Primary and Secondary Sources Teacher Resources

The mission statement of the National Museum of American History’s Becoming US: Teaching Immigration and Migration History in the 21st Century series is to provide “educational resources for high school teachers and students to learn...

The writings of a French diplomat and political philosopher, Alexis de Tocqueville, offer young scholars much to think about. In the three-lesson unit, class members examine Tocqueville’s arguments about the power of the majority and...

The year is 2777. Fifth graders, as delegates, are tasked with drafting a new Constitution for the United States. They begin the process by reflecting on the meaning of democracy. They examine the principles of the current Constitution,...

Two lessons comprise "The Jungle, Muckrakers, and Teddy Roosevelt" unit module that asks middle schoolers to consider whether investigative journalism is beneficial or detrimental. The lessons focus on the evidence Upton Sinclair used to...

With all the hyperbole of an election year, it can be difficult to find the facts, just the facts about candidates, issues, and ballot measures. Young political scientists, with the help of 21 resources from a nonpartisan, information...

His Soul Goes Marching On: The Life and Legacy of John Brown looks at an event that became an important part of United States history. The seven resources cover the raid, John Brown's life, his reactions to the event, as well as news...

Young historians examine song lyrics and slave narratives to uncover the realities of life for enslaved people. The six-lesson unit looks at the way enslaved people used music to provide hope, as well as to fight against oppression....

How does Gabriel Garcia Marquez make the magical elements in his novel One Hundred Years of Solitude seem real? That is the essential question for readers of his acclaimed novel to tackle in a three-lesson unit module. Scholars begin by...

Benjamin Franklin, statesman, inventor, President is the subject of a collection targeting young historians. The interdisciplinary lesson plans were originally designed to accompany the 2018 international traveling exhibition, “Benjamin...

The tangled web of the United States’ diplomatic alliances and foreign policy during the French Revolution comes under scrutiny in a three-resource collection. Young historians examine how Great Britain and France challenged both the...

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...

A three-lesson unit provides middle schoolers with the founding fathers' vision of what they saw as the role of the president and the executive branch of the government. Young scholars examine the Articles of Confederation, Alexander...

The “Grand Alliance” between the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union was established during World War II to counter the aggression of German and Japan. A four-resource collection looks at the differences in the members’...

Frederick Douglass's autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself, is the anchor text in a four-lesson unit module. High schoolers analyze how Douglass uses literary devices and...

Ovid’s The Metamorphoses is the anchor text in a three-lesson unit module that asks readers to compare how Ovid recounts the creation story with how it is presented in the Book of Genesis, how point of view affects the meaning of the...

A two-part lesson examines the works and biographies of Edgar Allan Poe and Ambrose Bierce. Part One focuses on the authors’ narrators and asks readers to consider whether the narrators of “A Tell-Tale Heart” and “Occurrence at Owl Creek...

Analyzing primary and secondary sources is a necessary skill for students to attain, and can be learned through interesting activities.