Curated OER
Evaluating the "Save the Indian" Reforms
High schoolers explore the policies of the "Save the Indian" reforms. Working in groups, they review the motives, methods, and effects of the "Save the Indian" campaign of the late 19th century. Through discussion and writing, they form...
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...
Curated OER
The WCTU and the Lynching Controversy
Students analyze writings of famous authors and record their positions on lynching and segregation. They research arguments to explore the attitudes of people in the South and the North during the 19th century.
Curated OER
America's Wars, 1898-1945
Students examine the wars the United States was involved in between 1898 and 1945. In groups, they determine the causes and effects of each war and how each war changed the way the United States handled their foreign affairs. As a class,...
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U.S. History: Immigrant Scrapbooks
Students role-play as immigrants coming to America around the turn of the 19th century. They conduct Internet research and print out pictures to use in an immigrant scrapbook. Students write captions for the pictures and narratives to...
Curated OER
America's Castles: The Age of Invention
Students tour the estates built by America's wealthiest visionaries during the years 1911-1929. They discuss the Age of Invention and the people associated with that age in US history.
Curated OER
Imperialism in China
If you are completing a unit on the European impact on China, this short lesson may be useful. It requires an excerpt from Chinese Civilization: A sourcebook, by Ebrey, that gives Liang Qichaos's account of his visit to America. After...
Curated OER
The Most American Thing in America: The Chautauqua
Students explore the Chautauqua movement. For this Pennsylvania history lesson, students use primary documents to explore what the Chautauqua was and how it made a difference in the American way of life.
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To Move or Not to Move? Decision Making and Sacrifice
Students examine the motivations that prompted people to move westward during the 19th century. They take on the role of an average citizen and weigh the costs and benefits of making such a move and decide if they would have participated...
Curated OER
Press Perception of Jack Johnson
Students role-play the role of journalists during the 19th and 20th centuries. They create their own sports newspapers. They report on Jack Johnson's life and career.
Curated OER
Teen Immigrants: Five American Stories
Students watch the PBS program "In the Mix" about teen immigrants. They discover the number of immigrants in America and their problems moving to this country. They answer questions as the film plays.
Curated OER
The Freeman School: Building Prairie Communities
Students examine this one-room school in Nebraska and consider the important role it played in the community during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They compare their educational experience with those of rural students of...
Curated OER
Entrepreneurs and the African-American Dream
Students make a simple graph of labor supply and labor demand in the North and South in the early twentieth century. They conduct research to identify top contemporary African-American entrepreneurs.
Curated OER
Immigration and the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882
Eleventh graders explore the effects of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. In this immigration lesson, 11th graders consider the impact of Chinese immigration to America as they read and discuss writings on the topic from noteworthy...
Curated OER
Chapter 9 - Big Business v. Labor
In this 20th century U.S. history worksheet, students read assigned textbook pages regarding the industrialization and labor unions. Students then respond to 50 short answer questions.
Curated OER
Work And Resistance In America
Students investigate the history and events that surround the industrial revolution. They conduct research using secondary sources. They look reflectively at the history in order to build an idea of how the arts could have influenced the...
Curated OER
The American Mosaic
Young scholars discuss what it would be like to be new to a town. They are then asked questions related to the immigrants coming to America. Extensions of this lesson are available.
Curated OER
Teaching With Documents Lesson Plan: Photographs of Lewis Hine: Documentation of Child Labor
Students interpret historical evidence presented in primary and secondary resources. In this child labor lesson, students examine photograhs by Lewis Hines and discuss the implications of child labor in America.
Curated OER
Lady Liberty: The New Colossus
Students research the history of the Statue of Liberty and the symbols associated with it. They read and discuss Emma Lazarus' poem and why it should persuade people to donate money to bring the statue to America. Students role-play as...
Curated OER
Focused Learning Lesson: American History
Eleventh graders compare and contrast the type of immigrant that came to America during the 19th and 20th centuries. They write letters as if they were immigrants coming to America and what they faced and their hopes for the future.
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The Role of Japanese Women through Art
Learners examine the role of women in Japan through Art and create collages using learned knowledge that depict the role of women in America today in this exciting Art or Social Studies lesson.
Curated OER
Louisa May Alcott: The Candle and the Mirror
High schoolers discuss the life of Louisa May Alcott and create an outline of a biography of her life and times. In this Louisa May Alcott instructional activity, students explore the Transcendentalist involvement in the abolitionist...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Conservation, Preservation, and the National Parks
Going green? Scholars investigate the creation of the US National Park program. Through diary entries as well as expert testimony, they synthesize information and analyze the need for conservation and preservation. Finally, they display...
Curated OER
Hey Kid, Want To Buy A Bridge?
Students study the building of the Brooklyn Bridge and the inventions of Thomas Alva Edison. They design an infomercial to sell a product or a service for an invention. They create an invention that improves the world and write an...