Curated OER
My Brother Sam is Dead: A study of the Revolutionary War
Fifth graders complete an analysis of the Revolutionary War through literature. After "My Brother Sam Is Dead," students create a time capsule containing items that would be relevant during the Revolutionary War. They identify key...
Curated OER
COMING TO AMERICA: THE NEW IMMIGRANTS
Pupils become involved in the process of interpreting history by looking at primary source documents. This promotes critical thinking skills and comprehension of concepts and their relationships to different time periods through reading...
Curated OER
The Growth of U.S.-Japanese Hostility, 1915-1932
Students explore the relationship between Japan and the United States between 1915 and 1932. In this diplomacy instructional activity, students examine the Open Door Policy, 21 Demands, and the invasion of Manchuria by Japan. Students...
National First Ladies' Library
Will the Real Pocahontas Please Stand Up?
Learners explore the life of Pocahontas and Powhatan Indians. After studying information on a given website, students compare and contrast what they read about Pocahontas and what they previously thought of her. They explore life in a...
Curated OER
Change: Just a Matter of Time
Students analyze the Declaration of Independence and primary sources to explain civil rights. Then, students write a Declaration of Change to express the grievances of African Americans, and their desire to participate fully in the...
Curated OER
Paul Robeson: The Renaissance Man
Students research the life of athlete, actor, singer, cultural scholar, author, and political activist, Paul Robeson. They answer the question, "Which was most important to American culture -Robeson's work as a scholar, a performer, an...
Curated OER
JUSTICE
Learners analyze the role that Alabama played in three major events of American History and how those roles contributed to Alabama being dubbed the "Cradle of the Confederacy" and the "Birthplace of the Modern Civil Rights Movement."
Curated OER
Manuelito
Students research Manuelito's approximate birthplace, his clan lineage, his early upbringing and preparation for defense against enemies. They analyze the factors that brought people west and postulate their understanding of words and...
Curated OER
Fort Clatsop: The Corps of Discovery's Winter at Fort Clatsop
Learners investigate the Lewis and Clark expedition and how it helped to shape American expansion during its early history. Students reflect upon the period of history and its implications for America.
Curated OER
Plants in Texas: Then and Now
Seventh graders discuss continuity and change, identify various plant materials, and compare and contrast ways in which early people used plants in Texas in prehistoric times with ways that modern man in Texas uses plants today.
Curated OER
Deborah Sampson
Fifth graders describe the major accomplishments of Deborah Sampson and her importance in American history. They list in chronological order the evets that took place in Deborah Sampson's life. They demonstrae their ability to...
Curated OER
The Missouri Compromise of 1820
Young scholars use a map of the Missouri Compromise to explain the geographical changes it brought to the U.S. and why the changes provoked a debate over the expansion of slavery in the U.S.
Curated OER
Say It Loud!: A Celebration Of Black Music in America - Episode 3: Can I Get A Witness: Lesson 2
Students watch a video on spiritual music, then engage in a discussion about the artists and styles mentioned in the video. They discuss vocal improvisation, and engage in a call and response to "This Little Light Of Mine.'
Curated OER
Cowboy Violence
Students examine images of cowboys and gunfighters in Western films and dime novels and discuss whether cowboys were really violent. They read several historical interpretations of cowboy violence. In addition, they distinguish between...
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...
Curated OER
The Gettysburg Address
Who was Abraham Lincoln, and what is the Gettysburg Address? Sixth graders participate in a seminar where they read and analyze the Gettysburg Address and its importance. The role of Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War is also...
Curated OER
Washington Irving in Context
Students examine the various roles Washington Irving had in his lifetime. Examining the situation in Europe and the United States, they are encouraged to relate Irving's experiences to different events. They examine themselves in many...
Shmoop
ELA.CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.5: Structure of an Argument
Imagine a cross-curricular project that not only rewards learners for examining the textbooks used in their other classes but builds literacy skills as well! Groups compare the formats and writing style in their various textbooks. Teams...
Curated OER
Foundations
Young scholars investigate the history of literature in America by looking at the types of genres first read in the United States. They look at the foundations of how the original colonists had the intention of transmitting religious and...
Curated OER
The Crittenden Conway Duel
Learners explore primary and secondary sources. In this primary and secondary source lesson, students investigate a crime scene. Learners search for evidence around the classroom and evaluate their findings. Students write a crime report...
Curated OER
"The Catcher in the Rye" Lesson Plans
"The Catcher in the Rye" lesson plans can get students interested in a famous novel.
Curated OER
Jefferson vs. Franklin: Revolutionary Philosophers
Students cite connections among Franklin's Albany Plan of 1754, his Plan of Confederation of 1775 and the U.S. Constitution and/or the Declaration of Independence. In an essay, they give examples of the philosophical and political...
Curated OER
The Colonization of the United States
Bring the Age of Exploration into the 21st century with this ancestry activity! Learners get a chance to explore the complex genealogy of the Spanish settlers through watching two video clips (approximately five minutes each) featuring...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Dueling Telegrams: 1963 Verbal Power Play Between Wallace and JFK
Information, inferences, and innuendos. Text and subtext. Class members examine telegrams exchanged between President John F. Kennedy and Alabama Governor George Wallace, studying both what is stated and what is implied by the...