DocsTeach
Analyzing Evidence of the Pearl Harbor Attack
Don some detective caps and delve into the past to explore the evidence left behind after the attack on Pearl Harbor. An interesting activity uses primary sources to explore how the United States Navy was caught off guard and how the...
Huntington Library
Everyday Life - Exploring the California Missions
Young scholars relive history as they examine primary sources that document everyday life in the California missions. During a class viewing of the included slideshow presentation, children analyze documents, paintings, and...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Reading Primary Sources: Darwin and Wallace
Take your classes back in time. Learners read real historical texts from both Darwin and Wallace as well as an announcement of their findings. Using guiding questions, they make inferences and draw conclusions from the information in the...
Friends of Fort McHenry
Citizens For and Against the War of 1812
Use this exceptional resource to examine the discourse and debate that occurred at the start of the War of 1812 with your class. Learners will first consider their own position on the war in a silent journal writing activity. Then after...
Humanities Texas
A President's Vision: Abraham Lincoln
Invite your learners to take a close look at Abraham Lincoln's presidency through analysis worksheets of several images and primary documents, presented on an educational poster entirely dedicated to this great United States...
Curated OER
Interpreting Primary Sources: Cartoons
In this analyzing primary sources worksheet, students examine 3 political cartoons of their choice and respond to 4 short answer questions regarding each of them.
Curated OER
Can you Prove it?
Tenth graders examine how primary source documents help authors and museum curators interpret historic events. In this social studies lesson, 10th graders research primary source documents. Students create a powerpoint to...
Curated OER
The Minerva Mosaic of the Library of Congress: Taking a Closer Look
Students take a closer look at the Minerva Mosaic. In this primary source analysis instructional activity, students use the provided analysis worksheets to study the Minerva image in the Library of Congress and all that it symbolizes.
Curated OER
Learning From Document - Public Laws
Students research primary sources about the Bracero worker program. In this primary source activity, students investigate two public laws along with other documents to determine if the Bracero worker program was implemented properly....
Curated OER
Forced to Flee: Famine and Plague
Students examine facts about the Irish Potato Famine and explore primary resources, such as newspaper articles, photographs, songs, and poems, related to the famine. Once research is complete, they create a small collage of their...
Library of Congress
Suffragists and Their Tactics
Students research the fight for voting rights. In this women's history lesson plan, students analyze primary sources to develop an understanding of the strategies employed by the suffragists to gain voting rights.
Curated OER
Using Old Maps as Tools to Explore Our World
Students explore historical maps. In this primary source analysis lesson, students uncover the meanings in selected historical maps as they use them to enhance lessons on historical events. Samples for classroom use are provided in this...
Historical Thinking Matters
Rosa Parks: 1 Day Lesson
You've heard of the historical moment when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus, but did you know that some historical accounts disagree on where she sat? Investigate this query with your young historians, and practice...
Library of Congress
Women's Suffrage Movement Across America
An engaging resource provides many primary source materials to inform a study of the Women's Suffrage Movement. Suggestions include building a timeline of the fight, using the documents as the basis of a DBQ, and/or using a Venn...
Crabtree Publishing
The Genius of the Ancients
It is said that necessity is the mother of invention. Fifth graders prove this with help from three lessons that examine how ancient cultures used their needs to drive innovations. In lesson one, pupils identify main ideas and supporting...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Revolution '67, Lesson 2: What Happened in July 1967? How Do We Know?
Even in a world in which dozens of participants and curious onlookers record every controversial event, the basic facts of what happened are often in dispute. Revolution '67, Lesson 2 explores 1967 Newark, New Jersey using an examination...
Curated OER
Current Event Project
One of the best ways to make history relevant and engaging is to analyze current events before they become history! Check out these project guidelines for a current event research paper, outlining the major required sections of...
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
Sarah Green Probate Record
The proof is in the probate record. Much can be learned about history by investigating old, primary source documents. Class members hone their detective skills by examing the 1759 probate record of Sarah Green. Who was this lady? Was she...
Green Hope High School
Close Readings from The Tempest + New World Readings
What was Shakespeare's intent? That is the question at the heart of a summer assignment designed for AP English Literature. Class members focus on five scenes from The Tempest and compare the interactions of Prospero, Caliban,...
Annenberg Foundation
Postwar Tension and Triumph
Go get the American Dream lifestyle! The 19th lesson in a 22-part series exploring American history shows learners the post-WWII economic boom. Using primary sources, photographs, and cartoons, groups discuss their findings and present...
National Endowment for the Humanities
A Journalist’s Report: The Better Vision for Black Americans
After reading a series of primary source documents detailing the teachings of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X, class members craft newspaper columns assessing the strengths and weaknesses of each man's vision, and present their...
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Bacteria and Viruses Have DNA Too
In the 1940s, scientists discovered bacteria conjugation, the process of DNA transfer or bacterial sex. The discovery proved that bacteria and viruses contain DNA and led to a Nobel prize. Interested individuals learn about the...
Curated OER
Adding to the Picture: The 1963 March on Washington
Who do your scholars imagine when they think about the civil rights movement? If only a few faces come to mind, this lesson will expand their concepts of the movement's leaders. Learners examine an image of the 1963 March on Washington,...
Curated OER
President Roosevelt Seeks Feedback on New Deal Programs
In this primary source analysis instructional activity, students analyze a letter from President Roosevelt to clergymen regarding New Deal programs. Students respond to 1 short answer question about the letter.