Social History Teacher Resources

Learners examine the Great Depression. In this oral and social histories instructional activity, students analyze primary sources to develop an understanding of the America in the 1930's.

Take a closer look at "one of the most important periods of American social history: the 1950s," as well as the type of society that the civil rights movement would endeavor to change. This engaging video begins by detailing the era of...

Explore the contributions individuals have made in the lives of American minority groups. Twelfth graders write a five-page expository piece providing a social history, examples of discrimination, and patterns of assimilation for an...

Students learn from their elders. In this oral and social histories lesson, students analyze primary sources to develop an understanding of the America in which their grandparents grew up. Students conduct interviews with elders in...

Art can be a vehicle for social change and cultural expression. Upper graders examine the art of photographer David Goldblatt, as it pertains to apartheid, South Africa, and the AIDS epidemic. Discussion questions and image links are...

High schoolers explore the history of Seoul, South Korea. In this Seoul lesson plan, students read and analyze handouts regarding the political and social history of the city of Seoul. High schoolers collaborate in small groups and...

Learners explore the relationship between a country's political and social history and its position today. They study 8 African countries immersed in the present conflict in Congo. They present their findings.

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...

The 1960s were a turbulent time, but the charismatic figure of Marshal P. Johnson is often left out of the provocative stories of the era. With primary sources that talk about Johnson and her role in the Stonewall Riots, scholars unpack...

Willa Cather's My Antonia might seem like a hard sell for today's teen readers. Rather than dramatic plot twists, trysts, and terrors, the novel celebrates the pioneer spirit that lead immigrants to a small Nebraska town. The Signet...

Students examine immigration. In this oral and social histories lesson, students analyze primary sources to research immigration history in their community. In this year-long research project, students participate in visual and...

Students examine the social history of buildings and think creatively about the origins of buildings for which they do not know the history. They discuss the influence of social issues on architecture.

Students watch the Masterpiece movie " Cora Unashamed." They study American social history, race relations, and investigate Langston Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance. They have a discussion before and after viewing the film.

Learners view art by artists of African descent. Using these paintings, they discuss the social history of Africans and focus on specific artists to examine their lives. They also reflect on the Canadian Multiculturalism Act which...

Students investigate child labor during the Great Depression. In this US policy lesson, students evaluate multiple layers of the social, economic, and political affects of policy during the Great Depression. Students will engage in 5...

Recognize Black History Month with an examination of the African diaspora and a hands-on mask-making project. Learners first view and discuss images of artwork before creating their own plaster masks.

A presentation that truly covers the age of reason and enlightenment. Nearly every facet, event, and key player in 18th Century Age of Enlightenment is covered. The information is clear, easy to follow, and lends itself well to note...

Young analysts examine two letters, one written by President Hoover and one written by FDR. Each letter contains that president's response to the role of the Federal Government during times of crisis (The Great Depression). They analyze...

Can a neon sign be considered art? Kids consider two different works that use neon text as the basis for conveying artistic social messages. They then analyze a truism from Jenny Holzer's web site that holds meaning to them personally....

Roll the presses! Or at least have your class members participate in the time-honored tradition of the student press by creating their own newspapers or journalist pieces on a social problem. After conducting research and collaborating...

Explore heritage and identity through an examination of art and a related project. The featured art, related to the African diaspora, includes several types of art created by different artists. Pupils consider their own backgrounds and...

Students analyze the movement of the blues from rural Mississippi to urban Chicago and how place and the environment affected the development of the blues. They define the blues, where it originated and how and why it moved to Chicago....

Represent the African diaspora with figurines. Using a discussion on the contributions of people of African descent as inspiration, class members prepare sketches of a figure and put together a small sculpture from those sketches.

Build class community with an art project. Learners first examine and discuss works of art. They then contribute to a class mural by tracing their hands and decorating them in relation to their own cultures. The final mural incorporates...