Lesson Plan
TCI

What Are the Biggest April Fools Jokes of All Time?

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
After working in groups to analyze primary sources related to a historical hoax, learners will discuss how people managed to be fooled and work to identify one of the biggest April Fools jokes in history.
Unit Plan
1
1
Echoes & Reflections

Survivors and Liberators

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
The end was just the beginning. The period immediately after the end of World War II and the Holocaust is often called "The Return to Life" as survivors looked to reunite and recreate broken families and shattered lives. A two-lesson...
Unit Plan
Curated OER

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson Literature Study Guide

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Yo-ho-ho, Treasure Island can be lots of fun with the aid of a resource that guides readers' exploration of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic tale of buccaneers and buried gold. It's the glory of the read that will turn your...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Exploring Race Through Literature

For Teachers 7th - 10th
Provide your class with an opportunity to examine race through a variety of literary works. They read and analyze a chosen poem, interview, speech, or story describing race in America. They then use key words from the original work to...
Lesson Plan
4
4
Curated OER

Constructing Narrative from the Migrant Experience in Literature

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Excerpts from John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath and from John Fante's Ask the Dust, as well as a variety of primary source documents provide the background for an examination of the migrant experience from 1920-1945.
Lesson Plan
1
1
Arizona Department of Education

American History Impact of the Women’s Movement

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Take a look at important images that depict the women's suffrage movement, the support for the Equal Rights Amendment, and wage equity for women over the last two centuries. As class members work through a lesson on...
Unit Plan
1
1
Echoes & Reflections

Perpetrators, Collaborators, and Bystanders

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
After the Holocaust, the world grappled with how to bring justice to the Nazis. But what to do with the thousands—if not millions—who allowed it to happen? Young historians consider the issues of guilt, collaboration, and responsibility...
Lesson Plan
National Park Service

The Power of Remembrance

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
On every July 4th, we watch fireworks and celebrate our independence, but how is the history of the American Revolution preserved? Four social studies lesson guide learners through different memorials, commemorative objects, and restored...
PPT
CHPCS

The United States in the 1920s: The New Negro Movement and the Harlem Renaissance

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Music, writing, and activism all tell the story of history! The resource uses these elements and more in a presentation to discuss the Jazz Age and Harlem Renaissance. Your class views biographies, discusses important events, and...
Lesson Plan
University of Southern California

Coming to America After the War

For Teachers 10th - 12th Standards
As part of their exploration of the American dream, class members examine primary source materials to compare immigrant experiences of those arriving early in our country's history to those arriving in the US after World War...
Unit Plan
Library of Congress

Marco Paul's Travels on the Erie Canal: An Educational Voyage

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
Following the book, Marco Paul's Travels on the Erie Canal, readers complete an activity for each chapter, take part in discussions, and respond to several questions. To show what they know, scholars create an alphabet book using primary...
Lesson Plan
Middle Tennessee State University

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? A Comparison in American Culture

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
As part of their study of the Progressive Era, class groups examine a 20th century version of "The Three Little Pigs" through a New Era lens and identify how ideals such as the value of hard work, creativity, and problem solving,...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Little House in the Census: Almanzo and Laura Ingalls Wilder

For Teachers 6th - 8th
How would you use census data from 1880-1900? Here are a set of ways you can incorporate the book Little House on the Prairie and US census data from that time period. Learners will research the validity or the book based on factual...
Activity
Digital Public Library of America

The Poetry of Emily Dickinson

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Are you contemplating a poetry study featuring Emily Dickinson? Finding good primary sources to accompany the study can be a challenge—never fear, help is here! Check out this primary source set that includes manuscripts of several of...
Activity
Digital Public Library of America

Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin has generated controversy since its publication in 1852. Here is a set of 12 primary sources that capture the controversies of the times while adding dimension and depth to any study of...
Activity
Digital Public Library of America

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Zora Neale Hurston's novel Their eyes Were Watching God has been highly praised and severely criticized for its depiction of African American folk culture. A set of primary source materials, including photographs, articles, essays, and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

After: A Study of Individual Rights

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Use the dystopian novel After by Francine Prose to spark discussion about individual and student rights. Learners read the novel, evaluating how far a school can go to control its attendees. As they read, scholars...
Lesson Plan
Weston Wood

Joseph Had a Little Overcoat

For Teachers Pre-K - 4th Standards
Create a cross-curricular learning experience based on the children's book Joseph Had a Little Overcoat with this collection of learning activities. Starting with a class reading of the story, children go on to learn about the...
Lesson Plan
PBS

The Harlem Renaissance

For Teachers 7th - 12th
A reading of Walter Dean Myers' "Harlem" sets the stage for studying the literature, art, and music of the Harlem Renaissance. The lesson begins with a review of the social, political, and economic conditions of the 1920s and 1930s that...
Lesson Plan
1
1
University of Pennsylvania

Decoding Propaganda: J’Accuse…! vs. J’Accuse…!

For Teachers 8th - 12th Standards
Reading snail mail is a great way to go back into history and to understand others' points of view. The resource, the second in a five-part unit, covers the Dreyfus Affair. Scholars, working in two different groups, read one letter and...
Lesson Plan
Teaching Women's History

Georgian Women

For Teachers 8th - 12th Standards
Britain was and is a stratified nation. History sleuths investigate the Georgian Era (1714-1830) of British history to gain an understanding of how the roles women played during this period were influenced by class, race, and religion....
Unit Plan
1
1
Denver Public Schools

Kung-hsi Fa-ts' ai! – A Chinese New Year Celebration

For Teachers K - 10th
Looking for ideas for your Lunar New Year celebration? Check out an interdisciplinary unit of study that includes lessons in counting, calligraphy, culture, geography, literature, art, and music. Kung-hsi Fa-ts' ai! (May you...
Activity
Digital Public Library of America

A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
A set of 14 primary sources provides background for a study of Lorraine Hansberry's drama, A Raisin in the Sun. Featured are images from stage productions of the play, white supremacy protests, a clip from a television interview, and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Geography and Culture of China

For Teachers 7th
Take out a map, a paper, a ruler, and those coveted colored pencils for a lesson on Chinese culture and geography. This is a multifaceted approach to basic geography skills that incorporate story telling, class discussion, primary source...