper on a scale of one square to every five years beginning in 1770 and ending at 2000. They place historic events and inventions in their correct time period on the time line, and add their birthday...

On April 4, 1967 Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his speech "Beyond Vietnam." The controversy that followed is the focus of a three-activity unit that asks class members to consider the political and social implications of King's...

Much has been made of the differences between Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X. But was there any common ground between them? Class members reconsider what they think they know about these two civil rights leaders with...

Can schools ban t-shirts picturing musical groups or bands? Your young citizens will find out with this resource, which includes a summary of a United States Supreme Court case from the 1960s about a similar dispute over students wearing...

June 19 is now a United States federal holiday. Young historians examine the background of the first Juneteenth celebrations and why on June 15, 2021, Congress finally approved "Juneteenth National Independence Day" as a federal holiday.

Students use the internet to research what life was like for Confederate and Union soldiers in a specific battle of interest to them. In groups, they complete a webquest on the battle in which one represents a Confederate soldier and the...

Students tabulate the First Industrial Revolution where a significant number of inventions and innovations appeared transforming American life. Cite examples of change (ex. telegraph) in the lives of Americans during the era of question....

Students explore and analyze the position of freedmen in the post Civil War period as well as the impact of Andrew Johnson's presidency on Reconstruction. In addition, they evaluate the laws and amendments that were put in place during...