Curated OER
African Americans and the Move West
Students examine the phases of westward migration in the United States during the 19th century focusing on the incentives that led many African Americans to make the move.
Curated OER
Separate is Not Equal: Brown v. Board of Education
Pupils analyze photographs that feature segregation. In this human rights activity, students examine photographs of a segregated movie theater, a Ku Klux Klan gathering, a segregated business sign, and an illustration from "Harper's...
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Jazz in America
Students learn where Jazz came from and why it is an important part of America's history.
Curated OER
Race and Representation
Students consider race and representation. In this voting rights lesson, students listen to their instructor lecture on the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Georgia congressional districts, and North Carolina voting districts. Students respond...
Curated OER
What Happened to Slaves When their Owners Died?
Learners analyze last and testaments of former slaveowners to identify and explain economic, social and cultural differences between the North and the South leading up to the Civil War.
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What was life like for African Americans after the Reconstruction?
High schoolers examine the origins and effects of Jim Crow laws and how specific legislation supported segregation. The lesson provides foundational, historical background for unit on the media's role in the social justice campaign of...
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Runaway Slaves, An American Experience
Sixth graders explore, analyze and study how one's personal experiences impact one's perspective and actions. They interpret ideas and events of slavery from the different perspectives of an abolitionist, slave owner, United States...
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Civil Rights
Students study the social and political events in Virginia linked to desegregation and massive resistance and their relationship to national history. They examine the "Jim Crow" laws and how they affected the lives of African Americans...
National First Ladies' Library
The Education of Freedmen...and Women and Children
Pupils examine political debate surrounding Freedmen's Bureau, use primary sources to explore trials and successes of effort to educate newly-freed slaves of all ages, research reasons for creation of Freedmen's Bureau, discuss President...
Curated OER
The Uprising of 1934
Students complete a series of activities such as wriing letters to the president, creating collages, analysing photos and newspapers, and journaling related to the strike of 1934.
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An Act of Courage, The Arrest Records of Rosa Parks
Young scholars research accounts on Rosa Parks and look for differences between the modern form and an older report on Parks. They discuss why information about race and nationality are collected on these and other forms.
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Primary Source Adventures: Runaway Slaves Lesson Plan
Fourth graders examine social changes in Texas during last half of ninteenth century relating to the institution of slavery. They brainstorm methods that unhappy slaves may have used to avoid obeying their masters, and read and discuss...
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Sanctuary: Quail Island Banks
Students explore visual arts by examining a diorama in class. In this geography lesson, students examine an island off the coast of New Zealand and identify the physical attributes of the land. Students answer study questions...
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Fugitive from Labor Cases: Henry Garnett (1850) and Moses Honner (1860)
High schoolers engage in the comparison of cases which demonstrate the increasingly volatile political crisis in the 1850s arising over the issue of slavery and the necessity for the enactment of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to...
Curated OER
20th Century Civil Disobedience
Young scholars write from varying perspectives in the American South about the civil rights movements in the 1950s. In this civics lesson, students view video clips and take notes. Young scholars discuss the film and listen to a lecture...
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Bloodstain Pattern Simulations: A Physical Analysis
High schoolers receive bloodstain pattern evidence from a crime scene. They answer a series of questions through inquiry, observation, measurement, and analysis. Pupils complete this challenge, by reconstructing the evidence through four...
Curated OER
Debate - Election of 1876
Eleventh graders examine how Rutherford Hayes should be elected President of United States in order for the Union to continue effective Reconstruction.
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SC Populations Along Major Interstates
Students examine the population among the interstates in South Carolina. Using the internet, they identify the counties and roads and compare it with their own drawing.
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Discovering the Past/Considering the Future: Lessons from the Eastern Shore
Students study how the Freedmen's Bureau improved the living conditions among blacks on Maryland's Eastern Shore. They examine Social, Political, and Economic improvements and answer questions.
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Unionism versus Secessionism in Virginia
Eleventh graders, in groups, analyze newspaper articles and then debate and discuss if Virginia should succeed from the Union or not.
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Institutional Study: Jim Crow Laws
In this sociology topics instructional activity, students read and complete the narrative for the assignment that requires them to compose papers about Jim Crow laws.
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Before Rosa Parks: Ida B. Wells
The contributions of Ida B. Wells to the Civil Rights Movement are the focus of this social studies lesson. Middle schoolers read a handout regarding Wells, discuss the handout, and write about non-conformist behavior.
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Why Archaeologists Dig Square Holes
Students examine how archaeologists establish and maintain the context of artifacts. They interpret a plan view of an archaeological site and explain the importance of the grid system.
Curated OER
Railroads in Virginia
Pupils decscribe the importance of railroads, new industries, and the growth of cities to Virginia's economic development. They locate on a map the small towns and cities that grew because of the railroads and create a flow chart showing...