Center for History Education
The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire: Is Anyone to be Punished for This?
The stories of bodies falling to the pavement and girls dying in their seats echo to the present day. The New York City Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire—which killed 147 people, mostly young women and girls—galvanized the labor movement...
DocsTeach
The Life of Dwight D. Eisenhower
A captivating activity uses images to help pupils understand the life of President Eisenhower. Scholars put the images in chronological order and read the captions to get a better understanding of the war hero turned president.
Center for History Education
Guatemalan Coup of 1954: How Did the Cold War Influence American Foreign Policy Decisions?
Was it all about the bananas—or the fear of a communist threat? Young historians use a history lab to examine documents from the American-led 1954 Guatemalan coup. Using graphics, government documents, and speeches, they examine the...
American Institute of Physics
The Physical Sciences at Women's Colleges
After a brief introduction to the history of women's colleges in the United States and a discussion of the resistance such institutions faced, young scientists investigate seven traditionally women's colleges and their physics programs....
Anti-Defamation League
Women's Suffrage, Racism, and Intersectionality
The Nineteenth Amendment granted women the right to vote—as long as they were white. High schoolers read articles and essays about racism in the suffrage movement and consider how intersectionality played a role in the movement. Scholars...
DocsTeach
The Amendment Process: Ratifying the 19th Amendment
The process for adding an amendment to the U.S. Constitution is long and arduous, by design. High School historians study a series of documents about the Nineteenth Amendment and, using an interactive program, drag the documents onto a...
Science Geek
Build a Food Web Activity
Entangle your life science class in learning with this collaborative food web activity. Using pictures of the plants and animals native to a particular ecosystem, young biologists work in small groups to construct visual...
Curated OER
Historical Interview Project
Students practice effectively interviewing a subject and then use that interview to create a movie.
Atlanta History Center
Civil Disobedience and the Atlanta Student Movement
What tactics are used in civil disobedience? Learners study the conditions in Alabama that led to the establishment of the Atlanta Student Movement, as well as consider the nature and effectiveness of civil disobedience.
Annenberg Foundation
Industrializing America
Imagine an eight year old spindle boy working barefoot in a factory in the late 1800s. Scholars research the industrial period in American history in the 14th lesson of a 22-part series that explores the country's background. Groups...
US Department of Commerce
Featured Activity: Exploring Questions for the 2020 Census
Just what is the census for? Using data and census questions, class members explore how officials gather information. Then, they consider how the government uses the answers to determine how it spends its money with a collaborative...
College Board
2018 AP® World History Free-Response Questions
How were the development of railroads critical to the rise of empires? Scholars delve into the relationship between the two using a documents-based question from College Board. Other prompts explore ideas such as nomadic and sedentary...
National WWII Museum
Pearl Harbor: Analyzing FDR's Pearl Harbor Address
FDR's words calling the attack on Pearl Harbor a "day in infamy" have been immortalized. Learners use analysis and discussion questions to consider the origins and drafting of the famed speech that brought the United States into World...
Judicial Branch of California
The U.S. Constitution Bill of Rights
Using discussion questions and a poster-creating activity, learners explore how the framework of the Constitution and its Bill of Rights help create safe communities. After listening to a song about the preamble and reading the Bill of...
US Department of Commerce
The Census Questionnaire: Then and Now
As the United States has changed, so has the census! While required by the Constitution, the questions the government asks to allot representation and federal funding has developed over time. Using images of previous censuses, young...
Teaching for Change
Selma in Pictures: Socratic Seminar
Photographs from the freedom movement in Selma, Alabama serve as the basis of two Socratic Seminars. Class members prepare for the seminars by closely observing the images, form a hypothesis, and use evidence from photo to support a...
National Endowment for the Humanities
The Power of the Majority over Thought
While Alexis de Tocqueville mourned a lack of "freedom of discussion" in America in the early republic, today's pupils are concerned about peer pressure. Using excerpts of de Tocqueville's writing and discussion questions, scholars...
Academy of American Poets
Teach This Poem: "Maps" by Yesenia Montilla
After examining a physical map of the world, learners conduct a close reading of Yesenia Montilla's poem "Maps." They note the interesting words and phrases, the way the poem is structured, and list questions they might have. After...
Curated OER
Abigail as Mother (Part 1)
In part one of a two-part series, scholars compare two of Abigail Adams' letters: one to her son and the other to her daughter. Researchers use the provided worksheets to contrast evidence of the tone and themes in the two letters.
EngageNY
Grade 10 ELA Module 3: Unit 2, Lesson 4
Scholars take a close look at evaluating sources and the information that comes from them. Learners review their research plans, use a handout organizer to learn how to take notes, and begin annotating correctly. They practice what they...
National WWII Museum
The War in Europe: Evaluating Historic Decisions
War brings a whole new set of ethical dilemmas. From deciding whether to enlist in a segregated and racist Army to whether to sacrifice civilian lives to prepare for a critical D-Day invasion, leaders during World War II faced many...
Teach Engineering
Energy Perspectives
The data says ... the resource is great to use. Using Microsoft Excel, pupils analyze data from the US Department of Energy in the fifth lesson of a 25-part Energy Systems and Solutions unit. Each group looks at a different data set and...
EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 2, Unit 3, Lesson 13
Using the open-ended discussion questions developed the day before, class members engage in a fishbowl discussion of the three texts that anchor the unit: “True Crime: The Roots of an American Obsession," “How Bernard Madoff Did It,” and...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Edgar Allan Poe, Ambrose Bierce, and the Unreliable Narrator
Stories by Edgar Allan Poe and Ambrose Bierce provide readers with an opportunity to investigate unreliable narrators. The lesson plan begins with an activity about different types of point of view and continues as scholars apply their...