Library of Virginia
Antebellum Freedom
From indentured servitude to involuntary race-based servitude, slavery has taken many forms in American history. Class members examine three manumission petitions that reveal how the rights of African Americans and African American...
Curated OER
Social Changes in America Caused by World War II
Students research and examine the social changes that occured in the United States during World War II. In pairs they conduct research using a variety of resources, and organize and compose a "Guide to Life" for veterans returning home...
Curated OER
World War II
Students create a Powerpoint presentation covering key information regarding a World War II battle and present the information to the class in the form of an oral presentation. They then will turn in a summary report including two...
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
Immigrant Discrimination
For a class learning about Chinese and Irish immigration in America, here's a great starting lesson plan. It has your critical thinkers examining song lyrics, the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, and a political cartoon, and finally...
Curated OER
Post- Modernism
Students participate in a lesson that investigates post-modernism in American literature. They conduct the lesson with the help of reading "America" by Ginsberg to create context. Then students define the genre and the culture that has...
Curated OER
P.O.W.: Products of War
Tenth graders are introduced to concepts of war through musical lyrics. They demonstrate and understanding of the role of segregation in US military policy and practice.
Core Knowledge Foundation
Isn’t It Exciting? (The American Industrial Revolution and Urbanization)
America was built on the ingenuity, work ethic, and foresight of our ancestors. Sixth graders learn about the complex Gilded Age in American history, including the prominent inventors and captains of industry, and how they all connect...
Annenberg Foundation
Contested Territories
United States expansion into Western territories impacted much more than just lines on a map. The seventh installment of a 22-part series about America's history puts scholars into the lives of those making the journey westward as well...
Curated OER
Parallel Studies of the Afro-American and Puerto Rican Experience in America
Students compare/contrast the Afro-American and Puerto Rican experience as they migrated and assimilated in the U.S. They research and discuss the reasons for migration and the historical significance of economic autonomy and oppression.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Revolution '67, Lesson 1: Protest: Why and How
To some people, protesting is as American as apple pie, but the factors that lead to protests can be as confusing to veteran activists as to today's youth. Revolution '67 explores the riots in Newark, New Jersey as a case study. Using...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Revolution '67, Lesson 2: What Happened in July 1967? How Do We Know?
Even in a world in which dozens of participants and curious onlookers record every controversial event, the basic facts of what happened are often in dispute. Revolution '67, Lesson 2 explores 1967 Newark, New Jersey using an examination...
Curated OER
Afro-Caribbean Americans and the Sugar Economy
Pupils read the narrative, Caribbean Immigration and examine how sugar production and migration of people of African origin have been intertwined for centuries. Working in three groups, they present oral reports on the three eras of the...
Curated OER
African American Homesteaders
Students analyze the reasons African-Americans settled in the area to be known as Nebraska. Using primary source documents, they read about the challenges they faced and compare their growth and distribution of African-Americas in the...
Curated OER
Louisa May Alcott: The Candle and the Mirror
Students discuss the life of Louisa May Alcott and create an outline of a biography of her life and times. In this Louisa May Alcott lesson, students explore the Transcendentalist involvement in the abolitionist movement, relating...
Curated OER
The Collaborative Works of Rodgers and Hammerstein: Show Business
Students 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 decades...
Curated OER
On the Other Side of the Color Barrier: Segregation and the Negro Leagues
Students study segregation that occurred in the past and that is currently occurring. In this equal rights lesson, students use primary source documents to student segregation of the past. In a culminating activity, students find or draw...
Curated OER
Pennsylvania Boxing: Living the American Dream
Learners reflect on fictional and real boxers from Pennsylvania. In this history instructional activity, students read, reflect and discuss the historical period following World War II and observe the boxers that were famous from...
Curated OER
Presentation of Pilgrims
Students are given a category to research (clothes, life before the New World, the voyage, etc.) about Pilgrim life. s Students, in groups, create presentations using software program such as PowerPoint.
Curated OER
Slave Narratives
Students examine the slave perspective and how it differs from stories we hear in text books. In this slave narrative lesson, students use primary source narratives to compare how slave life was expressed by the slaves to how slave life...
Curated OER
Arts of the Gilded Age
Young scholars study the art forms of the Gilded Age. In this integrated arts lesson plan, students research the art, music, dance, and drama of the historical era and then create their own personal projects that exemplify the time period.
Curated OER
"Pray, Why Speakest Thou Thusly?"
Examine popular language and slang and how they have changed over the course of American history. Conduct Internet research, use an online interactive Colonial House website to translate 17th century language into 21st century language,...
Curated OER
Assembly Line Burgers
Students explore the reasons why the assembly line was formed and how it improves productivity. They practice with their own assembly line by making "burgers" out of wafers and frosting.
Lessons on American Presidents
Abraham Lincoln
Honor Abe Lincoln with a set of activity-based worksheets that can be used independently and in collaborative groups. Young historians participate in a listening activity where they fill in the missing blanks in a passage while being...
Oklahoma State Department of Education
Narrative Prompt
Reading about history is nothing like experiencing it firsthand. Encourage your eighth graders to do the next best thing with a historical narrative prompt, in which they describe the experience of a first-time traveler on the...