Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum
Developing Your Voice and Your Right to Free Speech
Three activities focus on the First Amendment, especially the freedom of speech. Scholars craft a letter to the President of the United States and express their views about a topic important to them. Another activity has participants...
Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum
What Does It Mean to Be an American?
A series of four activities focuses young scholars' attention on what it means to be an American. They identify key qualities, values, and virtues they consider shared by Americans. Participants then pretend they have been selected to...
Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum
Pearl Harbor Activity #7: Pop Up Video Activity
A pop-up video version of FDR's "Day of Infamy" speech engages scholars in depending their understanding of the attack on Pearl Harbor. After watching the video, class members select five new things that they learned and research how...
Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum
Pearl Harbor Activity #6: December 7 and September 11 - Infamy Twins?
Why did attackers on December 7, 1941, and on September 11, 2001, choose the targets they did? That is one of several questions young historians try to answer as they compare and contrast the two attacks. They also consider the...
Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum
Pearl Harbor Activity #5: The Medium Matters
Young journalists learn that how we get our news and information matters in a collaborative social studies activity. The class is divided into three groups with the first analyzing a transcript of FDR's "Day of Infamy" speech, the second...
Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum
Pearl Harbor Activity #4: Who is the Audience?
Young historians use the prompts on a worksheet to analyze President Roosevelt's "Day of Infamy" speech. They identify the intended audience for the speech, the devices FDR used to persuade his audience, the responses promoted, and the...
Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum
Pearl Harbor Activity #3: Public Opinion Word Cloud
As part of a study of the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, young historians imagine the feelings of those who lived during the attack by creating a word cloud of 10 words they think express the emotions of people at that time....
Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum
Pearl Harbor Activity #2: Why Do Words Matter?
Words matter! That's the big idea behind an activity that asks scholars to replace words in FDR's "Day of Infamy" speech with synonyms. They then listen to a recording of President Roosevelt's address and compare his version to their own.
Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum
Pearl Harbor Activity #1: Newspaper or Radio Account
After listening to President Franklin D. Roosevelt's "Day of Infamy" speech, young historians research information about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, possible motives for the attack, and the consequences of the attack. Scholars...
Mr. Nussbaum
Civil War
Test scholars' reading comprehension skills with a practice that focuses on the Civil War. Participants read an informational text then answer 10 questions.
Newseum
Civil Rights: Turning Points
As part of a civil rights movement study, groups select an event from an interactive timeline that they feel marks a turning point in the struggle. After collecting evidence to support their choice, the teams develop a multimedia...
Newseum
Free Press Challenges Through History: Analyzing Historical Sources
The debate over the integrity of stories in media is not new. Young journalists analyze historical sources that reveal freedom of the press controversies and draw parallels to challenges freedom of the press faces today.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Starting a Government from Scratch
Young historians have an opportunity to experience the challenges of starting a new government. After watching a short video about the Articles of Confederation, class members generate a "to-do list" of actions that a new government...
Newseum
Civil Rights: Knowns and Unknowns
Class members generate a list of research questions to review the civil rights movement and determine what scholars still need to learn. Groups then select a different compelling question, create a hypothesis and find evidence to support...
Newseum
Breaking News: Tracing the Facts
Breaking news reports can be short of facts. Young journalists select a pair of news articles about a disaster; one published within hours of the event and the second published the following day. They examine whether facts in the report...
Newseum
Before and After: Analyzing Turning Points in History
Scholars examine front-page news stories to gather evidence about significant historical events. They hypothesize how these events changed people's lives who lived through them and how they continue to impact lives today.
Newseum
Introduction to the First Amendment: What’s a Violation?
Young historians take an in-depth look at the five freedoms granted by the First Amendment. Groups apply their knowledge of the freedoms to a series of scenarios to decide if the depicted actions represent a violation of the amendment.
Newseum
News About My Community
After researching statistics about their community in local census reports, young journalists interview a resident about their interests and then analyze a local newspaper or homepage to see how similar the stories are to the residents'...
Newseum
Is This Story Share-Worthy?
Young journalists use a "Is This Story Share-Worthy?" flowchart graphic to decide whether a story is worth sharing online. Instructors provide groups with fake news, poor quality stories, opinion pieces, biased news, and high-quality...
Newseum
Making a Change: Letter From Birmingham Jail
Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter From Birmingham Jail" was written in response to "A Call for Unity," written by eight white ministers from Birmingham and published in the local newspaper. After reading both letters and following a list...
Newseum
Battle for the Bill of Rights: Ultimate Survivor Amendment Game
To understand the importance of the wording of the articles of the First Amendment (freedom of religion, freedom of speech and the press, and freedom to assembly and petition), teams argue before a jury for draft amendments of one...
National Park Service
Remembering Pearl Harbor: The USS Arizona Memorial
Young historians use primary source materials to investigate the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor and the sinking of the USS Arizona. After reading background articles and studying maps and images of the attack, class members consider whether...
DocsTeach
Uncle Sam and the American Diet
Uncle Sam wants you to follow the food pyramid! Scholars analyze two images of propaganda posters the government created to promote the food pyramid. Academics complete a worksheet to understand the impact of the campaign and end the...
DocsTeach
The Life of Dwight D. Eisenhower
A captivating activity uses images to help pupils understand the life of President Eisenhower. Scholars put the images in chronological order and read the captions to get a better understanding of the war hero turned president.