Teaching Ideas
The Victorians Pack
What was life like during the Victorian era? Images of crowded factories and lavish palaces may come to mind—and both would be accurate. Learn more about Britain during the 64-year reign of Queen Victoria with a series of informational...
Global Oneness Project
Documenting Architectural Heritage
Imagine going from being one of the richest, most important cities in the world to one of the poorest. Imagine the history captured in the architecture of such a city. Imagine these same now abandoned buildings being destroyed. How would...
Plimoth Plantation
History In A New Light: Illuminating the Archaeology of Historic Patuxet and Plymouth
Sixty-seven pages take scholars on a digital tour through the exhibit, History in a New Light: Illuminating the Archaeology of Historic Patuxet and Plymouth. Crystal clear pictures accompanied by text offer a deep understanding of the...
K12 Reader
What Can You Infer?
Perhaps one of the most famous and illustrative stories featuring irony, "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry provides many opportunities for learners to make inferences about its characters. After reading a short introductory passage from...
Curated OER
The Exploration of the Writer, His Louisiana History And the Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman By Ernest J. Faines
Students identify the significance of the author's experiences on his written work; describe the hardships faced by slaves and plantation owners once the caves were set free; explain the role of the Seceses and why they were a threat to...
Curated OER
Links to the Past
Learners use documents from California As I Saw It: First Person Narratives, 1849-1900 , in American Memory to create a script depicting the motivations, expectations, fears, and realizations of immigrants who settled California between...
Judicial Learning Center
American Equality Milestones
Has equality always existed as an unalienable right in the United States? Use this worksheet to chronicle the history and progression of equality in major documents and speeches throughout American history. The graphic organizer asks...
Curated OER
Wartime and the Bill of Rights: The Korematsu Case
Students examine the balance between civil liberties and protection. In this national security lesson, students explore the Korematsu case which references the Japanese internment camps of World War II. Students draw comparisons between...
Curated OER
Cartoons for the Classroom: Dark Voice
In this current events activity, students analyze a political cartoon by African-American Oliver Harrington and respond to 3 talking point questions.
Curated OER
Harness Music to Enhance Writing
Use the magic of music to engage the senses and bring new life to your writing curriculum.
Curated OER
Creating a Shared Culture
Students simulate working on an assembly line in a shared culture. In this consumerism lesson, students participate in a lecture and note-taking session before working on a simulated assembly line. They work in a timed situation to...
Brooklyn Museum
Seductive Subversion: Women Pop Artists, 1958–1968
What role did women play in pop art during the 1950s and 1960s? The class researches the role of women in mid-century America and how those roles were portrayed through the pop art of the time. They use an excellent set of...
Curated OER
Ambassador Satch, Superb Entertainer: 1950-1971
Students participated in guided listening lessons of Louis Armstrong's jazz music while interpreting his lyrics. They study his life as an entertainer and goodwill ambassador for the US.
Curated OER
The Font of Funniness
Young scholars research the work of a contemporary humorist by analyzing a variety of pieces of their work. They look at the work from a variety of media sources such as writing, videos, and broadcasts to decide how "American" the...
Curated OER
Teaching A Tale of Two Cities
Ninth graders read "A Tale of Two Cities" by Charles Dickens. In groups, they analyze the opinions of various philosophers on the French Revoluion. To end the activity, they take all the information gathered during their readings and...
Wesleyan College
Clausal Expansions
In this grammar learning exercise, students creatively add clausal expansions to sixty-two sentences following the two patterns that are shown with the examples.
Curated OER
Wackie Wordies
In this English worksheet, students identify the meaning of 20 different clue words to come up with some more wackie solution. There are 20 questions with a solution key.
Curated OER
What Happened to John Wilkes Booth?
Students research the life of John Wilkes Booth. In this Lincoln assassination instructional activity, students read diary excerpts and newspaper articles about Booth's final hours and compose essays regarding their findings.
Curated OER
Songs About Age
Students discuss common attitudes about aging that are found in popular songs and how music is a means to explore attitudes about aging in this one-day lesson ideal for a middle-level general music classroom. The lesson includes a list...
Curated OER
Victoria and Albert (4 Parts)
Students watch the four part series about Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. They answer and discuss questions related to the four part series.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Writing in u.s. History: 1968: A Time of Change
Explore how the events and cultural and political changes that occurred in 1968 came to represent the upheaval and dramatic changes in American life during the 1960s. In this interactive lesson from WGBH, students develop a written...
John F. Kennedy Center
The Kennedy Center: Diana Ross
Explores the life and career of singer and actress, Diana Ross. As part of the group The Supremes and on her own, she defined the Motown sound in the Sixties and has won numerous entertainment awards.
Other
Cape Breton Miners' Museum: Mine Explosion in New Waterford, 1917 [Pdf]
Sixty-five men and boys died in the 1917 mining disaster at New Waterford in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. This collection of first-hand accounts has several interviews, news articles and documentation from the subsequent inquest. Reading...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Alex: Com'on Down to Eatonville, Florida
You are Mayor Joe Starks from the book Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, and you want more people to relocate to Eatonville, Florida. Identify five amenities that may make Eatonville attractive to African-Americans...