Activity
Digital Public Library of America

Ida B. Wells and Anti-Lynching Activism

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
A packet of 13 primary sources provides young historians with insight into the anti-lynching activism of civil rights Ida B. Wells. Included are images of Wells, her letters, a political cartoon, newspaper lynching announcements, and a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Primary Sources and Protagonists: A Native American Literature Unit

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Introduce your middle schoolers to the lives of past Native Americans. First, learners work together to put photographs in a sequence. Then, using their sequence, they create stories to share with the whole class. No matter how old your...
Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Show and Tell Museum - Investigating Primary Sources: Read and Interpret Primary Sources

For Teachers 3rd
Scholars become detectives in a lesson that focuses on primary sources. Learners practice their observational skills by examining the teacher's artifact and visiting the Show and Tell Museum that highlihgts items from peers and...
Activity
Digital Public Library of America

The Fifteenth Amendment

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Fifteen primary sources provide a context for a study of the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The packet captures the excitement for the changes promised by the amendment as well as the backlash against it.
Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Examining The Boston Massacre Through Primary Sources

For Teachers 5th
The Boston Massacre is the focus of a lesson that explores primary sources. Scholars examine two primary source images and discuss the different perspectives on the historical event. After groups read a researched account, they perform a...
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Mid-Unit Assessment: Classifying and Evaluating Primary Sources

For Teachers 8th Standards
Let's take a walk—a gallery walk. Scholars complete a mid-unit assessment relating to Unbroken by taking a gallery walk to view the various primary source mediums. They then use organizers to select three sources and respond to...
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Mid-Unit Assessment: Classifying and Evaluating Primary Sources

For Teachers 8th Standards
Let's go for a walk. Learners complete the mid-unit assessment by completing a gallery walk to analyze different primary sources discussed while reading A Mighty Long Way. After viewing the sources, class members complete organizers and...
Worksheet
2
2
Humanities Texas

Primary Source Worksheet: Excerpt from Reagan's Speech to the National Association of Evangelicals

For Students 8th - 11th
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...
Worksheet
2
2
Humanities Texas

Primary Source Worksheet: Abraham Lincoln, Letter to Horace Greeley

For Students 8th - 11th Standards
Through close analysis of a primary source document and discussion questions, learners gain great insight into how Abraham Lincoln viewed his duties as president of the United States, as well as his response to those who criticized...
Worksheet
2
2
Humanities Texas

Primary Source Worksheet: Ronald Reagan, Excerpt from Reagan's First Inaugural Address

For Students 8th - 11th
A key challenge in teaching kids how to read informational text, particularly primary source documents, is finding suitable resources and then developing questions that guide readers. Never fear, help is here in the form of a series...
Lesson Plan
Anti-Defamation League

Analyzing Primary Source Documents to Understand U.S. Expansionism and 19th Century U.S.-Indian Relations

For Teachers 11th - 12th Standards
Historical events can be viewed from multiple perspectives. This simple truth is brought home in a lesson that examines primary source documents related to the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the Doctrine of Discovery and Manifest Destiny,...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Digging Up Artifacts On Line

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Why is it important to preserve historical documents and artifacts? Examine the role of primary source documents and the availability of these documents on the Internet. Middle and high schoolers write a journal about the nature of...
Lesson Plan
Library of Congress

To Kill A Mockingbird: A Historical Perspective

For Teachers 6th - 12th
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.
Lesson Plan
1
1
Curated OER

Teaching With Documents: U.S. Constitution Workshop

For Teachers 4th - 12th
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Create a Magic Lantern Show; Freed People in the Reconstruction South

For Teachers 8th - 11th
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Neighborhood or Slum? Snapshots of Five Points: 1827-1867

For Teachers 9th - 11th
How has your local neighborhood changed throughout recent history? Young researchers evaluate census data, images, and primary source descriptions describing the living situation in the antebellum Five Points neighborhood. They consider...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Exploring the Irish in America Through Found Poetry

For Teachers 7th - 9th
What was life like for Irish immigrants settling in America during the late 1800's? Learners examine primary source documents, such as lyrics, poems, and letters, to understand the immigrant experience. They then use those primary source...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Primary and Secondary Sources - 7th

For Teachers 7th - 9th
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...
Lesson Plan
Syracuse University

Civil War

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
What was it like to enlist as a soldier in the Civil War? By using enlistment papers, young scholars consider this question. After they've looked at the primary source and discussed it, they create a short story of a fictional soldier to...
Lesson Plan
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media

Labor Unions in an Industrializing U.S.

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Have class members eager to enter the workforce? They'll be glad to learn that things aren't how they used to be. Have your young historians examine then discuss four primary source images related to the negative effects of...
Interactive
Annenberg Foundation

Balancing Sources

For Students 6th - 12th Standards
Pupils turn into investigative reporters throughout history to learn what it takes to balance different primary sources on the same topic. They use what they learn to create a narrative based on their own interpretation of a historic...
Lesson Plan
Center for History Education

How Did the Public View Women’s Contributions to the Revolutionary War Effort?

For Teachers 3rd - 5th Standards
Calling upon the legacies of Joan of Arc, Elizabeth I, and Catherine the Great, Esther Reed rallied Southern women to support the American Revolution. Using a broadside by Reed and other primary sources, such as poetry, young historians...
Lesson Plan
National WWII Museum

What It Takes to Win: Mapping Primary Source Evidence

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
World War II was not just waged in Europe and Asia; the home front was key to Allied victory. Using newspaper clippings from World War II and a map, scholars plot out wartime production in the United States. After that, class members...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Iran Hostage Crisis: Reading Primary Documents

For Teachers 8th - 12th
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...

Other popular searches