What Was Said and What Was Not Said?

Scholars study a historical photograph to make predictions of what happened right after the picture was taken. They research a variety of different topics and use primary sources to answer questions about common food, fashion trends, and...

Almost more of a lesson than a worksheet, this particular resource has learners examine different types of historical documents. There is a historical docment embedded in the worksheet that learners study, and they also bring in...

Young historians use the SOAPS (Speaker, Occasion, Audience, Purpose, Subject) method of questioning to determine the historical value of primary source documents. The third in a series of five lessons that model for learners how...

Can we learn a thing or two about history by looking at pictures from the past? As young historians view 2-D and 3-D primary source photographs, they respond to a series of worksheets that guides them toward unveiling clues...

How reliable is a painting of the first Thanksgiving if it was created 300 years after the fact? Learners assess the validity of a primary source image to determine what it can actually reveal about this event. 

Teach the class about the predecessor to Declaration of Independence—the Virginia Declaration of Rights. Using the foundational documents, scholars examine the two writings to consider how they are similar and how they are different. A...

What does it mean to be American? Explore the constitution and what it really means to be a citizen here. First, learners of all ages will investigate different primary source documents. Then, they establish each document's...

What is a KWL chart? Here is a well thought-out lesson that has learners use KWL charts to gain historical perspective. Your class examines primary sources about historical events and identifies what they know, want to know, and,...

Why do we read primary source documents? What can they give us that other writings cannot? Provide your learners with any of the primary sources attached here (there are seven), and have them complete the graphic organizer (which opens...

Travel through Europe with ten-year-old Teddy Roosevelt in this writing activity, which uses the picture book My Tour of Europe: by Teddy Roosevelt, by Ellen Jackson. After reading the book, readers compare it to passages from The...