Curated OER
Primary Sources
Materials provided by The Lower East Side Tenement Museum, located in New York City, offer researchers an opportunity to examine primary sources and use these sources to understand the past. Class groups analyze different documents to...
Historical Thinking Matters
Social Security: 5 Day Lesson
Did the New Deal fundamentally shift the role of the American government in the economy? Your class members will examine the interpretations of various historians in answering this question, and use a variety of primary and secondary...
Library of Congress
To Kill A Mockingbird: A Historical Perspective
Students study the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. Through studying primary source materials from American Memory and other online resources, students of all backgrounds study the relationships between blacks and whites.
Curated OER
Create a Magic Lantern Show; Freed People in the Reconstruction South
Engage your scholars by having them create "magic lantern shows" inspired by the film Dr. Toer's Amazing Magic Lantern Show: A Different View of Emancipation. As they study the South's Reconstruction through primary sources, learners...
Curated OER
Understanding and Using Primary and Secondary Sources in History
Explore primary and secondary sources in this historical analysis instructional activity. Young researchers define the terms primary source and secondary source. They read a primary source document provided by the teacher and answer...
Curated OER
Iran Hostage Crisis: Reading Primary Documents
Following brief instruction about the Iran Hostage Crisis during Jimmy Carter's presidency, small groups read three-page sections from the diary of hostage Robert C. Ode. They write editorials from the perspective of either U.S. citizens...
Center for History Education
Women's Rights in the American Century
Today, many young people find it hard to understand why it took over 150 years for women in the United States to get the right to vote—why there was even a need for the suffrage movement. As they read a series of primary source...
C-SPAN
Primary and Secondary Sources: Trailblazers in Congress
Trailblazers forge the path into uncharted territory, they establish a precedent for others to follow. Young historians research trailblazers in Congress using primary and secondary sources to profile outliers that changed the face of...
Curated OER
Communities in Crisis Lesson 1: Primary Source? What is That?
Distinguish between primary and secondary source documents using the theme of philanthropy. Middle schoolers discuss Anne Frank: The Diary of Young Girl as a way to study the past using a primary source. Then they investigate how to...
Civil War Trust
Civil War Photography: Photography as a Primary Source
Can we learn a thing or two about history by looking at pictures from the past? As young historians view 2-D and 3-D primary source photographs, they respond to a series of worksheets that guides them toward unveiling clues about the past.
Council for Economic Education
Business in the Middle Ages: Working in a Guild
Long before modern labor unions, guilds worked to ensure that workers had a fair wage. But, in medieval Europe, they also cooperated with the government. Using a simulation and primary source analysis, young scholars become hatters in...
PBS
Using Primary Sources: The Rogue's Gallery
What would be in your life's scrapbook? Scholars use short video clips, primary and secondary documents, and photos to investigate a 1909 scrapbook. They analyze and uncover what the Rogue Book tells them about the past in Western...
Curated OER
Document Analysis Form: Maryland General Assembly
In this primary source analysis worksheet, students complete a graphic organizer based on Maryland government. The primary source documents are not included.
Curated OER
The Movement Before the Movement: Civil Rights Activism in the 1940s
Many educators focus on the civil rights movement as it occurred after Rosa Parks incited the bus boycott. Extend the understanding of the fight for civil rights in the United States with this post-WWII lesson. Learners examine and...
Historical Thinking Matters
Rosa Parks: 5 Day Lesson
What led to the success of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and how might historians approach this question differently? This rich series of lessons includes a short introductory video clip, analysis of six primary source documents, and...
New York State Education Department
US History and Government Examination: January 2013
While the 1950s seemed to be a time of peace and prosperity, Sputnik, the Korean War, and the Montgomery bus boycott were symptoms of the turmoil that loomed under the surface. Using documents, class members investigate what these events...
City University of New York
Jim Crow and the Fight for Civil Rights
The history of voting rights in America has always been rocky, especially in the time period after the Civil War. Learn about the ways that Jim Crow laws affected the voting rights of African Americans with a lesson featuring primary...
DocsTeach
Challenger Explosion Photograph Analysis
Young historians turn into detectives in a thought-provoking activity on the Challenger Explosion. The activity uses an image of President Reagan watching the Challenger explode on live TV to help academics practice historical analysis....
The Alamo
A Lesson in Citizenship
What does it mean to be an American citizen? Lieutenant Colonel Commander William Barret Travis believed that it meant honor to country first—even above one's own life. Middle and high schoolers read his final letters from the Alamo that...
DocsTeach
Chinese Exclusion Broadside Analysis
Racism against Asian American goes deep in American history. Using a broadside in favor of the Chinese Exclusion Act, class members examine clues—with key portions of the document blacked out—to better understand the roots of anti-Asian...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Lesson 1: The United States Confronts Great Britain, 1793–1796
After the Revolutionary War, the success of the United States was far from guaranteed. Foreign powers coveted the new land, and Great Britain challenged American sovereignty. Learners consider the challenges facing the new nation using...
Mr. Codega
Graphic Organizer: The Declaration of Independence
Help your young historians to analyze and break down the Declaration of Independence with this detailed graphic organizer. After reading the primary source, learners review the document's purpose, ideas about individual rights, major...
Humanities Texas
Primary Source Worksheet: Excerpt from Reagan's Speech to the National Association of Evangelicals
Ronald Reagan's 1983 speech to the National Association of Evangelicals (also know as the "Evil Empire Speech") offers readers with an opportunity to practice their skills at reading informational text, specifically primary source...
Curated OER
The Drafts of the Declaration of Independence
Seventh graders compare drafts of the Declaration of Independence. For this primary source analysis lesson, 7th graders access copies of Thomas Jefferson's original draft of the document and compare it the final document that gave birth...