Curated OER
Re-Examining Brown
Students identify, research, and report on the people, legal cases and conditions that led to the landmark case, Brown v. Board of Education. They role-play various people from the era preceding 1954.
Curated OER
Timeline of Tijuana Estuary Populations
Students examine the various populations that have made their home in the Tijuana Estuary. In groups, they read an article and note the name of each population, facts and what tools they used in a journal. They use colored notecards to...
Curated OER
The Demographics of Mortality
Students view the Dynamic POPClocks on the U.S. Census webpage and discuss their meaning. They explore age-related death rates of the human population and collect information about the deaths of humans and organize them into a life table.
Curated OER
VA Statute for Religious Freedom, II. Matching Activity
Young scholars read and analyze primary source documents. In this matching lesson, students read sections of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. Young scholars match the document sections with paraphrased sections and discuss the...
Curated OER
"O Captain! My Captain!"
Who was Walt Whitman, and what link does he have to president Abraham Lincoln? After Lincoln's assassination, Whitman wrote "O Captain! My Captain!" This poem and "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd" are the focus of...
Curated OER
Applying Music to Literature
Kids explore music, history, culture, and literature in a multi-faceted lesson plan. They discuss how both historical and cultural contexts shape music, art, and literature, and then apply these concepts as they engage in a listening...
Curated OER
Films About World War II
Ninth graders focus on how filmmakers have changed their view of the Second World War. They create portfolios or their own documentary to investigate the various screen interpretations of the wartime era and explain different points of...
Curated OER
Trek Across America
Bring a time machine into your classroom with this writing lesson, in which young writers project themselves back in time and have a variety of choices from that point forward. They either write a conversation with a historical figure,...
Curated OER
Was the Stamp Act Fair?
Elementary and middle schoolers examine and evaluate different perspectives concerning events leading to the American Revolution. In this case, they hone in on the Stamp Act. They research controversial bills, laws, or events of the time...
Curated OER
History Did Happen in My Back Yard!
Eighth graders interpret historical evidence presented in primary resources. For this Louisiana history lesson, 8th graders research their parish history using the LOUISiana Digital Library resources. Students create multimedia...
Curated OER
An Untold Triumph
High schoolers examine and analyze the history and experience of Filipinos in Hawaii and California. They identify the contributions of Filipino Americans to the US war effort in World War II, and analyze the many causes that led to...
Historica-Dominion Institute
Artifact Creation Activity
Creating an artifact that is representative of a specific time period provides an opportunity for amateur historians to understand the importance of primary sources. This resource describes the process for students to explore original or...
Curated OER
A Photosynthesis Timeline
Science learners discover that scientific advancements come in increments. Beginning as an idea, changes and developments are influenced by available resources and current societal values. As an example, pupils examine the conclusions...
Curated OER
Introduction to China
Compare and contrast the distinctive characteristics of art forms from various cultural, historical, and social contexts, and describe how the same subject matter is represented differently in works of art across cultures and time...
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...
Curated OER
Music from Across America
Students complete a unit of lessons on a variety of types of American music. They record their impressions of music samples on a worksheet, identify types of instruments, and choose a musical selection for their family to respond to.
PBS
Cardboard History
A PBS clip focused on collecting sports memorabilia launches this research project lesson plan. Class members then read Dan Gutman’s Honus and Me in which Wagner’s baseball card is used to time travel. The lesson plan ends with...
Curated OER
Linked Text Set: Pre-Reading Strategy. Fever 1793
The historical background for Fever 1793 is the focus of a pre-reading strategy that has class groups rotate through a series of stations stocked with photographs, articles, and other texts that describe the Yellow Fever outbreak of...
Orlando Shakes
Pericles: Study Guide
Everyone loves a great riddle, right? Everyone except for the characters in Shakespeare's Pericles, who will be killed unless they answer the king's riddle correctly. With the study guide, scholars use words coined by Shakespeare to play...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Lesson 3: On the Road with Marco Polo: From Hormuz to Kashgar
Young explorers examine the route that Marco Polo and his father traveled to reach China. They examine online maps of the Silk Road and harsh terrain of Afghanistan to determine challenges that may have been encountered during travel.
Curated OER
Life in Ancient Ghana, Mali, and Songhai
Students study the ancient African kingdoms of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai. They brainstorm what they know about ancient African kingdoms before investigating the trade and barter situations, and researching one of the kingdoms for an oral...
Curated OER
Jim Crow Lesson Plan
Jackie Robinson's attempt to earn a spot on the 1946 Brooklyn Dodgers provides learners with an opportunity to examine the Jim Crow laws and revisit issues of segregation and integration. "The Unconquerable Doing the Impossible: Jackie...
National History Day
Challenging the Status Quo: Women in the World War I Military
Why are some so resistant to change? The status quo is often to blame for a lack of forward movement in society. Following the events of World War I, women in America suddenly had a voice—and were going to use it. Scholars use the...
Curated OER
Fill in the Blanks
Archaeologists, historians, and scientists all work together to create a timeline of our past. Engages learners in a series of activities that all filter through the NOVA video, "Mysteries of the First Americans." Each activity is...