Curated OER
Thomas Jefferson's Library: Making the Case for a National Library
Students examine a letter written by Thomas Jefferson. In this lesson on the Thomas Jefferson Library, students discover a methodology for creative writing by examining Jefferson's letter to congress explaining why they should purchase...
Curated OER
Mapping the Library
Students compare their school library with another library such as: town library, for example, or a virtual library and identify the most important features. Students use their observations to create a map of the school library that can...
Curated OER
Report to Congress on Our Expedition
Students research in small groups to locate information on the outcomes and observations made during the Lewis and Clark expedition. In this westerns expansion lesson, students role play their findings as though they were reporting to...
Library of Congress
Understanding Immigration Through Popular Culture
Class members are introduced to a project-based learning unit on US immigration with an activity that asks them to analyze sheet music and other primary source materials to uncover issues raised by immigration.
Curated OER
Oil Crisis: What Would You Do?
The dynamics between the economies and politics of the United States and the Middle East are here to study. Upper graders read and discuss scenarios relating to OPEC and the current oil crisis, then in small groups role-play members of...
Curated OER
Westward Expansion: Links to the Past
Learners investigate the impact of Manifest Destiny. In this California history lesson plan, students conduct research on the settlement of the state between 1849 and 1900. Learners use their findings to create scripts that link primary...
Curated OER
Children's Literature Across the Curriculum Ideas-Lincoln: A Photobiography
Students read Lincoln: A Photobiography by Russell Freedman. They complete a variety of cross-curricular activities surrounding the life of Abraham Lincoln, including, but not limited to, the Civil War. Included are reading, art, math,...
Curated OER
Creating Dramatic Monologues from The Grapes of Wrath
The characters in The Grapes of Wrath come to life through an activity that asks groups to craft a dramatic monologue for a character in John Steinbeck's National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize winning novel. Writers are...
Curated OER
Retro Sports Card Self Portrait
Students create a "Sports Card Self-Portrait" using the student as model and the sport of their choice as the subject. They use the examples of early baseball cards from the Library of Congress online exhibition "Baseball Cards 1887 to...
Smithsonian Institution
Conflicting Voices of the Mexican War
Americans wanted to fulfill Manifest Destiny, and this pattern continued with the Mexican War. The resource specifically teaches about the Mexican War through a variety of exercises including a research project, group work, brainstorming...
Curated OER
Who Decides Who Dies?
Students explore various state laws concerning capital punishment and conduct a mock meeting of the United States Congress to set standards for the death penalty.
Curated OER
Library Main Hall: Using Primary Sources in the Classroom
Students choose a historical photograph or film and try to predict what happened after the photo or film in question.
Curated OER
Teaching with Primary Sources Across Tennessee: Debunking Civil War Photographs
Students analyze photographs and texts using primary source analysis. In this primary source lesson students determine whether the photographs and text are truthful.
Curated OER
Rhythm and Improv, Jazz and Poetry
Connect the ideas of jazz improvisation and art to writing poetry. Learners collaborate and write different lines of poetry, imitating the jazz styles of improvisation and freewriting. Take a close look at the poems "Tenebrae" by Yusef...
Library of Congress
Investigating the Building Blocks of Our Community’s Past, Present, and Future
As Ken Jennings said, "There's just something hypnotic about maps." Certainly, the longer you look at them the more you can learn. In this project-based learning lesson, individuals study both historic and present-day maps of...
Curated OER
The Branding of America (And Your State)
Students investigate about the origins of some major U.S. brands. They explore local products that stimulate the economy. Students create a map showing where those products originate. Students discover the products that their local area...
Curated OER
That's the Spirit
Is, as Walt Whitman contends, America’s “almost maniacal appetite for wealth,” the heart of the American dream? Class members grapple with this question as they read David Brooks’ article “The Commercial Republic,” and quotes that...
Curated OER
German Immigrants Contributions to the Upper Midwest
Students explore contemporary lifestyles, cultures, traditions are influenced by the contributions of the German settlers of that region. They research these influences and design a brochure to entice potential immigrants to the Upper...
Curated OER
Primary Sources and Protagonists: A Native American Literature Unit
Introduce your middle schoolers to the lives of past Native Americans. First, learners work together to put photographs in a sequence. Then, using their sequence, they create stories to share with the whole class. No matter how old your...
Curated OER
Scripting The Great Train Robbery
Take writing prompts to another level in this activity, which allows pupils to create scenes of dialogue based on the 1903 silent film, The Great Train Robbery. Useful for a language arts/history cross-curricular activity, the lesson...
Curated OER
The Art of Advertising
Get your class thinking about advertising with this lesson plan. Over the course of 15 days, your class will discuss advertising techniques, study the concepts of pathos, logos, and ethos, and analyze the persuasive techniques of...
Curated OER
Look for Patterns: Quilts in Two Faith Ringgold Stories
Author Faith Ringgold uses quilts to illustrate her books Tar Beach and Aunt Harriet's Underground Railroad. In this integrated trio of activities, young scholars read stories, identify and create patterns, and design quilt squares of...
Curated OER
Virtual) Poetry Slam
Students create a "virtual poetry slam." This project can easily be implemented at any grade level where students have created short pieces of personal writing. They write, edit, and revise a short piece of poetry or personal writing.
Curated OER
Yankee Doodle... More than Just a Catchy Tune
Learners investigate the history of patriotic music and practice singing the tunes with classmates. In this U.S. History lesson, students examine lyrics of the traditional song "Yankee Doodle Dandy" and discuss the differing points...