Simon & Schuster
A Teacher's Guide to 1776 by David McCullough
David McCullough's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, 1776, is the focus of a 28-page teacher's guide. The guide includes pre-reading questions, background information about key British and American figures, and chapter-by-chapter lessons.
Smithsonian Institution
Barn Again! Celebrating an American Icon
How do barns serve as a window to a community's past? Here are a series of lessons on the symbolism and historical context of barns throughout American history. Topics include community-building, in-depth primary and secondary...
Virginia Department of Education
World History and Geography to 1500 A.D.
Here's a great resource for your curriculum library. The 240-page packet, organized into units by topics, includes sample lesson plans, links to primary and secondary source documents, worksheets, activities, and sample assessments.
PBS
Elizabeth Cady Stanton: Orator, Author, and Activist
Have you ever felt like your opinion doesn't count? Scholars research and analyze the impact Elizabeth Cady Stanton had on women's rights. Primary and secondary sources as well as video clips give individuals a clear picture of Stanton's...
Curated OER
Students as Historians: Investigating the Gulf War
Sixth graders investigate the Gulf War using primary and secondary sources. Students research using a variety of sources including the internet.
Curated OER
Reporting on the 1920s
Use this roaring 1920s history lesson to have young writers research primary and secondary sources. They use their research to examine the events or famous public figures of the time period. Next, they imagine they're in the 1920s and...
Curated OER
Olaudah Equiano
Eighth graders describe in detail a time in their life when they were the most afraid, causes of the fear and how they overcame it. This experience is compared/contrasted to the actual circumstances behind slave auction blocks. They read...
Curated OER
Ft. St. Louis: A Do-It-Yourself History
Seventh graders explore Fort St. Louis. In this Texas history lesson, 7th graders research Internet and print sources regarding the history of fort and the settlement. Students use their research findings to create illustrated books...
National History Day
“War Is Hell. We Know it Now.” American Soldiers in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive
Understanding the soldier's experiences during World War I sometimes takes a newscast. Learners see the importance of understanding multiple points of view with a newscast project surrounding the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. Compare and...
Curated OER
What Can We Learn From the Past?
What would future archeologists learn from your scholars' personal belongings? Have them bring in a box of "primary sources" from their home. Discuss the difference between observations and inference, using some of your own items to...
PBS
Standing Up Against Injustice
“Sometimes things are lawful yet are actually wrong.” Researchers examine primary and secondary source materials as they study five legal cases involving civil rights attorney William Kunstler in which he attempted to use the legal...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Strange Fruit: Lynching in America
To continue their study of the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the beginning of the civil rights movement, class members watch the YouTube video of Billie Holiday singing "Strange Fruit" as an introduction to an examination of...
Harry S. Truman Library & Museum
Marshall Plan: Convince the American People
This is an excellent resource for US history classes, especially AP history. After learning some background on the Marshall Plan, the class, divided into two groups, researches opposing positions on this aid program. Groups read and...
Curated OER
But Where Is It On This Modern Map? A problem-solving, mind-boggling experience!
Trace Columbus' voyages by locating them on 21st Century maps. Using a navigators lesson, 4th graders will examine the Age of Exploration and trace Columbus's routes accurately on laminated world maps using different maps. Note:...
Curated OER
Creating a Primary Source Archive: All History Is Local
Students explore personal, local, state, and national history. In this historiography lesson, students search the Library of Congress digital collections for primary sources regarding their family histories framed in local, state, and...
Smithsonian Institution
The Suffragist: Educator's Guide for Classroom Video
Class members take on the role of historical investigators to determine why it took 40 years for women in the United States to get the right to vote. Sleuths view videos and analyze primary sources and images to gather evidence to answer...
University of California
Jewish Holidays
Modern Jewish holidays have ancient roots with many connections to today. Using photographs of primary sources, such as fragments of a shofar, as well as texts, such as the Hebrew Tanakh, learners explore how Jewish holidays reflect...
Curated OER
Gift to the Future
Seventh graders examine the different ways that primary sources are reserved. In this Social Studies lesson, 7th graders analyze documents and photographs. Students watch video clips and answer questions on a graphic organizer.
University of Chicago
Women and Family in the Islamic World
How does the Qur'an detail the role of women? What modern social issues are linked to Islamic law? Address these questions with your young historians through close analysis of primary and secondary source documents.
Curated OER
Citing Sources
Students explore the purpose and requirements for a bibliography. They examine where to find bibliographic information in a variety of print and non-print sources on an assigned topic. Students prepare a bibliography online using a...
Curated OER
Citing Sources
Practice citation skills with this activity, which takes learners to the Library/Media center. There, they will view a Powerpoint presentation and practice collecting data in both print and non-print sources. All necessary materials are...
Curated OER
Be a Sourceerer's Apprentice
Students examine and discuss various primary and secondary sources. They bring in an example of a primary source, explain how it is a primary source, and complete a worksheet about interviewing a primary source.
Curated OER
Using Pictures to Read the Past
Students use primary and secondary sources, using the Internet and other media.
Curated OER
Cabeza de Vaca Meets the Coahuiltecans
Students examine the difference between primary and secondary sources by examining the journal of Cabeza de Vaca and creating a poster about the Coahuitecan Indian groups. They portray a scene of the groups in 16th Century south Texas.