Students investigate call and response singing.  In this fine arts and U.S. history lesson, students listen to several call and response songs that were sung by African-American slaves during the period before the Civil War. ...

Students evaluate Lincoln's impact on American History. In this Civil War instructional activity, students view a film clip of writings about Lincoln. Students take notes and compare how the writings define his legacy. Students write...

Eighth graders interpret historical evidence presented in primary and secondary resources. In this Reconstruction lesson plan, 8th graders research the role of Reconstruction in South Carolina by simulating the environment of East Bay...

Does your class know about the meaning of Memorial Day? Discuss the history of the holiday in this lesson, which prompts elementary and middle schoolers to create word webs of ideas about the holiday. Additionally, they create poems...

Money can't buy happiness, but it can put food on the table and pay the bills. The first of a five-lesson unit teaches pupils about the unemployment rate in 1963 and its relationship with the March on Washington. They learn how to create...

Three presidents, three views on civil rights. Scholars compare the administrations of President Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy to understand how each addressed the issue of civil rights. The lesson uses primary sources and graphic...

What did segregation look like in the beginning of the 20th century? Middle and high schoolers view images of segregated areas, read passages by Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois, and come to conclusions about how the influence of...

An informative resource covers the event of John Brown's Raid, an event that became an important part of West Virginia history. It serves as a standalone and covers the event and John Brown's life in depth using group work, online...

Project Paperclip, the Redstone Arsenal, and the Huntsville Space Center are all featured in a resource that investigates the contributions of Dr. Werner von Brawn and other German scientists to the US space program....

Students decode archaeological artifacts in order to recreate an event, using discarded objects as a model for real-life artifacts. They apply this model to reconstructing historical or literary events from artifacts they create.

Study history through photographs. In this visual arts and history lesson, students learn to analyze photographs to discover details about life during the Civil War era. Students write journal entries as if they are the African-American...

Students are introduced to various time periods in history in which African Americans wrote songs and poetry to cope. In groups, they travel between different stations to listen or read poems and music from the Civil War period, Civil...

Young scholars examine the events of the Civil War. Using the internet, they research one aspect of the war of interest to them. In groups, they create a hyperstudio stack which they present to their classmates showing the information...

Students examine the human cost of war on both sides of the Civil War. Using the internet, they research the role of women on the homefront and the impact the war had on families. They also read the novel "Across Five Aprils" and discuss...

Fifth graders identify the causes and effects of the Civil War. They use Inspiration Software.

Do your historians fully grasp the consequences of being at war? Help them connect past with present through this group research activity, which has students analysing repercussions suffered by citizens of countries in conflict. Students...

Examine the women who contributed to the Civil Rights movement. In groups, children read excerpts of writings from Eloise Greenfield and research the women she mentions using the internet. To end the lesson, they create a timeline of...

I love Faulkner, his experimental style and stream of consciousness are so exciting. Your learners can analyze William Faulkner and his novel, The Sound and the Fury by defining his place in American literary history and exploring...

To gain insight into the American institution of slavery and how African Americans were viewed during this time, groups examine run-away slave ads and slave auction broadsides. Teams use the provided worksheet to record their impressions...

Eighth graders engage in a lesson that is concerned with the Civil War and they conduct research using a variety of resources. The research is used to create the context for class discussion and a possible project as an extension to the...

Students examine different battles of the Civil War. They discuss the proposal to put in slot machines for revenue at the battleground. They examine many key turning points of the war through an interactive program.

The resource, a standalone, shows how news coverage of John Brown's Raid began when the event happened and how that reporting shaped perception in West Virginia history. The resource includes interesting anticipatory discussion...

This, the sixth in a series of 10 related resources, examines the life and works of Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, an African American author, born in 1825, who advocated literacy for both free and enslaved African Americans.

Pupils study different photographers who started the concept of battlefield photography.  In this media lesson learners explore how to "read" a photograph and relate the use of photography during the Civil War to current use...