Reading Vine
Confucius: The Most Famous Teacher in China
Introduce young philosophers to the wisdom of China's most famous thinkers with a short bio. The reading comprehension passage includes an answer key.
Curated OER
"The Missiles of October": The Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962
High schoolers investigate the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba in 1962 and how that presence triggered an international crisis. The options available to the president as well as the advantages and disadvantages of each are...
Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation
Photographs as History
Imagine being a war photographer embedded in World War I. How do you see your role? How might your photos influence that study of the war? Of history? Class members select a photograph, adopt the perspective of the photographer, and...
Library of Congress
Investigating the Building Blocks of Our Community’s Past, Present, and Future
As Ken Jennings said, "There's just something hypnotic about maps." Certainly, the longer you look at them the more you can learn. In this project-based learning lesson, individuals study both historic and present-day maps of...
Curated OER
Letter Writing
Keep the art of letter writing alive in this age of Tweet and Twitter! The 10 activities detailed in this resource lead pupils through the process of crafting classic forms. A list of and links to famous letters is also included as part...
Advocates for Human Rights
Who are Immigrants?
What do Jerry Yang, Patrick Ewing, John Muir, Charlize Theron, Peter Jennings, and Saint Frances X Cabrini all have in common? They are all immigrants to the United States. Famous and not-so-famous immigrants are the focus of a resource...
Curated OER
What Portraits Reveal
Young scholars examine how portraits can tell us more about people of the past than just what they looked like. They compare three portraits of U.S. Presidents, analyze portraits of Americans from the Revolutionary War, and write a...
Civil War Trust
Transcribing Civil War History
Primary sources are valuable for understanding the context of historical events, but the diction and dialect in these documents can be difficult to understand. Middle and high schoolers participation in a transcription process in which...
Polar Trec
Polar Detectives: Using Ice Core Data to Decode Past Climate Mysteries
How does examining an ice core tell us about weather? Learners set up and explore fake ice cores made of sugar, salt, and ash to represent historical snowfall and volcanic eruptions. From their setups, scholars determine what caused the...
Curated OER
Reading A Historical Photograph
Students examine a historical photograph to gather information and draw conclusions.
Curated OER
Ancient Egypt
In this Ancient Egypt worksheet, students read a 2 page article on Ancient Egypt, answer 3 statements as true or false and choose which multiple choice answers best answers 3 questions/statements.
Curated OER
Explorers
In this explorers worksheet, students read a detailed text about the Age of Exploration from 1450 to 1700. Students then answer 7 matching or multiple choice questions.
Curated OER
Reading Comprehension: Ohio
In this reading comprehension learning exercise, learners read a 2-page article regarding Ohio and respond to 10 true or false questions regarding the selection about the state.
Curated OER
Eyes From the Past
Learners view examples of classical Victorian artwork. Using a painting, they discuss their own opinions about what they believe the artwork is trying to tell them. In groups, they compare and contrast the artwork of Robert Harris and...
Curated OER
Jamestown Scavenger Hunt
Young scholars identify and share Primary Sources in Early American History by Janey Levy. Then they discuss the usefulness of using primary sources in uncovering the past. Students also research original documents from Jamestown to...
Curated OER
Brucemore Mansion
Students take a closer look at Brucemore Mansion. In this Iowa history instructional activity, students research what life was like at the mansion during the Gilded Age and through history. Students also research the responsibilities of...
Curated OER
A Document-Based Essay on Korean Social Change
Young scholars interpret historical evidence presented in primary resources. In this Korean history lesson, students examine the provided information on life in Korea. Young scholars respond to the questions that accompany each source....
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...
James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation
A Deliberate, Palpable and Dangerous Exercise of Other Powers: James Madison & Homeland Security
This resource uses primary source documents to explore the First Amendment. After reviewing key events of the 1790s, government or US history classes explore Madison's letter to Jefferson regarding the Alien and Sedition Acts. They then...
Curated OER
Map Lesson Plan
Fourth graders locate and label major sites related to the Revolutionary War in the Hudson River Valley. They examine topographical features of each site and list a few of these features and list two advantages of each military site.
Curated OER
Genocide
High schoolers research acts of genocide to become aware that acts of genocide have been ongoing throughout history, and continue today. Students create a presentation including a verbal description of the situation, a written summary...
Curated OER
Understanding Reconstruction in South Carolina
Eighth graders interpret historical evidence presented in primary and secondary resources. In this Reconstruction lesson, 8th graders research the role of Reconstruction in South Carolina by simulating the environment of East Bay Street...
Curated OER
Colonial Migration
Students, in groups, create a student book for an assigned group of immigrants to the Colonial United States (Huguenots, Scots, Irish, Africans.) They create drawings for the book and rhyming text that depicts three struggles that...
PBS
Be the Press: Local Interviews, National News
High school learners research an issue that is important to them and apply the research to write a newspaper article. After thoroughly researching their topic, high schoolers strengthen research, analyzation, and writing...