Scholastic
The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere
Practice sequencing events using Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's narrative poem about the famous revolutionary hero. Learners read Revere's own account of the event, and compare/contrast the two texts using a t-chart. Finally, they imagine...
Civil War Trust
Contrasting the North and South before the War
Learners create a standing cube with four panels that display information on the North and South's economy, geography and climate, society, and means of transportation before the Civil War. Through discussion and reading informational...
Curated OER
The Grimm Truth—Comparing & Contrasting Children’s Stories and Fairy Tales in Cross-Cultural Texts at Different Points in Time
Students explore world literature through completing several varied exercises. For this compare and contrast lesson students compare and contrast stories and how time and culture impacts the stories.
PBS
Presidential Leadership and the Goal to Unify | America’s Great Divide: From Obama to Trump
Traditionally, a United States President's Inaugural Address establishes the tone and vision for his presidency. It has stressed the goal to unify the country and bring the political parties together after what are often divisive...
K20 LEARN
The Emancipation Proclamation: Expanding The Goals Of The Civil War
Should Juneteenth be recognized as a national holiday? To prepare to take a stance on this question, young historians first analyze the Emancipation Proclamation and compare it to Lincoln's first Inaugural Address. Scholars then read an...
Curated OER
Comparing Cultures
Young readers compare two stories/cultures, identifying how they are alike and different. They share their own version of a well-known story and adapt it to another culture. They explain their adaptations.
Curated OER
Countries: Comparing and Contrasting
Students identify the seven continents, then choose countries to conduct research on. They write reports on their chosen countries, determining the population, location, and continent. As a class, students then compare/contrast countries.
Digital Public Library of America
Teaching Guide: Exploring Little Women
Louisa May Alcott's Little Women is a literary masterpiece as well as a timestamp of the formative mid-nineteenth century in America. Using a primary source set of photographs, letters, and portraits, readers discuss the ways...
The New York Times
Revolt! Comparing Historical Revolutions
What elements are needed to have a revolution? How do historical revolutions from across the globe and generations compare with one another? This is an excellent activity that incorporates group work, source analysis, and an engaging...
Curated OER
Small Actions with Big Results
Students explore philanthropy in literature. In this literature lesson, students read text from three different genres that all have a moral. Students compare and contrast these pieces of literature, focusing on the character traits that...
Curated OER
Distinguished Discoveries: Florida quarter reverse
Florida's state quarter has an image of a space shuttle and a Spanish Galleon on its reverse side. Pupils will examine the state quarter and think about how the Spanish explorers and Space explorers are the same and different. The class...
Curated OER
Rights and the Wyandotte Constitution
Every state uses a set of rights to establish laws and regulations. Explore the Wyandotte Constitution as it was written in 1859 and compare it with how rights in Kansas have changed, especially those that pertain to gender and race. A...
Curated OER
Songs of America
Combine your lesson plan on patriotism with a lesson plan on comparing and contrasting. Focusing on The Star Spangled Banner, Take Me Out to the Ballgame, and The Old Folks at Home, this lesson plan prompts learners to compare and...
Curated OER
Cartoons for the Classroom: Tuscon Shootings
Approach the 2nd Amendment and gun laws through this political cartoon analysis handout, which outlines the tragedy of the 2011 shootings in Tuscon, Arizona in the context of gun control. Background information gives scholars access to 2...
Curated OER
Lesson 6: Crowded Skies
This is a treasure-trove of multimedia resources to help your scholars analyze transportation methods. They discuss different forms of movement, utilizing several infographics to spur conversation deeper and get visual learners engaged....
Curated OER
Understanding Other People's Decisions
Students analyze people's choices from different points of view. They read different scenarios and explain how they would react personally in that situation. Then they analyze what they would do in another character's position and...
Curated OER
Compare And Contrast-- People of Eminence
In this social studies worksheet, students are directed to a Web site to read about famous people. Kids choose 2 people and use a Venn diagram to compare and contrast. Students then investigate the difference between being "famous" and...
iCivics
A Trip Around the World
How do the rights of citizens in other countries, such as India, Germany, Brazil, and Iran, compare to those of Americans? Take a closer look at the provisions of various foreign constitutions, and compare and contrast the protections...
EngageNY
Taking Notes Using a Graphic Organizer: Inferring About Work and Play in Colonial America
What was life like in colonial America? Follow this lesson and your pupils will find out what people in colonial times did for work and for fun. Ask learners to compare and contrast the two texts and explain what the reading helped them...
Curated OER
Historical Agency in History Book Sets (HBS)
Study historical events by combining the study of historical fiction and non-fiction. Learners read about true past events in historical fiction novels and then research non-fiction accounts of the same events. What are some differences...
Digital Public Library of America
Women in the Civil War
Vivandieres and cantinieres, nurses and soldiers, loyalists and unionists. A primary source set provides young historians an opportunity to investigate the many roles women played in the United States Civil War.
Digital Public Library of America
Women and the Blues
A 12-piece primary source packet sets the tone for a study of the role women played in the origins, development, and impact of blues music. Legends like Bessie Smith, Gertrude "Ma" Rainey, Mamie Smith, and Ida Cox are featured, as are...
Digital Public Library of America
Beloved by Toni Morrison
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 Slave...
Digital Public Library of America
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Despite the passing of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments, as well as the passing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the struggle to ensure fair voter registration and election procedures continues. Young historians...