Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson PlanThe Huexotzinco Codex

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students examine primary sources that include pictographs from Puebla, Mexico. In this Huexotzinco Codex lesson, students perform historical analysis as they investigate the codex as they make inferences and draw conclusions about taxes...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Visions in the Dust: A Child's Perspective of the Dust Bowl

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students examine primary source material of the Depression to correlate the fictional text "Out of the Dust" with actual visual, auditory, and manuscript accounts as found in the American Memory collections.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Indian Boarding Schools

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students research government-run American Indian boarding schools. In this American Indian history lesson plan, students analyze primary documents to develop an understanding of the forced acculturation of American Indians through...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

My Secret War: Lesson 7

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders discuss the cooperation of the civilian population during World War II. In this social studies lesson, 5th graders read My Secret War and complete reflection strips over the reading. Students discuss primary sources.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Most American Thing in America: The Chautauqua

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students explore the Chautauqua movement. In this Pennsylvania history lesson, students use primary documents to explore what the Chautauqua was and how it made a difference in the American way of life.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Dispute Over Slavery in Kansas Territory

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Students analyze primary sources on slavery from Kansas Territory. For this Civil War lesson, students evaluate the antislavery and pro-slavery arguments and summarize key points. Students write a persuasive paper from the antislavery...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Garber Family Letters: Recreating 19th-Century Family

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students interpret primary sources and recreate the story of the Garber family.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

World War II

For Teachers 8th - 9th
Students analyze primary sources (photographs) for evidence of American military technology during WWII. They debate the use of the Atomic Bomb. Students view the Rosenthal image. They discuss the image in detail.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Language and Runaway Slave Ads

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students interpret historical evidence presented in primary resources. In this fugitive slave lesson plan, students research and analyze fugitive slave advertisements from Virginia newspapers.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A State Divided - Maryland in the Civil War Era

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Learners use primary sources to see how Maryland was a divided state during the time leading up to the Civil War. In this Civil War lesson plan, students go over vocabulary, and look at maps that show the division of opinions of people...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sorting the Loyalist Documents

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students organize the Canadian Loyalist primary source documents and add more information to their primary source document concept maps.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Mystery of History - Original Sources

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Pupils examine and discuss the differences between primary and secondary sources. They brainstorm examples of each, locate examples of primary and secondary sources on the Internet, and identify three primary sources from home.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Hoosier Perspective on the March to the Sea: The Diary of William Miller

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders take a closer look at Sherman's March to the Sea. In this American Civil War lesson, 8th graders analyze the diary entries of William Miller. Discussion questions are included with the entries. Students create illustrated...
Worksheet
Curated OER

Women in the WWII Workplace: Propaganda vs. Reality

For Students 8th - 12th
In this propaganda worksheet, students analyze posters of Rosie the Riveter and respond to 4 short answer questions about the poster and World War II realities.
Worksheet
Curated OER

A Midwestern Runaway Remembers the CCC (with text supports)

For Students 8th - 12th
In this Civilian Conservation Corps worksheet, students read a narrative from a member of the corps and then respond to 3 short answer questions based on the narrative.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Education, Design & Empowerment: Part One

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Young scholars 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.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The American Revolution: An Electronic Field Trip

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students examine basic facts of American Revolution, conduct Internet research to explore major events, choose topic and evaluate data, and write letters to or from fictitious person who could have been involved in that event during...
Lesson Plan
National History Day

“War Is Hell. We Know it Now.” American Soldiers in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
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...
Worksheet
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Mr. Roughton

Late Middle Ages Dossiers

For Students 6th - 10th Standards
Young detectives are given the "clues" to investigate whether King John should be remembered as a poor ruler of England, particularly in comparison in King Richard. They analyze historical informational texts and work in...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Individual Responsibility and Resistance During the Holocaust

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students examine what obstacles hinder resistance, what types of resistance are possible and how different individuals resisted Nazi oppression. They examine primary source documents related to the Holocaust and analyze various sources...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Triangular Trade

For Teachers 5th - 7th
This activity has it all, primary source documents, an interactive trade game, clear teacher background information, and sailing to the West Indies chance cards. You will play, trade, and live out the experiences of early colonists in...
Lesson Plan
Alabama Department of Archives and History

Dueling Telegrams: 1963 Verbal Power Play Between Wallace and JFK

For Teachers 11th - 12th Standards
Information, inferences, and innuendos. Text and subtext. Class members examine telegrams exchanged between President John F. Kennedy and Alabama Governor George Wallace, studying both what is stated and what is implied by the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Socratic Seminar on Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Letter From Birmingham Jail

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Key in the struggle to gain the rights of democratic citizenship was the April 1963 arrest of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. for civil disobedience. To deepen their knowledge and understanding of events during the civil rights movement,...
Lesson Plan
iCivics

Tribal Government: High School

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Did you know there are 567 federally recognized American Indian and Native Alaskan tribes and villages in the United States alone? The resource helps break down the complexities of many different tribal societies to explain the concept...