National Park Service
A Tale of Two Men
Theodore Roosevelt and the Marquis de Mores were both born in 1858, and both came to the Dakota territory in 1883, but they influenced the developing country of America in different ways. Elementary and middle schoolers apply written and...
Curated OER
Using Primary Sources to Discover Reconstruction
Fifth graders discover how reconstruction had an impact on racial issues in the United States. For this Reconstruction lesson, 5th graders are introduced to primary vs. secondary resources and then rotate through stations to view...
Syracuse University
Erie Canal
While canals are not the way to travel today, in the first half of the nineteenth century, they were sometimes the best way to move goods and people. Scholars examine primary sources, including maps and pictures, to investigate the role...
Briscoe Center for American History
Mary Maverick and Texas History - Part 1
What's the difference between a diary and a memoir? Young historians explore the ramifications of this question as they learn how to use primary source materials to gain an understanding of life on the Texas frontier.
Curated OER
Movement and Migration: the Gold Nugget that launched the Gold Rush
Students learn what it was like to be a gold miner. For this California gold rush lesson, students watch a movie about the California gold rush and discuss what they learned. Students use the Internet to examine the gold nugget that...
Smithsonian Institution
The Suffragist: Educator's Guide for Classroom Video
Class members take on the role of historical investigators to determine why it took 40 years for women in the United States to get the right to vote. Sleuths view videos and analyze primary sources and images to gather evidence to answer...
Curated OER
Learning from Primary Source Documents One Day at a Time
Students differentiate between primary and secondary research sources before making a visual representation of their research into the colonist of Fort St. Louis. They write inquiry questions to guide their research.
Briscoe Center for American History
Mary Maverick and Texas History - Part 2
To conclude their investigation of the life of Mary Maverick and to demonstrate their ability to analyze primary source documents, groups use the SOAPS questioning method to examine Maverick's account of events in early Texas history.
Curated OER
A Colony is Born : Lesson 5 - Dear Mem
Discover colonies! Young historians will listen to a primary source journal entry read aloud with a backdrop of wave sounds. They discuss the entry, add historical facts to a chart and personal insights to another. Then they listen to...
Curated OER
An Investigation of Primary and Secondary Sources Using The Records on Mary McLeod Bethune
Students listen to a summary of the life of Mary Bethune. They read or listen to an excerpt from an interview with Mary Bethune. They discuss the differences between the transcript and the draft of the biography.
Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation
Making a Patriot Inquiry: Are Independence, Freedom, and Liberty the Same Thing?
As part of a study of the American Revolution, class members engage in an inquiry-based lesson plan that has them watch a scene from the play Slave Spy, examine multiple primary source documents, and then discuss the similarities and...
Curated OER
Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay Landscape Long Ago and Today
Combine a fantastic review of primary source analysis with a study of Captain John Smith's influence on the Chesapeake Bay region in the seventeenth century. Your young historians will use images, a primary source excerpt, and maps...
Miama-Dade County Public Schools
Patriot Day September 11, 2011
While many of our learners may recognize the date of September 11, 2001 in the United States, most will not be able to personally recall what transpired. On Patriot Day, introduce your young learners to the events, aftermath, and...
Curated OER
Lesson 6: Examining Events from Different Perspectives Friend or Foe?
Fifth graders sequence events of European exploration and colonization by creating timelines. They define the differences between primary and secondary sources. They discuss claims to Texas land in the 17th Century.
Curated OER
To Honor All Children from Prejudice to Discrimination to Hatred....to Holocaust, Part 1
Students analyze different perspectives of the history of the Holocaust. They experience primary and secondary sources along with pieces from literature, documentaries, songs and letters. A commitment of honor and dedication is expressed...
Curated OER
Deerfield Families
To understand the consequences of the 1704 attack on Deerfield by combined French and Native American forces, groups research primary and secondary resources related to four Deerfield families involved in the attack.
Curated OER
Marco Paul's Travels on the Erie Canal
Students conduct research in order to create an understanding of The Eerie Canal and its place in history and the world. students use a variety of primary and secondary resources to aid in the research process.
Curated OER
African Americans in Aviation: The 1940s- A Decade of Change
Students investigate African Americans in aviation. In this primary resources lesson, students examine primary resources to research the history of African American in aviation. Students answer two research questions and write an essay...
Curated OER
Piecing Together the Story of Glenn Cunningham: A Kansas Champion
Young scholars use primary and secondary sources to conduct research about Glenn Cunningham. In this Glenn Cunningham lesson plan, students tell why he was a hero, and tell facts from what they learned.
Curated OER
The Civil War Through a Child's Eye
Students use primary and secondary sources to observe a child's view of the Civil war. In this Civil War lesson, students understand that different people had different perspectives on the war. Students recognize the difference between...
Curated OER
Critical Reading, Imaginative Writing and the Montage
Learners discuss the difference between primary and secondary sources and consider how an exhibit is researched. They design and create a montage that reflects themselves in a social and historical context.
Curated OER
Trouble in the Fields: Mexican Migrant Workers
Students become curators and museum reviewers for an online gallery using a selected group of primary sources on Mexican migrant workers. They share and reflect on their own and each other's ideas though participation in an on-line...
Curated OER
The Aerial Age
Students infer America's attitude towards aviation in the early 1900s. In this The Aerial Age instructional activity, students analyze early 1900s literature, music, advertisements, and popular culture in reference to aviation. Students...
Curated OER
Gold Mountain
Young scholars read primary and secondary sources to find jobs as a Chinese immigrant. In groups they create a chart listing jobs for Chinese and write a letter about employment and living conditions to a Chinese friend.