Curated OER
America Moves Out!
First graders analyze the events of early American exploration. This is a unit resource for teachers in which there are six lessons about the American Western exploration and expansion. Within each instructional activity there are...
Curated OER
Jacksonian America and the Indian Removal Act of 1830
Students utilize primary sources to explore the national climate concerning Native American Indians during the Andrew Jackson administration. They are presented with opinions for and against the Indian Removial Act of 1830 as they...
Curated OER
Native Harvest
Students read Native Plants and Early Peoples and explore the plants in Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park and find how the Native Americans used them. In this Native American plant and people lesson, students research two types...
Shakespeare in American Life
Patriarchy in King Lear and As I Lay Dying
King Lear, “Papa Doc” Duvalier, Colonel Walter E. Kurtz and Anse Bundren? Imagine a unit that examines the tragic hero and patriarchy in King Lear, As I Lay Dying and Apocalypse Now. To liven the brew, learners are asked to include in...
Crafting Freedom
Harriet Jabocs and Elizabeth Keckly: The Material and Emotional Realities of Childhood in Slavery
Through the journals written by Harriet Jacobs and Elizabeth Keckly, young readers gain insight into the lives of two enslaved children on nineteenth-century plantations.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Tales of the Supernatural
Scary stuff! Whether approached as the first horror story or a "serious imaginative exploration of the human condition," Frankenstein continues to engage readers. Here's a packet of activities that uses Mary Shelley's gothic novel to...
ReadWriteThink
Exploring Plagiarism, Copyright, and Paraphrasing
Plagiarism, copyright, and fair use are the focus of a three-part instructional activity designed to inform scholars of how to properly cite others' work. First, pupils use a KWL chart to begin thinking and discussing plagiarism. They...
BW Walch
“Outsider” Poet Kay Ryan Goes from Poetry Club Reject to Poet Laureate
The cat might have got your tongue, but you can’t avoid the elephant in the room while you wait for the other shoe to drop. After all, the early bird gets the worm and the chickens are circling. After researching Poet Laureate Kay Ryan...
Curated OER
The Cowboy Life
Travel back in time to the 1800s and research the Old West! Elementary and middle schoolers work with a partner to complete at least four activities from a list provided by the teacher. They use these activities to present their...
Curated OER
Entertainment and Recreation in the Early Twentieth Century and Today
Eleventh graders research entertainment and recreation in the early twentieth century using primary sources and the book From the Hidewood, by Robert Amerson. They compare the rural experience of the time period to the national...
Curated OER
Pilgrims: The First Americans
Fifth graders become familar with the pilgrims and first Thanksgiving through essays about important people of the time. In this Thanksgiving lesson, 5th graders choose an important figure from the time of the Pilgrims and write a two...
Curated OER
African American Contributions
Learners recognize contributions made by African Americans to American society. For this African American history lesson, students research contributions made by African Americans and use a graphic organizer to organize their research....
Curated OER
Poetry: A View of African American Life,
Fifth graders analyze many examples of African-American poetry and examine how different poems reflect the cultural experiences of African-Americans. The poems and spirituals chosen are very effective for public presentation.
Curated OER
American Born Chinese
Students make thematic connections and organize their ideas using a Venn Diagram. In this Venn Diagram instructional activity, students compare 3 different stories from a novel and fill in a Venn Diagram. Students then discuss their...
Curated OER
Making a Report to President Washington
Students gain an understanding of some of the challenges the U.S. faced at its birth. They are asked to compose a report on the state of the nation in 1790 (addressed to President George Washington), which includes a narrative, maps and...
Curated OER
Sharing Their Stories: Native American Literature and Culture in 19th Century America
High schoolers investigate Native American culture reading and writing about early Native American authors. They listen to an expert to extend their understanding of the culture.
Curated OER
Entrepreneurs and the African-American Dream
Students make a simple graph of labor supply and labor demand in the North and South in the early twentieth century. They conduct research to identify top contemporary African-American entrepreneurs.
Curated OER
Salem Witch Trials
Students consider the implications of the Salem Witch Trials. In this literature lesson plan, students read Arthur Miller's The Crucible and compare the witch trials to McCarthyism of the 1950's. Students rewrite scenes from the play...
Curated OER
Lesson 1: Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury
I love Faulkner, his experimental style and stream of consciousness are so exciting. Your learners can analyze William Faulkner and his novel, The Sound and the Fury by defining his place in American literary history and exploring his...
Curated OER
"Pray, Why Speakest Thou Thusly?"
Examine popular language and slang and how they have changed over the course of American history. Conduct Internet research, use an online interactive Colonial House website to translate 17th century language into 21st century language,...
Curated OER
The Roots of Prohibition: Examining the Effort to Prohibit Alcohol in America
Five segements from Ken Burns' documentary series Prohibition, easily accessed on the PBS website, are at the center of a terrific short unit on the roots of America's ambivalent relationship with alcohol. Engage your secondary class...
Curated OER
Recreation Yesterday and Today
Eleventh graders research entertainment and recreation in the early 20th century using the American Memory collections and From the Hidewood: Memories of a Dakota Neighborhood, a book by Robert Amerson reflecting life in Deuel County,...
The Kennedy Center
Fairy Tale Variations
Here are two great lessons that work together and are inspired by the Stephen Sondheim musical Into the Woods. Young writers and actors will retell the story of "The Frog Prince" through games, improvisational script writing, and song....
PBS
Evolution of the Presidency: Theodore Roosevelt to Franklin D. Roosevelt
How much power should a president be allowed to exert? Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt exercised their power according to their interpretations of the United States Constitution, and these interpretations affected the...