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...
Facing History and Ourselves
The Legacies of Reconstruction
The final lesson in the seven-resource Reconstruction Era collection examines the legacies of Reconstruction. Class members investigate why the period has been called an "unfinished revolution," "a splendid failure," and "the second...
Teaching Tolerance
Jim Crow as a Form of Racialized Social Control
Just because slavery was illegal doesn't mean it went away ... Jim Crow Laws took its place. An eye-opening lesson focuses on how Jim Crow Laws were used as a form of racial social control against African Americans in the United States....
Facing History and Ourselves
A Contested History
Memories of and interpretations of history change—that's the key takeaway from a lesson that has young historians compare the story of the Reconstruction Era as told by the historians of the Dunning School to the view of scholars today...
Jane Addams Project
Woman Suffrage
Suffragettes, suffragists, and anti-suffragists. A two-day, richly detailed lesson plan has young historians investigate the twentieth-century suffrage movement. Groups examine primary and secondary source materials about Jane Addams and...
Facing History and Ourselves
The World the War Made
The United States Civil War forced Northern and Southern societies, as well as the people who made up those societies, to reconstruct their vision of themselves and their identities. A series of video-based web lessons look at the great...
Facing History and Ourselves
Violence and Backlash
Revolution and counterrevolution. Protest and counter-protest. Collaborators and bystanders. The focus of the fifth resource in the Reconstruction Era and Fragility of Democracy series is on the political violence that followed Radical...
Academy of American Poets
Teach This Poem: "When Fannie Lou Hamer Said" by Mahogany L. Browne
After watching an excerpt from a video of Fannie Lou Hamer's testimony before Congress, pupils do a close reading of Mahogany L. Browne's poem "When Fannie Lou Hamer Said," annotate words and phrases that draw their attention and list...
Curated OER
The Election of Barack Obama 44th President of the United States
High schoolers consider the historic implications of Barack Obama's election. In this election of 2008 lesson, students research Obama's accomplishments and determine how his election signifies the success of the American Civil Rights...
Curated OER
Making Sense of the Employee Free Choice Act
Young scholars examine the Employee Free Choice Act. For this workers' rights lesson, students listen to their instructor present a lecture regarding the details of the legislation. Young scholars work in pairs to discuss questions and...
Curated OER
The Alien and Sedition Acts: Defining American Freedom
Eleventh graders explore the purpose of the Alien and Sedition Acts. In this US History lesson plan, 11th graders analyze primary source documents. Students write an essay using writing prompts.Â
Curated OER
Paul Conrad's Perspective on Civil Rights
 Students review a political cartoon and discuss desegregation. In this cartoon analysis lesson, 11th graders discuss the impact of a political cartoon and its relation to a Supreme Court case. Students read additional information and...
Curated OER
Just a Spoonful of Rights Makes the Responsibility Go 'Round
Students explore the concept of philanthropy. For this service learning lesson, students define rights and responsibilities. Students discuss the role of philanthropy in contributing to the common good. They also review historical...
Curated OER
Playing Chaucer's Pilgrims
Students dress like Chaucer's pilgrims in the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales and act out a skit revealing Chaucer's description of each pilgrim.
Curated OER
Civil Rights Movement in America
Eleventh graders explore the Civil Rights movement as a culmination of history and cultural perspectives developed from the Slave Trade and Reconstruction. They identify leading persons and organizations and their personal philosophy to...
Curated OER
The Patriot Act: What Is the Proper Balance Between National Security and Individual Rights?
Pupils discuss the Patriot Act and are given questions at the end of the lesson to respond to.
Curated OER
Wartime and the Bill of Rights: The Korematsu Case
Students examine the balance between civil liberties and protection. In this national security lesson, students explore the Korematsu case which references the Japanese internment camps of World War II. Students draw comparisons between...
Curated OER
Suffragettes
Young scholars discover details about women's suffrage in Britain. In this women's right instructional activity, students examine a political cartoon that serves as a discussion starter for the suffrage movement in Britain. Young...
Curated OER
Suffragettes 4
Students discover details about women's suffrage in Britain. In this women's rights lesson, students examine "Grace Before Meat,"a political cartoon that serves as a discussion starter, for the suffrage movement in Britain. Students...
Curated OER
Can I Feel Your Pain? A Sculpture Project
Learners conduct research dealing with some aspect of human rights in Latin America. They create a sculpture as a response to an instance of repression that touched them from their research. They give a brief oral report on their country.
Curated OER
Ohio Statehouse History
Fourth graders examine the history of the Ohio Statehouse and order the major historical events in its development. The lesson traces the development from the time of Ohio's vast wilderness to the house's completion in 1861.
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Alabama's 1901 Constitution: What Was at Stake?
Who should be able to vote? As part of a study of the 1901 Alabama Constitution, class members examine primary source document that reveal the reasons the authors gave to support their positions on this question and their assumptions in...
Curated OER
The ADA, the Supreme Court, and Self-Advocacy
Students study the role the Supreme Court plays in laws and decisions that affect individuals with disabilities and examine the policies of the American with Disabilities Act. They draw parallels between policies enacted by the ADA and...
Curated OER
Was Reconstruction a Revolution?
Students interpret historical evidence presented in primary and secondary resources. For this Reconstruction lesson, students research details pertaining to Congress's role in Reconstruction. Students use the provided worksheets to...