Interactive
Curated OER

The Jeffersonian Age: 1800 - 1824 (5)

For Students 9th - 12th
In this online interactive American history worksheet, students answer 15 fill in the blank questions regarding the Jeffersonian Age. Students may submit their answers to be scored.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rain

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
Young scholars are introduced to the Native American game called "Rain" and develop cooperative learning skills. In this Native American game lesson, students sit in a circle and discuss how games reflect the environment the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

ROCKING ON TO THE ROCK

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers view the illustrations of family life in the early colonies and make a list of 10 things they see. Then compare those 10 items with your life today. Then read some of the novel "Constance" and write down 8 things that...
Interactive
Curated OER

Intellectual/Social/Cultural Movements: 1870s - 1914 (5)

For Students 9th - 12th
In this online interactive American history instructional activity, students answer 12 matching questions regarding late 1870's-1914 America. Students may submit their answers to be scored.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Pilgrims: The First Americans

For Teachers 5th
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

American Born Chinese

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Students make thematic connections and organize their ideas using a Venn Diagram. For this Venn Diagram instructional activity, students compare 3 different stories from a novel and fill in a Venn Diagram. Students then discuss their...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

American Foreign Policy Since World War II (The Cold War)

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students identify and interpret some key figures and major events during the Cold War era, including the Korean War, Vietnam, Cuban Missile Crisis, Bay of Pigs Invasion, and the United States and China Cold War Relations. They also play...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Gathering and Evaluating Sources for the "Greatest American" Speech

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Young scholars brainstorm a list of criteria for determining credible sources for their research. They research information to include in their "Greatest American" speech. Students will evaluate all sources by applying the criteria they...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

An Early Threat of Secession: The Missouri Compromise of 1820 and the Nullification Crisis

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students analyze an interactive map of the Missouri Compromise to identify the regions and their relation to slavery. In this pre-civil war era lesson plan, students read primary source documents and research online to answer questions...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Poet James Whitcomb Riley: Famous in His Own Day

For Teachers 9th - 12th
An engaging biography of "Hoosier" poet James Whitcomb Riley serves as a springboard for study of his unique dialect-based verse. Several activities illuminate differences between spoken vernacular and formal language. Learners record...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How far have we come in the "Freedom Struggle"?

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders assess an appreciation for the sacrifices made to achieve fundamental rights in our society. They analyze how far we've come to explore what more needs to be done in the "Freedom Struggle." Each student completes a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Great American Dreamer

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Students explore how F. Scott Fitzgerald was one of the most important writers of the twentieth century. In novels such as Tender is the Night, This Side of Paradise, and The Great Gatsby, he captured the mood and manners of his time.
Lesson Plan
Alabama Department of Archives and History

Changes in Transportation over Time

For Teachers 1st - 2nd
Planes, trains, and automobiles. How many ways to travel are there? Scholars learn about modes of transportation in the past and how they have changed over time. Budding historians view a timeline, participate in group discussion, and...
Lesson Plan
Alabama Department of Archives and History

The Effect of the Great Depression on Children

For Teachers 4th - 6th Standards
How did the Great Depression affect children? Sometimes studying the Great Depression means only studying about how it affected adults, however, relating the experiences of children and peers their age to themselves may make the...
Organizer
Teach Beside Me

Benjamin Franklin Lesson Ideas

For Students 5th - 8th Standards
Bring Benjamin Franklin to life in the classroom with a set of five activities. Discover the type of person he was and his accomplishments through a study of his inventions and comments about life virtues. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Changing Union

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders analyze a document and make assessment and historical prediction based on the text. For this establishment of American government lesson, 4th graders analyze a poem and discuss the climate of the Union in the early 1800's....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Official Statements

For Teachers 7th - 11th
Young scholars research the viewpoints of famous Americans, and then write commencement speeches reflecting these viewpoints to be delivered to high school graduates of today.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Name That Place: Cultural Place Names in the United States

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students examine the origin of the people that settled in the United States.  In this United States History instructional activity, students work in small groups to complete several activities that explore early settlement, such as...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Expansion and Reform: Applying the Declaration of Independence

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students conduct inquiries and research-acquiring, organizing, analyzing, interpreting, evaluating, and communicating facts, themes, and general principles operating in American history. They use the Declaration of Independence to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Many Faces of Paul Robeson

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students discuss and construct timelines based on the life of author/performer/Civil Right's activist, Paul Robeson. They view photographs of him at various times in his life and discuss the roles he may have been playing at those times.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Art of Cynicism

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students analyze selected pieces of art and infer how they reflect a sense of disillusionment, and/or cynicism in American society in the aftermath of the Vietnam War and Watergate scandal. Then they identify and place cultural attitudes...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Maps and Legends by Micheal Chabon

For Teachers 8th - 10th
Students read an essay to improve language skills and understanding of American culture for ESL teachers. In this American culture lesson plan, students read the essay 'Maps and Legends' by Michael Chabon and complete various activities...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Cuban Missile Crisis

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students reflect on the events that lead up to the Cuban Missile Crisis in the early 1960s.  In this history lesson plan, students explore the conflicts between the United States and the Soviet Union revolving around missiles in...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lift Every Voice and Sing

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students analyze sculpture, poetry, and music to gain an understanding of historical events. In this critical thinking skills instructional activity, students take a closer look at African-American history as they examine "Lift Every...