Benjamin Franklin Lesson Ideas

Scholars know him for his role in the American Revolution, but Ben Franklin was also a journalist and printer. Learners investigate his standards for what was fit to print using primary sources—including writings where Franklin explains...

While Benjamin Franklin enjoyed fame and success in colonial Philadelphia, that was not the experience of all coming to the British colonies. Young scholars trace the life of an indentured servant using a scholarly biography and reading...

Fifth graders examine the impact of Benjamin Franklin's ideas on the goods and services available in Colonial America as well as analyze the importance of Franklin to modern society. While listening to "How Ben Franklin Stole the...

Candace Fleming's award winning Ben Franklin's Almanac is the anchor text for a classroom guide that provides teachers with a cache of pre, during, and post-reading activities.

Inventor, astronomer, surveyor, mathematician, clock maker. Learners celebrate the life of Benjamin Banneker by building creative analog clocks, making scale models, and solving problems related to surveying. The activities model the...

Celebrate inventions such as lightning rods, bifocals, and stoves with a Ben Franklin Day. Young historians conduct research and write a paragraph about an accomplishment of Benjamin Franklin including an illustration...

Students cite connections among Franklin's Albany Plan of 1754, his Plan of Confederation of 1775 and the U.S. Constitution and/or the Declaration of Independence. In an essay, they give examples of the philosophical and political...

The New Deal, Fireside Chats, the Arsenal for Democracy, the Four Freedoms. This short video of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the United States, provides viewers with a brief overview of FDR's life and...

A scientist, inventor, entrepreneur, politician, and the founder of a nation—and that's just one person! Learners investigate the many lives of Benjamin Franklin. Using a hands-on interactive online resource, they analyze primary...

The audio of President Franklin Roosevelt's speech regarding Pearl Harbor teaches pupils about the attack and its impact on the United States' involvement in World War II.