Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sectionalism in Early U.S.

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students, divided into three groups, representing the Northeastern, Southern, Western United States. They research these areas in early American history and as a group prepare charts, graphs and reports. They explain their needs and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Oneida Community and Birth Control

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students examine the practice of mail continence in Oneida. They explore the reasons behind the community's practice of limiting births. They discuss the relationship between reproductive freedom and woman's rights.
Lesson Plan
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NPR

This Isn't Right: Women Reform Leaders

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
The 20th century saw many new possibilities open up to women in America, thanks to many well-known female historical figures — and some women who are not as famous but who are equally accomplished. Learn about the women who contributed...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

ANTICIPATORY SET

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students are be able to analyze primary sources (photographs and speeches) and write a definition of American Democracy. They are shown a photograph of Martin Luther King Jr. by Ben Fernandez, students are asked what is happening in the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Connecticut Complicity

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders take a closer look at slavery in Connecticut. In this slavery instructional activity, 11th graders research the contributions of Connecticut residents who spoke out about the issue of slavery. Students take on the...
Unit Plan
Curated OER

The Presidents of Mount Rushmore

For Teachers K
Students understand the importance of Mount Rushmore as a national symbol. In this Mount Rushmore lesson, students locate Mount Rushmore on the map and investigate each of the four Presidents on Mount Rushmore. Students understand how...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Maroon Communities

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students examine political and religious factors that influenced English, Spanish, French, and Dutch colonization of the Americas, how slavery shaped social and economic life in the South after 1800, and elements of slavery during the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Nation of Nations Lesson Plan: Charting African Ethnicities in America

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Pupils read a portion of the narrative, The Transatlantic Slave Trade, to explain the ethnic origins of enslaved Africans brought to the US. They create charts and bar graphs comparing ethnicities in the lowlands and tidewater regions.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Triangular Trade and Middle Passage Review Individual Worksheet

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders explore the key concepts within the Colonization of America, the significance of the Triangular Trade Route, the origin of slavery, and the Middle Passage. After a short discussion and review, 8th graders orally practice...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Early Colonial Labor Force: Indentured Servants and Slaves

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Students study the labor force used during Colonial America. In this Colonial America lesson, students discuss labor types used in the colonies. Students read about indentured servants and the use of African slaves. Students...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

African American Community and Culture

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders explore areas of concern to the African American community in the 1820's.  In this American History instructional activity, 11th graders examine how the establishment of the nations first African American newspaper...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Divided Community

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students work in teams to research the history of African migration and immigration in the U.S. They present their research in a town hall discussion format and then write a paragraph about their experiences.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Building New York

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders examine the role African Americans played in the expansion of New York.  In this American History lesson, 11th graders compare and contrast the images of a wealthy, free black against a black who was poor and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Importance of Religion in Political Life in the 19th Century: Abraham Lincoln's Experience

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders explore the importance of religion in community building in frontier America. They analyze the importance of religion in political life in the 19th century.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Making a Report to President Washington

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Learners gain an understanding of some of the challenges the U.S. faced at its birth. They are asked to compose a report on the state of the nation in 1790 (addressed to President George Washington), which includes a narrative, maps and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Finding Historical Evidence: David Brion Davis

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Students study the Tran-Atlantic Slave Trade and learn to evaluate historical arguments. In this slave trade lesson, students read about the Atlantic Slave System. Students take notes on slave trade and make a timeline for the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Reconstruction

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students explain how the Civil War and Reconstruction both solved and created problems for our nation. They study how Reconstruction caused a further decline in relations between the North & South and how racism has been and is...
Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

“Twelve Years a Slave”: Analyzing Slave Narratives

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Readers of Solomon Northup's brutally frank slave narrative Twelve Years a Slave examine passages that support the argument that slavery "undermined and corrupted" the institution of marriage. Background information is...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Frederick Douglas

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders explore the African Americans resistance to slavery. In this US History lesson, 4th graders read excerpts of a speech by Frederick Douglas.Students develop a position of right or wrong to certain situations within...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Women Won the Right to Vote

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students consider how women gained the right to vote in America. In this suffrage instructional activity, students investigate major events of the suffrage movement and conduct research. Students also role play petitioning to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Slave Narratives

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Students examine the slave perspective and how it differs from stories we hear in text books. In this slave narrative lesson, students use primary source narratives to compare how slave life was expressed by the slaves to how slave life...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Time Marches On

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers discover the times of Colonial America by creating a timeline.  In this U.S. History lesson, students research a teacher-directed website about African Americans in early colonial times.  High schoolers utilize...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Celebrate Colonial Maryland

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students research colonial Maryland. In this colonial Maryland instructional activity, students participate in a WebQuest to investigate how families led their lives long ago. Students compare family and city life from long ago and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Harriet Tubman

For Teachers K - 2nd
Students investigate Harriet Tubman. In this African-American lesson, students read the book A Picture Book of Harriet Tubman and discuss how she was a conductor of the Underground Railroad. Students identify the leadership qualities she...