Newseum
Fake News Through History: Analyzing Historical Sources
Unfortunately, fake news, fuzzy facts, and bogus news stories are not new phenomena. Class members use a "Fake News Through History" worksheet to analyze historical examples of false, invented, made-up news. Researchers share their...
Newseum
Civil Rights: Your Stories of Change
Young activists examine local civil rights issues presented in news media sites to determine what elements make these stories attention-grabbing and trustworthy. Using this information and their worksheets from the first two lessons in...
Newseum
Civil Rights: The Five Freedoms
After a close reading of the First Amendment and the five freedoms it guarantees, class members examine the civil rights timeline to see how civil rights groups applied these freedoms to create change. Using the issue the class chose in...
Newseum
Civil Rights: Identifying Community Issues
As part of the social, economic, and legal/political civil rights study, class members brainstorm a list of current civil rights issues that affect their community. Individuals or pairs select one issue to research further. The class...
DocsTeach
Documenting Key Presidential Decisions
It's match time! Academics participate in an exciting matching game using primary sources. The activity uses documents of key decisions and matches them to the presidents that they are attributed to. Scholars also make a list of key...
DocsTeach
Debating Monuments, Memorials and Statues
An illustrative activity explores images of monuments, statues, and memorials in the US to decide whether they should be kept or removed. Scholars place images in a keep or remove pile, then complete a worksheet online. The resource...
DocsTeach
Analyzing an Allegorical Statue
Everyone sees art differently. An informative resource focuses on the image analysis of an allegorical statue. Scholars study the photo of the statue and complete a worksheet based on their findings. To finish, academics participate in...
DocsTeach
Can you Identify the First Lady?
Guess Who? The first lady edition! Scholars read documents to figure out the first lady that is being described. The activity focuses on Pat Nixon, the wife of President Richard Nixon. Academics then work in pairs and share their...
DocsTeach
Baseball: A Morale Booster During Wartime?
How did baseball become America's national pastime? A sports-minded activity explores the importance government placed on baseball to boost morale during both world wars. Academics read letters to understand the importance of baseball...
DocsTeach
A Revolution, a Reaction and a Reform: Getting Ready for National History Day
Get ready for National History Day! A thought-provoking activity focuses on a hypothetical project for National History Day (NHD). Academics review three primary sources to determine if they would meet the criteria for a NHD project....
Newseum
The Speed of News: Where Do We Get the News?
Times are changing. One change is the way people get and share the news. Class members pair up and interview one another to find out how their peers get news. After compiling their findings, young reporters interview an adult, compile...
Center for History Education
Reshaping American Society: How did Immigration and Urbanization Affect America in the mid 1800s?
From the Know-Nothings to the Bible Riots, immigration and urbanization changed the face of America in the middle of the 1800s. Using documents that range from immigrant experiences to renderings of violent conflict between immigrants...
Center for History Education
The Louisiana Purchase: Real Estate Deal of the Century?
It's about real estate! Almost overnight, Thomas Jefferson's Louisiana Purchase about doubled the size of the young United States ... but was it constitutional? Using a variety of secondary and primary sources, including Jefferson's own...
DocsTeach
The Suffrage and the Civil Rights Reform Movements
It's the American way to put one foot in front of the other and march. Using images of protests from the civil rights and women's suffrage movements, young historians analyze similarities between the two watershed moments of social...
Newseum
Media Mix-Ups Through History: Analyzing Historical Sources
Scholars use the E.S.C.A.P.E. (Evidence Source, Context, Audience, Purpose, Execution) strategy to analyze a historical source to determine why mistakes happen in news stories. They then apply the same strategies to contemporary flawed...
Newseum
Front Page Photographs: Analyzing Editorial Choices
Frontpage photographs are the focus of four activities that ask young journalists to consider what the images reveal about a newspaper and its community. To begin, groups compare what images different papers from across the country use...
PBS
Reading Adventure Pack: Archaeology
Readings of fiction and nonfiction texts followed by a series of activities put scholars in an archaeologist's shoes. Learners read two texts, Archaeologists Dig for Clues by Kate Duke and The Shipwrecked Sailor: An Egyptian Tale with...
Newseum
Weed Out Propaganda
Young scholars study four essential propaganda techniques: Simplification, Exploitation, Exaggeration, and Division (S.E.E.D.). Individuals select an example of propaganda from the past and present then compare how the key elements have...
News Literacy Project
News Goggles: Lionel Ramos, Oklahoma Watch
Given all the recent criticism of the news media and coverage, it's crucial that young people are given the tools they need to evaluate what they see, hear, and read about current events. A video interview from "News Goggles" introduces...
Center for History Education
Where Did Thomas Jefferson Stand on the Issue of Slavery?
Thomas Jefferson was a complicated man with a complex legacy. Middle schoolers examine a series of primary source documents to gather evidence for an essay in which they answer where Jefferson stood on the issue of slavery.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Mexican Culture and History through Its National Holidays
Young historians have an opportunity to study the complex history and culture of Mexico by learning about several holidays: The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Dia de Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe), The Day of the Dead (El Dia de los...
Mexic-Arte Museum
Day of the Dead Educational Activity Guide
Looking for ideas to help celebrate The Day of the Dead? A 20-page packet includes a history of El Dia de los Muertos, notes on the many worldwide celebrations honoring the dead, and seven activities. A great way to bring this colorful...
Center for History Education
Should the Colonists Have Revolted Against Great Britain?
Should the Americans have taken the plunge and revolted against Great Britain? Using documents, including the famed Common Sense and a Loyalist response, pupils conduct a lengthy investigation of the question. The interesting resource...
PBS
Native American Pictographs
Scholars use a variety of common Native American pictographs to write a sentence. Through a series of pictures, readers decipher what the author has written. Colored pencils bring color to the assignment.