What was daily life like for those attending segregated schools in 1925? Modern learners fill out a KWHL chart as they explore historical background and primary source documents about the Laurel Grove School in Fairfax County, Virginia....

Why do we read primary source documents? What can they give us that other writings cannot? Provide your learners with any of the primary sources attached here (there are seven), and have them complete the graphic organizer (which opens...

Students explore the usage of primary sources, what they are and how they originate. Artifacts are compared and contrasted as part of this historical inquiry as questions are formulated and conclusions drawn.

Engage your middle schoolers with Pastor Martin Niemoller's famous poem that begins, "First they came for the communists." Now that you have their attention, send learners to the various work stations you created to have them explore...

A link to a beautiful Animoto presentation is included, giving examples of primary sources that a student might want to contact when doing research. Using the Topaz Internment Camp in Utah as a sample topic, middle schoolers view a slide...

The East LA School walkouts are the focus of a lesson that looks at the importance of an education that honors the culture of all learners. Class members watch videos and read an article on the LA student demands to gather background...

Show your school spirit! Class members use instruments or sing along and employ what they have learned in the two previous lessons to perform their school's songs.

Students analyze and compare various primary source documents. They formulate historical questions based on the documents.

Examine the re-segregation of public schools in a thought-provoking resource. Young scholars read articles and primary sources, complete worksheets, and watch a video to explore the idea that desegregation made schools more segregated....

Students break into groups and closely investigate primary sources associated with the seven different continents. After deciding which continent their primary sources relate to, representatives from each group present their...

Pledge your loyalty to the king and the Stamp Act or sign an oath against the tax. After simulating an in-class tax for school supplies, young historians consider the reasons for the Stamp Act and similar colonial policies. The...

Primary learners complete pre reading, writing, during reading, and interdisciplinary activities for the book First Day of School. They will  complete journal entries, answer short answer questions, have discussions, and much...

The right to public education was not always so clear in American history. Readers study several primary and secondary source documents, including property deeds, maps, and photographs, about the founding of local schools during the...

Enhance a unit on historical fiction with an engaging writing lesson. Learners bring the Industrial Era to life as they compose their own historical fiction pieces based on primary source images of Pittsburgh steel workers. 

Your young learners will delve into the language of primary source documents in order to identify the characteristics, benefits, and costs of nonviolence. The lesson includes a mix of activities, including an anticipatory activity,...

Students explore color recognition through mixing the primary and secondary colors together. They color in an online rainbow using primary and secondary colors, identify the colors on a color mixing poster, then mix the colors using...

Despite how it sounds, Boston's busing crisis wasn't a transportation problem. Academics address the problems faced by African Americans following school desegregation and the struggle to receive equal educational opportunities. Scholars...

Native American Nations ... sovereign entities or removable tribes? A thought-provoking lesson explores the relationship between Native American tribes and the United States, including forced assimilation and removal from their ancestral...

Research famous figures from history through the primary sources they created! Explore how these types of documents can enrich our study of the past with your middle and high school learners. They create picture books to illustrate...

What does it mean to be American? Explore the constitution and what it really means to be a citizen here. First, learners of all ages will investigate different primary source documents. Then, they establish each document's...

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...

The book If You Take a Mouse to School is sweet, enjoyable, and so fun to read. Little learners hear the tale of Mr. Mouse and all the trouble he causes. They discuss the book as a large group and then split up into smaller groups to use...

What was life like for enslaved and free black people before the American Civil War? Explore the building tension between states and the freedom of individuals with a thorough social studies lesson. Learners of all ages explore...

Prompt your class with the following question: What was the status of American Indians in Massachusetts during Jackson's presidency? To answer this question, class members will read a series of primary source documents (attached),...