Slavery or states' rights: What really started the American Civil War? A activity geared towards middle schoolers explores the causes of the Civil War. Scholars view an interactive of the Gathering Storm exhibit online and complete a...

What are we really celebrating on Columbus Day? The resource explores the narrative behind Columbus Day and ways for people to change the perception. Scholars also review vocabulary terms associated with the topic and how attitudes have...

The Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves in the Confederate states. The Thirteenth Amendment banned slavery in the United States. However, neither document defined freedom. The second lesson in the Reconstruction Era series examines...

Radical Reconstruction, the 10-year period referred to after Congress passed the Reconstruction Act of 1867, saw the establishment of manhood suffrage, men voting without any racial qualifications. Southern states also rewrote their...

The firsthand accounts of what it was like to be an enslaved person in the mid-1800s riveted a nation and the issue ultimately led to civil war. Using excerpts from Frederick Douglass's autobiography, budding historians examine what it...

Much of Latin American music owes its origins to the slave trade. Peoples from the Yoruban and Dahomean cultures brought with them the distinctive rhythms, time signatures, and eighth note patterns that now characterize Caribbean music....

The reading of a contextual essay launches a study of Black Americans who served in Congress from 1870 through 1887. Young historians identify the African Americans who served during this period, investigate the ways they won national...

Travel back in time to the Stono Rebellion. Young historians research historical figures who played a role in African Americans' fight to escape slavery. Scholars research material, complete handouts, participate in group discussion, and...

The lesson focuses on slavery in the ancient world and asks academics to decide if it was always about race. Scholars view primary sources, participate in a short discussion, and complete a worksheet to understand how slavery in the...

A worldly resource focuses on the transfer of goods, ideas, and religion that took place as part of the Columbian exchange. Academics view sources such as text and artwork to help them complete a worksheet. 

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper's poem "Learning to Read" is the focus of a lesson that teaches middle schoolers how to do a close reading of a text. The lesson introduces them to a brief biography of the poet, includes a video reading, and...

A student reader shares information about the history of slavery, the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln, women's contributions to the war, the Emancipation Proclamation, and reconstruction.

Students play Lobster Bingo on a provided worksheet. This game demonstrates how human activities and natral events affect lobsters by impacting their food, clean water, and shelter of the reef.

Students explore maps and globes. In this introduction to map and globe concepts lesson, students identify features of physical maps, political maps, and globes. Students locate land and water, and recite a poem about the names of the...

Students read letters written by Evans and Gunton regarding race relations. In this Progressive Movement lesson, students interpret the intentions and tone of the letters to understand contemporary racial beliefs. Students discuss the...

Third graders visit the Rhett-Aiken House and discuss the people who lived there. They compare and contrast the lives of slaves who lived there. They practice using new vocabulary and examine the Gullah language and culture.

Middle schoolers reflect on the biography of General Gadsden.  In this history lesson, students read the biography of General Gadsden then research a specific aspect of the Generals life to complete their own biography pn him.

Students are be able to analyze primary sources (Civil War images) for examples of how soldiers are portrayed historically. They discuss what a hero is and why some individuals are heroes to certain groups while others are not.

Students discover locations of the world's rain forests. Once they identify the animals, plants, products, and resources located in them, they construct they own rain forest terrariums. By comparing and contrasting the two types of...

Students identify propaganda related to World War and discuss its impact on society and research issues related to the American war effort between 1914 and 1918.

Students are asked to match the civil wars with the main dates they were fought. They work in groups and try to match the vocabulary with the definitions. Students work with other groups to pool their knowledge. They are told that they...

Fifth graders appreciate the scope of a Civil War battle. They will see the perspectives of soldiers from both the North and the South.

Students explore the history of bark paintings in South America and produce their own version of these paintings.

Students, in groups, study the Homestead Act. Each group studies a region of the country in the 1840s: the North, the South, and the West. Ask each group to research and write their region's position on the homestead issue.