Primary and Secondary Sources Teacher Resources
Find Primary and Secondary Sources lesson plans and worksheets
Showing 7,208 resources
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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...
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The Spanish-American War
If you are looking for curriculum on the Spanish-American War, you just hit the jackpot! Find three options for teaching either a one, three, or five-day lessons. Learners consider why the United States invaded Cuba, and use primary...
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A President's Vision: George Washington
Worksheets guide 21st-century learners through an examination of primary source documents related to the presidency of George Washington. The worksheets in the collection allow students to identify the context, meaning, and significance...
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Who Was Really Our First President? A Lost Hero
Three lessons in the series “Lost Heroes of America” unit module send young historians on a quest to determine who was the first president of the United States. To find clues, scholars watch a short video that provides background on how...
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Changes in a Democratic Society
Democracies are not static. To learn more about how the United States form of democratic government has changed over time, class members examine primary and secondary sources, including works of art, and reflect on what these sources...
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A President's Vision: Abraham Lincoln
A seven-resource collection of worksheets ask students to examine letters written by Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, as well as an excerpt from the diary of a Union soldier. After a careful reading of these primary sources, class...
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History Blueprint: The Cold War (US History)
In this well-organized and inquiry-based collection, high schoolers examine primary and secondary source documents and video clips in preparation for an investigation into the Cold War. Scholars analyze its beginnings, the global impact...
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Emmett Till: A Series of Four Lessons
A four-lesson collection, designed to be used with the film, The Murder of Emmett Till, provides the historical context viewers need to understand the implications for the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and 70s as well as today's...
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Crimes Against Humanity and Civilization: The Genocide of the Armenians
Used with the PBS film The Armenian Genocide (Two Cats Productions), the eight lessons in this collection teach high schoolers about the Armenian Genocide. Students use primary and secondary sources to research the history of the Ottoman...
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The Lessons of 1704
The eight lessons in the inquiry-based media literacy unit “The Lessons of 1704” introduce upper elementary scholars to the factors that contributed to the growth of inter-group hostilities among the French, English, and Native Americans...
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History Blueprint: The Cold War (World History)
A five-lesson collection examines the history of the Cold War from a global point of view. World History students analyze primary and secondary source documents, as well as video clips, to investigate the beginnings of the Cold War, its...
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James Madison: From Father of the Constitution to President
James Madison, fourth president of the United States serving from 1809-1817, is the focus of a four-lesson collection that provides high schoolers with the information they need to understand why Madison is considered "The Father of the...
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California Mission Lessons
The California missions were established by the Franciscans with the hope of converting Native Americans to Catholicism. The three lessons in this collection present fourth graders with primary source documents, paintings, and drawings...
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Life in the North and South 1847–1861: Before Brother Fought Brother
A five-resource collection looks at the complex series of events that led to the American Civil War. Using primary source documents, scholars research the social and economic issues that led to the country-fracturing conflict.
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COVID-19 Science Lessons
A pair of presentations from National Geographic examine the science of viruses, the history of worldwide pandemics, and society's response to the COVID-19 crisis. Students first learn about the various types of viruses that exist before...
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Ben Across the Curriculum: High School
Benjamin Franklin: The man, the scientist, the inventor, the statesman, the legend. A 10-lesson collection introduces high schoolers to the many facets of Franklin’s character. Although developed for the International Traveling...
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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...
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Overcoming Obstacles: Service Learning Handbook
Being asked to design and perform a service learning project may seem overwhelming to middle and high school students. The nine lessons in the Service Learning Handbook Module break the process into manageable steps and ask participants...
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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...
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Pearl Harbor Classroom Activities
President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “Day of Infamy” speech is the focus of a seven-lesson series that has young historians researching information about the December 7, 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Using both an audio version of...
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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...
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Becoming Us: Borderlands
Three case studies make up a unit the looks at the power contentions and exchanges in the borderlands that have shaped the United States. The first case study focuses on creating the US southern border and the experiences of people...
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Latinx Rights in 1960s California
The two lessons in the Latinx Rights in 1960s California unit module examine two protests: The East LA school walkouts and the California grape workers strike of 1965-66. The East LA School walkouts lesson plan looks at the importance of...
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Civil War: Activity Pack
The three lessons in the Civil War: Activity Pack collection provide young history detectives with an opportunity to examine artifacts the reveal African-American involvement in the United States Civil War. They watch videos to learn...