Students research soldier's lives in the American Civil War. They create a video about a soldier's life

James Jamerson. You probably heard him but may not have heard of him. But fans of Motown Records will certainly recognize his contributions to the sound that desegregated popular music during the 1960s. Challenge young history...

Before Woodstock, there was Newport. Get plugged in to the social changes of the 1960s with a activity that looks at Bob Dylan's performance at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival as a symbol of the radical changes that marked the era.

Whether new to teaching The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn or an experienced pro, you’ll find useful resources in this teacher’s guide. The 40-page packet includes background information, historical context, an annotated list of...

The Harlem Renaissance brought forth many American art forms including jazz, and the writings of Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes. Using a carefully curated set of documents from the Library of Congress, pupils see the cultural...

History sleuths read articles for and against Uncle Tom's Cabin, examine visual images, print responses, and multi-media tomitudes to better understand the impact of Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel on American culture prior to...

Students study about the Civil War through primary sources used in the PBS production of "Freedom: A History of US" based on Joy Hakim's books, "A History of US", and the companion PBS Web site.

African American spirituals served as more than songs of religious praise during the years of slavery. "Go Down, Moses" is featured on a worksheet that asks readers to respond to a series of short-answer prompts about the spiritual.

In this online interactive reading comprehension activity, students respond to 14 multiple choice questions about The Last of the Mohicans. Students may submit their answers to be scored.

Students examine the human cost of war on both sides of the Civil War. Using the internet, they research the role of women on the homefront and the impact the war had on families. They also read the novel "Across Five Aprils" and discuss...

Students learn about the Underground Railroad. In this Civil War and slavery lesson, students discuss how successful slaves would be moving around at night, learn the secret vocabulary used for escape routes and review background about...

Students investigate call and response singing.  In this fine arts and U.S. history lesson, students listen to several call and response songs that were sung by African-American slaves during the period before the Civil War. ...

Students are introduced to various time periods in history in which African Americans wrote songs and poetry to cope. In groups, they travel between different stations to listen or read poems and music from the Civil War period, Civil...

Students explore U.S. history by listening to musical pieces in class. For this Civil War era lesson, students discuss the types of musical instruments that were available to soldiers during the war and the themes of their songs....

Learners describe some of the distinguishing characteristics of rock, folk, blues, and country music. They identify two main musical roots of today's American popular music.

For many people, Barack Obama's presidency was the next step in Martin Luther King, Jr's dream of America's future. Explore the dreams of Americans past and present, as well as the young Americans in your class, with a set of activities...

Eighth graders examine the lives of the Gullah-Geechee people. In this unique cultures lesson, 8th graders explore music, language, and slavery of the Gullah-Geechee people from the southern low-country in the United States. Students...

Students discover racism and slavery by completing a role playing activity. In this U.S. history lesson, students analyze documents from the Civil War era and describe the Fugitive Slave Law. Students view a video on YouTube about the...

What better activity is there for summer than reading? Provide your pupils with 25 book ideas for their summer reading pursuits. A variety of different genres are represented on this list, and each book is paired with publication...

Analyze political cartoons and historical events. Middle schoolers utilize primary resources to increase their comprehension of the topic of secession. They utilize graphic organizers to take notes, compare, and analyze political...

If you are reading works by Walter Dean Myers in your class, this resource might be worth a look. Included here are activities and discussion questions for Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary, Somewhere in the Darkness, Scorpions, Fallen...

Students study the westward movement through examining stamps. In this westward movement lesson plan, students draw conclusions, determine cause and effect relationships and examine the westward movement of the United States by...

Young scholars study the work of Rodgers and Hammerstein in an historical context of the development of American musical theatre as an art form. Students explore "roots" of the genre as it evolves in last half of the 19th and first two...

Students complete a unit of 9 lessons to learn about realism in music during the time of the Underground Railroad. In this music realism lesson, students learn about coded lyrics in the slave songs. Students complete 9 lessons using...