Scholastic
The Right to Vote
Who used to have the right to vote in the United States? Who has the right to vote now? Amendments to the US Constitution that have changed the definition of eligible voters are the focus of a one-page activity that asks class members to...
Humanities Texas
Primary Source Worksheet: Abraham Lincoln, Draft of the Gettysburg Address
Young historians closely examine the words of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address with this primary source analysis worksheet.
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum
The Cuban Missile Crisis: How to Respond?
For 13 days, the United States stood on the edge of nuclear War. The Soviet Arms buildup in Cuba is the focus of an activity that asks groups to analyze how the governmental role each of John F. Kennedy's advisors played went on to...
Curated OER
Everyone Wants to Be President
How can you help your class understand the breadth of duties and the challenges of being the leader of the United States?
Curated OER
The Populists Movement 1880s - 1890s
What is it about the Populists and The Wizard of Oz? Use hard facts about the Populist Movement to find out. The presentation provides good background information on the Populists, their political platform, and life in the 1890s. It then...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Refugees from the Caribbean: Cuban and Haitian “Boat People”
Should refugees fleeing poverty be allowed the same entrance into the United States as those fleeing persecution? High schoolers read about US foreign policy in the late 20th century regarding refugees from Cuba and Haiti, and engage in...
Tennessee State Museum
Deciphering the Document: Unlocking the Meaning of the Emancipation Proclamation
Help your learners truly understand the Emancipation Proclamation by asking them the put it into their own words. After reading the document out loud to the class, and briefly discussing the legal language, split your class into small...
ProCon
President Ronald Reagan
At 69 years old, Ronald Reagan was the oldest man ever to be elected president in the United States. After reviewing a thorough history of Reagan's presidency, pupils read the main pro and con arguments to determine if he was a good...
Judicial Learning Center
The Judge and the Jury
Unless you are a lawyer, you might not understand just how unrealistic Law and Order and other legal dramas actually are. Here's a great resource to help scholars of criminology gain a more realistic perspective. The lesson outlines the...
Curated OER
World War I - The War Ends
Your class is in for a treat with this outstanding PowerPoint on World War I. The presentation is loaded with facts, maps, important personalities, and discussion questions on the war. Additionally, there is a wonderful video called,...
Curated OER
The Importance of Inauguration Day
As Inauguration Day approaches, prepare your learners by researching the protocol of years past.
Youth Leadership Initiative
Selecting a President: Primaries and Caucuses
What is a party caucus anyway? And what part do caucuses play in the primaries? Everything future voters need to know about the four stages in the presidential selection process is provided by this resource. The 2012 US...
Polk Country Schools
The Death of Abraham Lincoln DBQ
The assassination of Abraham Lincoln was a pivotal moment in American history, but what were the immediate effects throughout the newly unified country? A document-based question focuses on the consequences of the first...
PBS
President Theodore Roosevelt: Foreign Policy Statesman or Bully?
Can a negative perception of a president's foreign policy harm his or her historical legacy? A project that winds the clock back to the date of Theodore Roosevelt's death puts students at the editorial desk of a fictional newspaper....
Curated OER
Preparing for the Lewis and Clark Expedition
Here's a worksheet to help your class envision the Lewis and Clark expedition. Your young historians read a one-page article on the expedition, use context clues and a dictionary to define eight terms from the article and write a...
National Endowment for the Humanities
James Madison: Madison Was There
Madison was there! Scholars go on a journey to discover the person behind the founding father label as they explore James Madison's role in the formation of the United States government. The culmination is a writing assignment and...
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum
Analyzing the Inaugural Address
Get high school historians to step outside their own shoes by responding to JFK's inaugural address from the perspective of a civil rights activist, a soviet diplomat, or a Cuban exile. After a class discussion about the address,...
Classroom Law Project
What does the Constitution say about voting? Constitutional Amendments and the Electoral College
As part of a study of voting rights in the US, class members examine Constitutional amendments connected with voting and the role of the Electoral College in the election process.
Curated OER
Vietnam 1945 - 1975 :The 10,000 Day War
Each phase of the Vietnam War is fully developed and defined in terms of political cause and effect and social action. Phase one covers the onset of the war in 1945 through the French defeat at Dienbienphu. Phase two discusses American...
PBS
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
What rights are guaranteed to students? Do they align with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was approved by the United Nations in 1948? Middle and high schoolers present persuasive arguments about the rights they believe...
New York State Education Department
US History and Government Examination: January 2011
The presidencies of John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, and Ronald Reagan were defined by the Cold War. Using primary source documents and scaffolded analysis questions, pupils explore the effect the Cold War had on these presidencies. A...
Student Handouts
The Cold War: The Truman Doctrine of 1947
What was the Truman administration's position on foreign policy during the Cold War? Class members respond to an excerpt from President Harry S. Truman's "Truman Doctrine" with three questions in the space provided.
Brown University
Following the U.S. Presidential Election
Election years provide the opportunity to evaluate news media as well as the next prospective president. High schoolers read about the same event in several different news sources, varying in type, origin, and political leaning,...
Curated OER
We the People: An American Government Project
Pupils identify key representatives in the legislative and executive branches of the Federal and State governments