Students investigate African Americans in aviation. In this primary resources lesson, students examine primary resources to research the history of African American in aviation. Students answer two research questions and write an essay...

Students distinguish between primary and secondary sources when researching on the Internet and evaluating historical records. They recognize important features of a primary source such as the type of document, who created it, what is...

Learners understand primary and secondary colors. In this lesson plan about colors, students explore where colors come from. Learners paint a picture with the primary paint colors that the teacher has created. Students mix the primary...

Young scholars explore the industry involving communication and put communication devices into activities. In this communication lesson plan, students put items into chronological order, review primary sources, compare and contrast...

Students explore primary and secondary sources. In this primary and secondary source lesson, students investigate a crime scene. Students search for evidence around the classroom and evaluate their findings. Students write a crime report...

Eighth graders examine the Mexican War and its outcome through music. In this primary source analysis lesson, 8th graders analyze the lyrics of selected songs to consider the 2 perspectives regarding U.S. involvement in the war. Students...

Students analyze primary sources. In this historical analysis lesson, students will closely examine the household objects that most impact their lives. Students will use research, analysis, and class discussion to draw parallels between...

Students examine their own family heritage and share family stories with the class. They differentiate between primary and secondary sources, and bring in and write about three artifacts from their family. They conduct an interview...

Students consider the connection between poverty and education. In this language arts and social studies lesson plan, students research primary and secondary sources in order to explore the relationship between education and poverty.

In this primary source analysis worksheet, students analyze an interview with a bracero. Students respond to 3 short answer questions based on the interview.

Separate is not equal! An eye-opening lesson delves into the past to understand the fight for desegregation and how it impacted African American communities. Academics complete two one-hour lessons using documents, photographs, and...

Women rose to the challenge when the nation's war effort called them—but were sent home when the GIs came back from World War II. Young historians consider whether the United States valued women's contributions during the war using a...

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...

All of the people in your class would agree that life would be different without the invention of the telephone! Study Alexander Graham Bell's most famous and influential invention through the primary source document of his...

Can history be rewritten? Or, more precisely, is history documented accurately? High school juniors and seniors compare primary source material with secondary sources. For example, they compare President Roosevelt's December 29, 1940...

Does money seem to slip through your middle schoolers' fingers? Encourage them to examine spending, saving, and budgeting habits with a unit on consumer skills and money management. Young spenders study the waste that occurs with school...

As part of a study of the American Revolution, class members engage in an inquiry-based lesson that has them watch a scene from the play Slave Spy, examine multiple primary source documents, and then discuss the similarities and...

Using discussion questions and a poster-creating activity, learners explore how the framework of the Constitution and its Bill of Rights help create safe communities. After listening to a song about the preamble and reading the Bill of...

Why is a letter a better way to learn about a person than a different primary source? Explore Thomas Day's ideas and advice to his daughter in a letter from 1851, which details the struggles of the American South before the Civil War....

What a great way to have your class learn about the lives of children in Victorian England. Learners sharpen their research skills as they study the history of children who worked in England. They choose extension projects to complete.

Young scholars explore the prevalence of racism and statistical segregation in America's schools. They design a project to investigate how the racial makeup of their school compares to other schools. In addition, they evaluate their...

Learners in a Latin class focus on archeology and trade from the Hellenistic period through the Middle Ages. In groups, they read various stages of a primary source documents in which they discuss and answer questions. To end the lesson,...

Ease children's back-to-school jitters with this primary grade lesson based on the book The Kissing Hand by Ruth E. Harper. Starting off with a singing of the song "I Wish I Had a Little Red Box", children go on to discuss and...

Learners use primary sources and timelines to begin a study of school integration; students watch "Nantucket Rock of Changes," and compare the case of Eunice Ross with the story of the Little Rock Nine.