Foreign Policy Research Institute
Project Terrorism
If you're looking for possible topics related to terrorism, or a list of online sources of information, you may want to take a look at this resource. However, it is too under-developed to be useful without additional work. The...
Smithsonian Institution
POWs
Why did Vietnam POWs and their families receive more media attention than POWs in previous wars? To answer this question, class members view artifacts, read articles, and engage in class discussion. Individuals then assume the...
Library of Congress
Child Labor in America
Students investigate child labor during the Great Depression. In this US policy lesson, students evaluate multiple layers of the social, economic, and political affects of policy during the Great Depression. Students will engage in 5...
Curated OER
Ka'ianaa'ahu'ulu: A Leader of Hawai'i
Learners evaluate leadership traits in 18th century Hawai'i and modern times. In this leadership skills lesson, students identify leadership traits and read the story of Ka’iana. Learners monitor the leadership activities of a partner...
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum
Analyzing the Inaugural Address
Get high school historians to step outside their own shoes by responding to JFK's inaugural address from the perspective of a civil rights activist, a soviet diplomat, or a Cuban exile. After a class discussion about the address,...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Birmingham, Fall 1963
Can any good come from acts of evil? The 1963 bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, and the eventual outcomes of the tragedy, are the focus of a lesson that asks groups to examine primary source documents...
Curated OER
Integrated Lesson Plan
An ambitious and engaging lesson on the Westward Movement for your students to enjoy! Groups of learners rotate between learning tasks such as learning about the Chislom Trail, Lewis and Clark, and the Gold Rush. A WebQuest is also...
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum
Military Advisers in Vietnam: 1963
How did the beginning of the Vietnam War factor into the Cold War with the Soviet Union? As part of a study of American involvement in Vietnam, class members read a letter address to President Kennedy and his response in which...
Curated OER
Cartoons for the Classroom: Herblock at 100
In celebration of renowned cartoonist Herb Block's Library of Congress exhibition, this handout includes 2 of his famous political cartoons for scholars to analyze. Background information describes "Herblock's" career, and talking points...
Denver Art Museum
Tea Gathering Quick-Write
Japanese tea gatherings are the inspiration for a great lesson. Learners are provided with an image of a tea caddy made for thick tea and asked to describe what they notice and what that might mean. This leads into a larger lesson about...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Yellow Journalism
What role did yellow journalism play in bringing the United States into war with Spain? As part of their study of the Spanish-American War, class groups examine newspapers of the times and other texts and then produce their own...
Curated OER
The Black Death and HIV/AIDS: Which is the Worse Plague?
Exploring the similarities and differences between the Black Death and HIV/AIDS, students write persuasive essays answering which is the "worse plague." This cross-curricular activity between Language Arts and Social Studies addresses...
Curated OER
Teaching With Documents Lesson Plan: "A Date Which Will Live in Infamy"
Your class examines F.D.R.'s speech for examples of repetition, alliteration, emotionally charged words, etc. They listen to the speech and interview a person who heard it delivered. They finish by writing an article about the experience.
Curated OER
Can Diseases be Prevented?
High schoolers write a research paper on a disease based on their internet or library research. They are asked to create a Public Service Announcement. Students must comprehend as much as possible about diseases that have affected...
Curated OER
It's a Matter of Consent: Considering a Patient's Rights.
High schoolers create a Patient's Rights Charter after discussions of past experiments with such rights charters using the biographical posters in order to stimulate discussions on current attempts to create a Patient's Rights Charter....
University of Northern Iowa
Clothing
As part of an investigation of the folk traditions of their area, class members research the articles of clothing worn at earlier times, the fibers and materials, and the machinery used to produce these items. In addition, class...
Curated OER
A Poster is Worth a Thousand Words
Students list observations of PSA posters. They provide evidence/examples of their observations through class discussion. Students explore public health posters. They investigate historical public health campaign posters.
Curated OER
Lesser Known Influences of the Pacific Northwest
Students engage in research about the development of the Pacific Northwest using specific individuals to emphasize different racial and gender influences in the 1800's. The research method that is used is inquiry based.
Curated OER
Lesson #3: Internet Map Activity
Young scholars label assembly centers and relocation camps on a given map of the United States in order to create a better understanding of the relocation experience of Japanese-American citizens and the distance that families had to...
Curated OER
Evaluation Essay
Students write an essay about previous studied lessons that is applied to the Japanese American experience. They have to role play being a Caucasian, or Nisei in California at a given time based on what they have studied. What would...
Curated OER
The Lewis and Clark Expedition
Learners discuss their prior knowledge of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Using the internet, they research the personal, political and economic influences that made an impact on the expedition. They also discover how the expedition...
Curated OER
Mississippi Delta Blues Moves: Second in a Series of Three with Barb Hoffman and Steve Hoskins, MGM
Students complete a graphic organizer reviewing Barb Hoffman's prior lesson," Slave Songs (1840-1876)" as well as listen to and discuss Delta Blues music samples. Students research one Delta Blues singer and write a "color coded"...
Curated OER
True Settlers of the Pacific Northwest: Who was there with Dr. John Mcloughlin?
Students discover who was present when the city of Vancouver was founded. Using the internet, they research the various cultures of the area and which were present at the Hudson Bay Company. They discuss each person's role in how the...
Curated OER
My How Things Have Changed
Eighth graders discuss the impact geography had on hunter-gatherer societies, their toolmaking. They work in groups to create a Web page that links pictures of artifacts to explanations about what the artifact tell us about the lives of...