While many young historians would say the United States' form of democracy is the longest living, the confederacy established by Hiawatha and the Haudenosaunee is America's precursor. The activity set, complete with a beautifully...

A mysterious woman. A humble sharing of a meal. A generous gift. The universal value of generosity is threaded throughout a core Choctaw legend on why the tribe began to grow corn. Using part of the Native American Sacred Stories series,...

Discover the rich Native American culture that existed at the time of early European exploration into the Chesapeake region through analysis of several primary and secondary sources.

North American Indian civilizations had already been in place for over 10,000 years before the arrival of European settlers. Introduce your young historians to Indian tribes that lived in the Chesapeake region in the early seventeenth...

What is oral tradition, and what unique tool did the Native Americans of the Northern Great Plains use to help them remember their complex histories? Through pictograph analysis, discussion, research, and an engaging hands-on activity,...

New ReviewThe Civil Rights Movement was only the beginning. Using images and a series of queries, learners consider current fights for equality. After viewing video clips profiling the women's rights movement, the American Indian Movement, and...

How do policies aimed to help actually hurt? Native American boarding schools—an attempt at assimilating children of indigenous tribes into white culture—had a shattering effect on those who attended. With primary sources, including...

What was the true impact on Native American tribes when immigrants began to seize land in Western areas, such as California? Using images created by these migrants, as well as written descriptions, class members consider the various...

What was California like before the Spanish came? Class members discover the answer to the question using images of Native Americans and diaries of the early Spanish explorers. Scaffolded activities allow instructors to adapt the...

Introduce middle schoolers to the First Nations that inhabited the Northeast during the Age of Exploration with a series of activities designed for differentiated groups.

Help learners connect with the idea of being centered as they explore the Hopi origin story. The Hopi people believe their Creator called them up out of the earth and told them to journey until they found a center space they could call...

Redesign your holiday celebrations with the aid of a lesson plan booklet packed with facts, images, maps, activities, and readings about the three-day feast that marked the English settlers' first successful harvest.

An informative video sets the context for a lesson that asks young historians to consider how cultural values influence perspective. Groups compare the attitudes reflected in a journal entry of a member of the Plymouth Colony to those of...

Is the story of the First Thanksgiving actually all it's said to have been? Watch a video that sheds light on the event, who Samoset and Massasoit were, and what the First Thanksgiving was really all about.

How did the environment and natural resources found on the Channel islands influence the culture of the Chumash? Archaeology meets technology in an activity designed for middle schoolers. After viewing West of The West's documentary Once...

What was the most significant tool used by the Chumash? How did the environment make the tool possible? What group behaviors allowed the Chumash be be successful for thousands of years? After watching West of the West's documentary Once...

What tools do archaeologists and anthropologist use to learned about what life was like in the past. After watching West of The West's documentary Once Upon a Time that details how scientists use artifacts to establish a history of the...

As part of a study of the history of the Chumash on California's Channel Island chain, class members view the documentary Once Upon a Time, respond to discussion questions, and create a timeline for the different waves of migration.

Julie Tumamait-Stenslie, a Chumash Elder, narrates a documentary of the history of the Chumash people on Santa Cruz Island.

The Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island documents the story of Juana Maria (the name given her by the padres of the Santa Barbara mission) who spent 18 years alone on the most remote island of the Channel Islands chain.

After watching West of the West's documentary The Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island, class members imagine how Juana Maria/Karana may have felt about living alone on the island for 18 years and craft a blackout poem or a narrative in her...

After viewing two documentaries about the history of the Channel islands, individuals craft an essay in which they compare the lives of Juana Maria, the Lone Woman San Nicolar Island, to Lester Holt and his family featured in the...