Help your learners truly understand the Emancipation Proclamation by asking them the put it into their own words. After reading the document out loud to the class, and briefly discussing the legal language, split your class into small...

Pupils learn what it is like to be a child solider.

Students examine the role of Supreme Court justices. In this judicial branch lesson, students consider the civil rights and civil liberties as they investigate Minersville School District v. Gobitis (1940) and West Virginia State Board...

Eighth graders study the life and writing of Edgar Allan Poe in this unit of work.

Pupils research the role of African Americans during the each of the United States' wars. In this African American history lesson, students research information and statistics about the role of African Americans in the following wars:...

Sixth graders explore, analyze and study how one's personal experiences impact one's perspective and actions. They interpret ideas and events of slavery from the different perspectives of an abolitionist, slave owner, United States...

Students conduct Internet research to investigate the use of children in combat throughout the world. Students read personal testimonies and analyze media coverage of children in combat.

Students explore the impact of September 11 on American society through analysis of interviews and class discussions. Students evaluate the historic importance of the Gettysburg Address.

Third graders compare how the lives of African American slave children differed from children's lives today.  For this analysis of slavery lesson, 3rd graders evaluate and discuss the conditions of slavery in collaborative groups....

Learners explore the textual meaning of the Declaration of Independence. In this Declaration of Independence lesson, students read and paraphrase the text of the document into modern-day language. Learners also consider the meaning of...

Students experience what the Underground Railroad was really like by role-playing as escaping slaves. They must travel to the North Star until they cross an imaginary line into Canada.

Pupils read A Brightly Colored Past, choose three things they found out about Middletown's African-American history that they didn't know before, and create slide using Kid Pix Studio Deluxe to be incorporated into classwide slide show.

Sixth graders investigate the origins of clothing production. In this Social Studies lesson plan, 6th graders examine the components of agriculture involved in making clothes. Students research cotton.

Have you ever been singled out in a crowd before? Pupils investigate and analyze the events of the Holocaust. They dive into the life of a middle school student, as well as the diary entries of those in Kristallnacht during World War...

"Promises Denied," the second instructional activity in a unit that asks learners to consider the responsibilities individuals have to uphold human rights, looks at documents that illustrate the difficulty the US has had trying to live...

The Gettysburg Address may have been four score and seven years ago, but its message is still as relevant today. Young historians explore the context of the famous speech, as well as its central theme and argument, before discussing the...

As part of a study of slavery in the United States, class members analyze documents related to the sale of slaves. They consider not only the text of the bills of sale but also what the appearance of the broadsides suggest.

High schoolers investigate how women went to war and the contributions that they have made in history. They conduct research using a variety of resources. The information is used in order to create a class presentation and answer some...

The choices made by Roy Bryant and J.W. Millam, the men who murdered Emmett Till in 1955, are usually the ones people ponder when they examine the case. But other individuals made choices that contributed to the event and its subsequent...

Discuss the history of slavery by analyzing historic photography depicting slavery. Learners write fictional stories based on these photographs. This is a creative and motivating way to launch a discussion of these topics. 

Academics read newspaper articles from 1861 to 1863 regarding Emancipation and answer questions to understand how public opinion changed over time and why. The activity provides scholars with good historical context and the vocabulary...

Young scholars research the U.S. holiday Juneteenth and examine the historical elements that contributed to the delayed announcement of the emancipation of slaves in Texas. They recreate a facsimile of the Emancipation Proclamation with...

The debate over the integrity of stories in media is not new. Young journalists analyze historical sources that reveal freedom of the press controversies and draw parallels to challenges freedom of the press faces today.