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Lesson Plan
C-SPAN

Historical Presidential Campaign Announcement Analysis

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Using the announcements of presidential candidacies, pupils consider how contenders make their initial arguments to the public. A worksheet helps structure collaborative work to analyze 10 video clips. Writing prompts allow for extension...
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Unit Plan
1
1
Echoes & Reflections

The "Final Solution"

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Nazi policies shifted from deportation and imprisonment to extermination of the Jewish people in death camps in the "Final Solution." Learners examine photos of artifacts, read poetry written by survivors, analyze testimony from...
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Unit Plan
1
1
Echoes & Reflections

Survivors and Liberators

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
The end was just the beginning. The period immediately after the end of World War II and the Holocaust is often called "The Return to Life" as survivors looked to reunite and recreate broken families and shattered lives. A two-lesson...
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Unit Plan
1
1
Echoes & Reflections

Nazi Germany

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
The Holocaust was an evolution of anti-Semitism, scapegoating, and targeted violence against Jews with Nazi policies. A resource unpacks the escalation in violence, along with the erosion of democratic institutions, during the 1930s....
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Unit Plan
1
1
Echoes & Reflections

The Ghettos

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Young historians examine primary sources, including diaries, poems, and photographs, to consider the conditions in the ghettos and how they fit into the escalation of the Third Reich's plot against the Jewish people. 
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Handout
San Antonio Independent School District

Breaking Down the Declaration of Independence

For Students 6th - 8th Standards
Are learners heavy sighing at the idea of reading a primary source, written in a language that is difficult to understand and in cursive? Look no further, because the resource breaks down the Declaration of Independence in an...
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Study Guide
Cave Creek Unified School District

Crusades and Culture in the Middle Ages

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
The Crusades sounds like a glamorous time period in the Middle Ages full of glory—but was it? Scholars find and review the truth of the Crusades' influence on the world through the resource. The study guides, separated individually by...
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Lesson Plan
Facing History and Ourselves

Life for German Youth in the 1930s: Education, Propaganda, Conformity, and Obedience

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The German youth faced an onslaught of propaganda when they went to school, thanks to the Nazi regime led by Hitler during World War II. Pupils relate their education experiences to German youth by analyzing primary source readings,...
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Lesson Plan
Heritage Foundation

How to Read the Constitution

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Even lawyers can find the US Constitution to be very wordy! Help learners create a foundation for understanding the Constitution with several analysis essays. Multiple activities complement the reading and allow for active and meaningful...
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Lesson Plan
Queen's Printer for Ontario

Evaluating Wartime Posters: Were They Good Propaganda?

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
"Back Him Up!" Scholars will analyze how World War I posters displayed, on the home front, often attempted to stir up emotions. As they examine the different ways people used propaganda posters during the war, they will create their own...
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Master of the Airwaves: How FDR Used Radio to Ease the Public’s Fears

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
The political and economic climate during the 1930's was uncertain and tumultuous. But Americans' minds and hearts were eased with the reassuring words of their president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and addresses over the radio. High...
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Unit Plan
1
1
Beacon Press

A Time to Break Silence

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Encourage teenagers to get involved in ending violence among young people. A Common Core-aligned resource and curriculum guide, designed to be used with a reading of A Time to Break Silence: The Essential Works of Martin Luther King,...
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Unit Plan
Children's Museum of Indianapolis

Anne Frank: Facing Hatred, Daring to Dream

For Teachers 6th - 9th Standards
The stories of Anne Frank, Ruby Bridges, and Ryan White illustrate the power of children to make a difference. The three lesson in this must-have resource are designed to inspire young people to make a difference in their world....
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Unit Plan
Bill of Rights Institute

Preserving the Bill of Rights

For Students 8th - 12th Standards
Consider how America's founding fathers and their experiences contributed to the rights we all enjoy today. A collection of reading, writing, and collaborative exercises prompt high schoolers to think about the ways their current lives...
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Unit Plan
1
1
Curated OER

Unit 2: Post-Revolution: The Critical Period 1781-1878

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
The post-Revolutionary Period of 1781-1787, also known as the Critical Period, is the focus of a series of lessons that prompt class members to examine primary source documents that reveal the instability of the period of the Articles of...
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Unit Plan
1
1
Curated OER

Unit 1: Building Historical Background Knowledge: The Road to Revolution 1754–1776

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
What were the conditions that led to the American Revolution? What are the conditions that lead to revolution in other times and places? Class members examine primary source materials and use evidence drawn from these documents to craft...
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Lesson Plan
2
2
Historical Thinking Matters

Spanish-American War: 1 Day Lesson

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
After analyzing newspaper articles portraying different perspectives of the explosion of the Battleship USS Maine, your young historians will take a stand on which position is the most believable in both discussion and writing.
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Unit Plan
Australian National Schools Network

Civics and Citizenship

For Teachers 8th - 12th Standards
What is a good citizen? Here is a fantastic unit of ten lessons that will thoroughly cover the concept of civics and citizenship in your class. Examples of activities include learning stations, primary and secondary source analysis of...
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Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Cultural Change

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
High schoolers research the passage of the 19th Amendment as an illustration of the mutual influence between political ideas and cultural attitudes. They also read the Seneca Falls Declaration and explore the cultural shifts it both...
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Lesson Plan
National Park Service

Adeline Hornbek and the Homestead Act: A Colorado Success Story

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Students examine how the Homestead Act impacted the economic opportunities of women. They research the Homestead Act, define Manifest Destiny, and prepare an exhibit featuring an outstanding woman living in their community.
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Lesson Plan
North Carolina Civic Education Consortium

The Nineteenth Amendment

For Teachers 8th - 11th Standards
Beginning with an exercise of favoritism to engage learners, progressing through image and primary source analysis of the Nineteenth Amendment and the Seneca Falls Declaration, and culminating in a look at a political cartoon called...
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Lesson Plan
1
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Albert Shanker Institute

Making the Case for Equality: A Comparison

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Martin Luther King Jr's " I Have a Dream" speech and Atticus Finch's closing argument during the trial of Tom Robinson both address the societal need to overcome racism. After examining the rhetorical devices and figurative language used...
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Lesson Plan
American Institute of Physics

Historical Detective: Edward Alexander Bouchet and the Washington-Du Bois Debate over African-American Education

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Young scientists meet Edward Alexander Bouchet who, in 1876, was the first African American to receive a PhD in Physics. This two-part instructional activity first looks at the debate between Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois about...
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Lesson Plan
American Institute of Physics

African Americans in Astronomy and Astrophysics

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
A two-part lesson focuses on the contributions to the fields of astronomy and astrophysics of two African Americans: Benjamin Banneker and Dr. George Carruthers. In part one, scholars learn about Benjamin Banneker by examining his...