To understand how personal perspectives can affect policy and politics, scholars examine the woman suffrage media map and historical artifacts to analyze arguments for and against women's suffrage. Class members then take on the role of...

Students use their critical thinking skills to write about historical events. In this historical perspectives lesson plan, students read documents about historical events and make annotations and marginal notes. Students then respond to...

Young scholars investigate slavery in America circa the American Revolution. They will examine point- of view and perspective as they research a variety of informational resources. While this is designed to be used with the PBS video...

Imagine if Sigmund Freud or Charles Darwin had a Facebook page. As part of a study of major historical figures in the field of psychology, class members are assigned a psychologist and design a mock Facebook page that includes...

Critical analysis skills can be built in a variety of ways. Using editorial cartoons (both domestic and foreign) learners will consider how American Imperialism was perceived during the late 19th century. Critical thinking questions,...

Pupils research historical regional temperatures for their current season. In this historical weather instructional activity, students conduct weather station and Internet research to learn about historical regional temperatures. Pupils...

Learners discover the ideas of enlightenment by reading historical poetry. In this philosophical lesson, students read poems by Sir Walter Scott and Sergeant Joyce Kilmer while discussing the themes of the writing with classmates....

Students investigate equality by reading a historical fiction book in class.  In this civil rights lesson, students read the story Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry with their classmates and define the Jim Crow Laws that kept blacks...

Explore ethnicity and identity with a research and writing assignment. Class members conduct online research, looking in particular at images and carefully noting down their sources on notecards. They read about identity and compose...

What makes a source primary or secondary? Middle schoolers read a definition of each term before exploring different examples and applying their knowledge to a research project.

They say art often imitates life. Learners research and write an expository paper on modern dance choreographer, Alvin Ailey. They focus on describing how his life and background has influenced his dance creations. This is a great...

Integrate history, math, and art into a study of The Grapes of Wrath with a series of activities that ask learners to investigate the social, political, economic, and environmental factors at play during the 1930s. Designed to be used...

Imagine recycling food scraps and using them to make paper. The directions are all here in a seven-page packet that details several paper-making strategies.

What advantages do political cartoons have over written editorials? Scholars discuss the topic by exploring editorial cartoons. Working in small groups, pupils analyze an Uncle Sam cartoon and complete a worksheet. As a fun extension,...

Use this general lesson guide to inform your instruction surrounding a documentary. The lesson is made up of five activities. The activities are intentionally general because they are designed to adapted for specific films. While the...

Students use maps and other geographic resources to learn about their world while problem solving. They read clues each day and use classroom resources to narrow down where the prize is located.

Fifth graders participate in various activities related to the Civil War. In this Civil War lesson students understand the events and feelings of people during the Civil War by studying primary sources, journal writing, readings, viewing...

Students research the role of women in the Civil War. For this Civil War unit, students research the role women played during the war. This unit includes eight different activities including vocabulary, writing prompts and a literature...

Ken Burns and his collaborators have been creating historical documentary films for more than forty years. Known for a signature style that brings primary source documents, images, and archival video footage to life on screen, these...