Eras in American History Teacher Resources
Find Eras in American History lesson plans and worksheets
Showing 1 - 24 of 1,311 resources
Lesson Planet
The Reconstruction Era and The Fragility of Democracy
Seven lessons examine the Reconstruction Era that followed the United States Civil War. The series of detailed lessons provide background information on the era, teaching strategies, videos, and primary source materials.
Lesson Planet
Black Americans in Congress
Seven lessons make up a unit on African-Americans who served in the United States Congress from 1870 to 2007. Young historians read contextual essays, engage in activities, examine primary source images, and artifacts to gain an...
Lesson Planet
Center for Civic Education: Black History Month
Six lesson plans in the Black History Month collection introduce middle and high schoolers to nonviolent actions as a means to resist oppression and encourage reform. Lessons look at the Children’s March, music, and citizenship schools...
Lesson Planet
Middle School World History
A 22-lesson Middle School World History unit uses a unique problem-solving approach to teach tweens economic history. After reading articles that provide background information, pupils engage in activities and simulations that require...
Lesson Planet
History Blueprint: The Civil War
Northerners, Southerners, and abolitionists all had a different perspective on the American Civil War. To understand these different points of view, class members analyze primary documents including speeches by Abraham Lincoln, the...
Lesson Planet
Reconstruction: America After the Civil War
Excerpts from Reconstruction: America After the Civil War, Henry Louis Gates Jr.’s documentary series provide young historians with insight into the struggles the country faced in the years after the Civil war. Viewers learn about the...
Lesson Planet
C-SPAN Classroom: Middle School Civics
Introduce middle schoolers to the roles and powers of the three branches of the United States government, with the 21 resources in the C-SPAN Civics collection. Sorted into the legislative branch, the executive branch, and the judicial...
Lesson Planet
The Civil Rights Movement: Grades 6-8
From Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X to Rosa Parks and Muhammad Ali, the Civil Rights Movement united African Americans in a struggle for quality. Including an array of lesson plans, presentations, videos, activities, and...
Lesson Planet
Hidden Stories: A Three-Part Lesson in African-American History, Research, and Children’s Literature
Groups of high school learners conduct research on a particular era of African-American history, focusing on events, people, and places important to that era. Next, they review children's literature in four different genres. As a...
Lesson Planet
The Fabric of History
African-American history is an integral part of what America is. Learners examine important events, read informational texts, and create quilts depicting specific eras in African-American history. Each image created for the quilt will be...
Lesson Planet
US History Overview 2 - Reconstruction to the Great Depression
Ambitiously spanning American history from 1865 to 1941, this video discusses and clarifies topics such as women's suffrage, the sinking of the Maine, and the development of America as a world empire. Maps and photographs will engage...
Lesson Planet
The Federalist Era ( 1789-1800)
Focus on early American history with this set of 14 short answer questions, all related to the Federalist Era. George Washington, James Madison, and the US Constitution, what could be better than that?
Lesson Planet
The Jim Crow Era
Students examine how African-Americans were affected by the Great Depression. In this African-American history activity, students conduct independent research on the social conditions of the time period using the suggested resources....
Lesson Planet
After Reconstruction: Problems of African Americans
Students describe issues or problems facing African Americans following Reconstruction. They explain possible solutions to these problems suggested in the sources you find, and cite arguments for and against these solutions.
Lesson Planet
Reliving History through Slave Narratives
Helpful for an American literature or history unit, this lesson prompts middle schoolers to examine slavery in the United States. They read slave narratives that were part of the Federal Writers' Project and then conduct their own...
Lesson Planet
American History Test Prep
To be used with middle or high school US history classes, this tool provides three different methods of reviewing for a chapter or unit exam. Read the highlights of selected topics, study virtual flashcards, or take a review quiz.
Lesson Planet
America's History in the Making: Classroom Applications Three
How can primary sources bring history to life? Scholars create detailed lesson plans on the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in American history. The 17th installment of a 22-part program exploring American history examines...
Lesson Planet
US History Summer Instructional Packet
Can you boil the historical, cultural, and political events and movements from the last 150 years into a descriptive study guide? You don't have to—it's right here! A thorough resource includes informative text, discussion questions,...
Lesson Planet
African American History: Climbing the Wall
Imagine the challenge of trying to trace your family genealogy if no records were kept of births and deaths. Where would you look for information? What types of documents could provide you with the information you seek? History...
Lesson Planet
History Review: Colonial America
Explore key moments in American history with the click of a mouse! Learners read 50 questions from different eras in early America, and watch the rest of the presentation to find more questions to answer.
Lesson Planet
Reconstruction: The 15th Amendment and African American Men in Congress
To escape to freedom, Robert Smalls had to steal a Confederate ship and sail to Union lines. He continued that fight for freedom as one of the first African American representatives in Congress during the Reconstruction era. Learners...
Lesson Planet
Practice Test: Colonialism and the Foundations of American Democracy
Which document introduced the idea of limited government? What is the official beginning of the American Revolution? From the colonial period to the establishment of the Constitution, this assessment includes 40 multiple choice questions...
Lesson Planet
African Americans in the United States Congress During Reconstruction
The Civil Rights Act of 1866, which granted citizenship to all males in the U.S., resulted in the first African Americans to be elected to Congress. Class members research 11 of these men, the challenges they faced, and craft...
Lesson Planet
Billie Holiday's Song "Strange Fruit"
Pupils analyze a variety of primary source materials related to lynching (news articles, letters written to or written by prominent Americans, pamphlets, broadsides, etc.) in order to assess the effectiveness of the anti-lynching...