California Department of Education
What’s A Hot Job?
What jobs are the next best thing? Curious career scholars explore their options in lesson three of a five-part series. Pupils research job trends and labor statistics before discussing the factors that influence occupation trends.
Alabama Department of Archives and History
The Wrong Side of History: How One Group Justified Its Opposition on the Freedom Riders and Civil Rights for African Americans
Designed as a supplement to the study of the Freedom Riders, this resource uses primary sources to reveal the views of those who opposed the Freedom Riders. After careful study of the arguments presented by the members of the Montgomery...
Museum of Tolerance
Just What Kind of American Are You?
Your parents were both in different countries. You were born in the US. Documents and application forms ask you to identify your racial or ethnic classification. Which box do you check? Class members collect documents...
Humanities Texas
Primary Source Worksheet: Lyndon B. Johnson, Excerpt from “The American Promise”
"I want to be the president who educated young people to the wonders of their world." Readers examine the vision Lyndon B. Johnson presented for his presidency in this excerpt from his "The American promise" message delivered to Congress...
American Chemical Society
M&M's in Different Temperatures
Help your class come up with a procedure for comparing the dissolving rates of colored candy coating in different temperatures of water. If you are placing importance on controlled variables with your class, make sure that they use equal...
California Department of Education
In the Interview Hot Seat
Interviews can be so stressful. How does someone stay calm and confident in the interview hot seat? Senior job seekers get acquainted with common interview questions during the fifth of six career and college readiness lessons....
California Department of Education
How to Succeed in Life
Is it possible that six simple traits lead to a happy, successful life? Part four of a six-part series of college and career readiness lessons examines the effects of character in determining success. Working groups discuss...
Center for Civic Education
What Basic Ideas Are in the Preamble to the Constitution?
Introduce young historians to the US Constitution with this upper-elementary social studies lesson plan. Beginning with a general discussion about the role of government in society, young scholars go on to work in small...
Curated OER
The Poet's Message-"The Colored Soldier" by Langston Hughes
Students analyze the poem, "The Colored Soldier" by Langston Hughes to gain a greater experience of how poets use language to create meaning, influence thinking and thus become pioneers of change in American society. They work on the...
Curated OER
American Justice on Trial
Young scholars role play a trial in which they consider if the United States government violated the rights of Japanese Americans after Pearl Harbor.
Curated OER
The Native American Indian Women Quest
Students research background information on the role of Native American women. They then participate in a four station center which enables the students to view pictures, investigate new vocabulary, and research Native American recipies.
Curated OER
Industrial Revolution in America: Exploring the Effects of the Heat Engine on the Growth of Cities
Eighth graders examine the reasons for the growth of cities in North American. Using the internet, they research the causes and effects of the Industrial Revolution and determine if the growth of cities is a sign of progress. They...
Curated OER
Bigger Than Life, But Not Necessarily Better
Students evaluate images of health in American society, then students examine where one develops his or her views about health.
Constitutional Rights Foundation
History of Immigration From the 1850s to the Present
The Statue of Liberty may embrace the huddled masses of the world, but has American society always joined in? After young historians read a passage about the history of American immigration in the 19th and 20th centuries, focusing on...
Maryland Department of Education
Our Children Can Soar
Amazing efforts of African American leaders are celebrated in a lesson on civil participation. The engaging resource focuses on primary and secondary sources to analyze the impact of African American leaders such as Ella Fitzgerald....
Curated OER
Women's Lives in American Paintings
Students analyze paintings to determine characteristics of women and attitudes toward them in different time periods. They create a portrait of a woman and discuss their views of women through their own artwork.
Walden Woods Project
19th Century Lessons for 21st Century Lives
The words of Henry David Thoreau on Civil Disobedience seem particularly relevant today, as are his writings and those of other transcendental thinkers who ask what it mean to live deliberately and what are the responsibilities of...
Polk Bros Foundation
Chicago: Choices and Changes
Chicago, a city that is ever changing. A thought-provoking lesson, geared toward third-grade social studies, explains how the city of Chicago has changed over time. It discusses important leaders to the founding of the city, like Daniel...
K12 Reader
Storytelling and Folklore
Stories are passed down orally in many cultures. Learn about the ways that storytelling can shape a society with a reading passage about Native American folklore and myths. After they finish reading, kids complete five reading...
PBS
Civil War: Blacks on the Battlefield
Imagine a war being fought to free slaves, with slaves on the front line. Scholars use primary documents, videos, and research in the second installment of a three-part series to guide their analysis of the first African-Americans on the...
Curated OER
Liberty Vs. Safety: an American Dilemma
Students study the process of consensus and the value of studying history as we try to craft a more perfect society. They examine President Franklin D. Roosevelt's decision to incarcerate Japanese Americans in the Western United States,...
Curated OER
A River, Dead or Alive: Native Americans and European Colonists' Treatment of a River
Students write an expository paragraph about the uses of the Nashua River for the Native Americans and the European Colonists. In this river uses lesson plan, students determine the causes and effects of both parties using the river.
Curated OER
How Did the Progressive Party affect American Society
Ninth graders explore the political views of the Progressive Party. In this U.S. History lesson, 9th graders read the "LaFollette Platform," then share their thoughts of the reading in a class discussion. To conclude the lesson, students...
Curated OER
What's in a Name? The Use of Native American Images in Sports
Students discuss and analyze the pros and cons of using Native American names and images to represent sports teams. Using primary sources, including position statements from Native American tribes, interviews with school alumni and...