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...

By 1786, it became apparent to many American founders that there were serious problems with the Articles of Confederation. A three-lesson unit focuses on the debates that lead to the 1787 Constitution Convention, as well as the...

A four-lesson unit focuses on American foreign policy in the late 1800s. Young historians examine primary source documents, conduct a WebQuest, and use a timeline activity to reflect on the impact of American imperialism in Cuba, Puerto...

Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow is the anchor text in a 10-lesson unit that looks at some of the issues of race and justice in American society and how issues have changed over time. High schoolers look at the history of race and...

A three-lesson unit looks at the United States Civil War. In the first lesson, high schoolers analyze primary source materials to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the Union and Confederate armies at the beginning of the war. The...

Seven lessons examine the Reconstruction Era that followed the United States Civil War. The series of detailed lessons provide background information on the era, teaching strategies, videos, and primary source materials.

A seven-resource curriculum set presents primary source materials that permits young historians to examine the programs and initiatives advanced by Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt,...

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...

The 1964 Civil Rights Act, the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968 are all statues pushed by Lyndon Baines Johnson. Presdient Johnson also established programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and Head Start. Young...

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...

Innocent man or traitor to France? That is the question addressed in a five-lesson unit that looks at multiple interpretations of the Dreyfus Affair. As young historians examine primary sources, they also consider the bias that history...

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...

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...

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...

The common core literacy standards for social studies revolve around helping students closely read and understand primary and secondary sources. Browse these resources and find ones relevant to the social studies topics you're teaching!

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...

Analyzing primary and secondary source materials requires a special set of skills. Readers must be able to identify the central ideas in a text, to cite evidence to support their analysis, and to evaluate the arguments put forth in a...

Social studies and literacy skills go hand in hand, as one of the core components of history, philosophy, political science and the other social studies is the written word. The RH.9-10 CCSS standards place an emphasis on primary...

The issues surrounding U.S. immigration, both authorized and unauthorized, are many and complex. The 11 resources in this collection provide high schoolers with an opportunity to investigate various point of view concerning the...