Curated OER
Appreciating Our American Heritage
Students learn about the Chinese culture via literature. They read the poetry of Cathy Song, considering national pride as Americans and Chinese.
Curated OER
American Colonization Society Lesson Plan
Students read an article online "Colonization and Emigration" and break into debating groups. They research points that support their side, namely whether or not the American Colonization Society was for or against segregation. They...
Curated OER
Folk Traditions in the Blues
Click here to download a PDF of this lesson. (2.8 MB) Overview This lesson will enable teachers to use the blues to explore selected topics in African American folklore. Students will learn about some of the African American cultural...
Curated OER
Jewish Assimilation In Contemporary American Literature
Young scholars form groups to help each other read, analyze, and conduct research on important background information about Jews and their assimilation into modern American society. They write their own stories of assimilation.
Curated OER
Building Suburbia: Highways and Housing in Postwar America
Students determine how suburbs changed America. For this post World War II lesson, students complete research projects that require them to examine the growth of suburbs in the 1950's and 1960's. Students reveal how government policies,...
Curated OER
Entrepreneurs in History
Students examine the contributions of American entrepreneurs. For this industrialization lesson, students complete the provided handouts to determine how Vanderbilt, Carnegie, Hill, and Rockefeller impacted American society. Students...
Curated OER
Teaching Justice: Schooling and the Four Waves of U.S. Immigration
U.S. immigration is the focus of a unit on social justice. Over the course of a school year, young historians read a variety of texts to learn about four waves of immigration that have occurred over time in the U.S. An emphasis on...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Issues of Asylum in the U.S.
Who gets to come to the United States? Examine cases of individuals seeking asylum with an informative reading passage that includes examples, statistics, and representations of public opinion regarding asylum. Groups then go on to...
Learning to Give
Asian Folktales
A great way to learn to understand people and their environment is to study their folktales. Stories from China, Vietnam, India, Iran, Persia, and Palestine offer an opportunity for readers to investigate the cultures of Asia. A list of...
Curated OER
Looking at the Old South: Music and Culture
Middle schoolers use different styles of music to research society, history and culture in the American South. They, in groups, research an assigned piece of music and make a presentation to the class. They keep a daily journal as well.
Curated OER
Hunters/Gatherers
Students discuss the ways in which an environment is used to provide the basic necessities of life. In groups, they compare and contrast how different hunter and gatherer groups have used the environment to their advantage. They place...
Curated OER
African American Identity in the Gilded Age
Ninth graders examine the tension experienced by African-Americans as they struggled to establish a vibrant and meaningful identity based on the promises of liberty and equality in the midst of a society. In this American History...
Curated OER
The Adult in Society
In this adults in American society worksheet, students respond to 7 short answer questions and answer 7 multiple choice questions regarding the expectations of males and females in American culture.
Core Knowledge Foundation
Thanksgiving with the Pilgrims
Teach kindergartners about the First Thanksgiving with a series of lessons about the Pilgrims' journey to the New World. As they practice handwriting, CVC words, reading comprehension, and fun Thanksgiving songs, they learn about what...
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Slave Narratives: Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs, and the Columbian Orator
Young historians practice in-depth, quality analysis of primary source texts in this three-lesson unit, which examines excerpts from the slave narratives of Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs, and Caleb...
Curated OER
Working In The World
Tenth graders engage in research about the life of Keckley. They examine specific events that display the characteristics of good citizenship. The effectiveness of using different tactics by Keckley is discussed in small group to measure...
Curated OER
From Greece to Main Street
Learners consider the influence of the Greeks on American architecture. In this American Greek Revival architecture lesson, students identify the attributes of architectural style as they compare the Parthenon with the Lincoln Memorial....
Curated OER
American Literature - The American Dream: Past, Present, and Future
Students are introduced to the ideas of the American Dream at the turn of the century. They present their ideas on the American Dream at the turn of the century through a person characterized in Edgar Lee Masters' Spoon River Anthology.
Curated OER
Role Playing in North America: Mid 1600s-Mid 1700s
Eighth graders apply their knowledge of North American history from the mid 1600's through the mid 1700's to a role-playing scenario. In small groups they plan, write, and perform a dramatic skit of a group that was affected by events in...
Curated OER
Meet the Press: American Presidents
High schoolers interpret historical evidence presented in primary and secondary resources. In this presidential history lesson, students research the accomplishments of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Frankiln D. Roosevelt, and...
Curated OER
Examples of Sharing as Told Through a Native American Legend
Young scholars explore community problem solving. In this cross-curriculum literature and social studies activity, students listen to The Legend of the Bluebonnet by Tomie DePaola and discuss how a Native American community problem was...
Curated OER
Clothing and Social Change in America
Students examine how clothing for men and women has changed over time with their changing roles in society. Students work individually and in groups to complete the tasks in this lesson.
Curated OER
The Columbian Exchange
Middle schoolers examine the process of the Columbian Exchange. In groups, they create a poster showing the good exchanged and the people affected. They note the impacts of the Exchange on the world and present their poster to the...
Curated OER
American Indian Homes in Kansas
First graders explore culture by researching U.S. history. In this American Indian instructional activity, 1st graders discuss the geography of Kansas and the different Native American tribes that inhabited the state and the types of...