High schoolers examine role spirituals have played in African American history and religion, examine Harriet Tubman's use of spirituals in her work, explore power of spirituals in Civil Rights Movement, and work with oral tradition,...

Students explore world geography by participating in a family history project. In this U.S.S.R. lesson, students read assigned text regarding the Stalinist era of Russia and the intolerance that thrived there. Students answer a list of...

Students discuss various ways families and communities pass down oral and visual art forms to younger generations. This multi-subject introductory lesson prepares students to create a project about their own families.

Students study Native Americans of Virginia. In this Virginia history instructional activity, students take on the role of archaeologists as they analyze a site and its artifacts. Students use the information to draw conclusions about...

Middle schoolers design to explore the world of objects as related to lace. Students will create a lace mural highlighting what they learn about the world of lace. Middle schoolers brainstorm ideas via the internet websites.

Students explore African American history by researching the Jim Crow laws. In this Civil Rights lesson, students define the Jim Crow laws, the reasons they were put into place, and how they were ultimately defeated. Students write a...

Students listen to an interview with Lucreaty Clark, a White Oak Native American basket maker. They analyze the interview and record their observations on a worksheet. Students consider information that can be gleaned from an audio...

You set the rate! Step into the shoes of a taxi driver in New York City, and also pretend to be a person who uses taxis to get around town. The class will conduct collaborative research to learn about the history of taxis. Then, they...

Students discover archaeology by investigating the history of Native Americans in Georgia.  In this U.S. history activity, students participate in a mock archaeological excavation in their classroom by recovering artifacts and...

Use this U.S. History unit plan as a template for creating your own! Simply download the resource and edit the text fields with your own customized unit plan. This is a great jumping-off step, especially for newer teachers. 

Students view a painting as a document to find out about the Indian Treaty Councils.  In this artist's perspective lesson, students study the conflicts as shown in various pictures.  Students answer questions about what they...

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....

Students examine how paintings tell stories. They read biographies about artists, analyze paintings, research and write the art history of a painting, write a creative story based on the painting, and create a painting in the artist's...

Students observe, discuss, and interpret Radcliffe Bailey's work, By the River. They create personal narratives of people who came to the U.S. during the 18th or 19th century.

Students investigate journalism by researching a list of articles. In this story analysis lesson, students read several current event articles and answer a list of study questions as a group. Students summarize the article and share the...

The students create a personal narrative on their experiences with immigration. In this instructional activity, students are asked to read and understand examples of narrative writing as well as evaluate lyrics from Ben Folds Five to...

Watching is not the same as seeing. Transform viewers from passive watchers to active students of film with this 34-page packet, filled with lessons and activities that use Mr. Smith Goes to Washington to examine the technology, the...

Introduce your middle schoolers to the lives of past Native Americans. First, learners work together to put photographs in a sequence. Then, using their sequence, they create stories to share with the whole class. No matter how old your...

Students demonstrate the ability to develop questions and ideas to initiate and refine research. They demonstrate the ability to conduct research and to answer questions and evaluate information and ideas. They design World Peace Flags.

Eighth graders explain the meaning of the Declaration of Independence. They view a political cartoon of the period, then do a writing assignment for homework. They write about how they would feel if the British were calling them traitors.

A selection of letters, writings, photographs, interviews and other primary sources documenting American artists working in clay.