Constitutional Rights Foundation
Educating European Immigrant Children Before World War I
As if surviving a journey to America wasn't enough of a feat for early 20th century immigrants, they then needed to settle into American life. Learn about the ways New York public education attempted to meet the needs of its students,...
K20 LEARN
Native American Education - Past, Present, and Future: Assimilation
To understand the history of Native American education, high schoolers examine the record of young scholars who attended the Carlisle Indian School from 1879-1918. They also examine sources that contain information about indigenous...
Thalian Association Community Theatre
West Side Story: Teacher Resource Guide
West Side Story is widely known as a modern-day Romeo & Juliet. Learners read a list of characters from the play and list their counterparts from Romeo & Juliet before completing a vocabulary enrichment activity and word jumble....
Curated OER
Anti-Semitism Workshop
Originating from the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum in Jerusalem, here is a resource to support your world historians in their study of World War II, the Holocaust, your cultural scholars learning about anti-semitism, or your...
Crafting Freedom
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper: Lover of Literacy
This, the sixth in a series of 10 related resources, examines the life and works of Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, an African American author, born in 1825, who advocated literacy for both free and enslaved African Americans.
Learn NC
Buffalo Soldiers
"Stolen from Africa, brought to America,/Fighting on arrival, fighting for survival." Bob Marley's "Buffalo Soldiers" provides high schoolers an opportunity to explore the rich history of the Rastafarians in Jamaica and the Buffalo...
Curated OER
Topical Discussions
Engaging in topical discussions can be a great way to teach kids how to build strong arguments and support their opinions with concrete evidence. High schoolers choose a controversial topic, build an argument for or against that topic,...
Curated OER
Jimmy Carter: Civic Action, Lesson 2
Build on high schoolers' awareness of what's wrong with society. Here they examine Jimmy Carter's extensive involvement in volunteer action in the local, national, and global arenas. Define and explore concepts -- philanthropy, citizen,...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Alabama BEFORE the American Revolution
Did you know that prior to the American Revolution, Alabama was a part of the British empire and called New West Florida? Class members research the economic, political, and social realities of this territory and compare them to those of...
Curated OER
Graphic Organizing: Early American History
In collaborative groups, young US historians sort cards (each labeled with a single early American event or issue) according to which of the first four presidents was leading the country at the time. Learners copy the events onto a...
Elizabeth Murray Project
Gender and Opportunity in Colonial America
What was life like for women in Colonial America? What restrictions were placed upon them and what opportunities were they afforded? A case study of Elizabeth Murray offers high schoolers a chance to investigate primary source documents...
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum
The Cuban Missile Crisis: How to Respond?
For 13 days, the United States stood on the edge of nuclear War. The Soviet Arms buildup in Cuba is the focus of an activity that asks groups to analyze how the governmental role each of John F. Kennedy's advisors played went on to...
Curated OER
CDV, CDV, What's a CDV?
Introduce your class to the Core Democratic Values. The instructional activity focuses on defining the Core Democratic Values and related terms. Small groups look up terms and present a song based on the information they've found. After...
Stanford University
Civil Rights or Human Rights?
Young citizens consider the American civil rights movement as part of the global struggle for human rights. After using a timeline activity to learn about the major events in the civil rights movement, class members study Malcolm X's...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Strange Fruit: Lynching in America
To continue their study of the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the beginning of the civil rights movement, class members watch the YouTube video of Billie Holiday singing "Strange Fruit" as an introduction to an examination of lynching in...
Stanford University
Letter from Birmingham Jail: The Power of Nonviolent Direct Action
What strategies are most effective in changing an unjust law? Class members examine the tactics used in the Birmingham Campaign of 1963 (Project C) to achieve social justice and social transformation. After examining documents that...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Alabama Farm Life in the Great Depression
The Great Depression not only impacted city folk and factory workers, it also had a profound effect on farmers. Young historians examine primary source materials that document the struggles of Alabama farmers during this time and then...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
From Alabama Farmer to Civil War Soldier
As part of a study of the Civil War, class members conduct a WebQuest to create a timeline of battles fought by the 10th Alabama Infantry Regimen. They then use Google Earth to pinpoint these battles of the Civil War on a map of Alabama.
Alabama Department of Archives and History
The Effect of the Great Depression on Children
How did the Great Depression affect children? Sometimes studying the Great Depression means only studying about how it affected adults, however, relating the experiences of children and peers their age to themselves may make the...
Stanford University
Lesson Plan: Montgomery Bus Boycott
Most of us have heard of Rosa Parks, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and Martin Luther King, Jr. But what about Claudette Colvin, Virginia Durr, Freedom Summer, or the Birmingham Children's Crusade? A five-lesson unit prompts class members...
Indian Land Tenure Foundation
Gifts from Land and Water
With a series of fun hands-on simulations, young children can learn about conservation and natural resources. Your learners become land detectives, discussing and investigating the gifts that the land and water provide them. They then...
PBS
The March on Washington and Its Impact
High schoolers read Martin Luther King, Jr's speech that he gave in Washington. They identify the social conditions that led to the civil rights movement. They discuss the significance of the March on Washington.