Curated OER
History Did Happen in My Back Yard!
Eighth graders interpret historical evidence presented in primary resources. In this Louisiana history lesson, 8th graders research their parish history using the LOUISiana Digital Library resources. Students create multimedia...
PBS
Women's History: Glass Windows; Glass Ceilings
Discover stories about women's history in beautiful stained glass windows. The second in a three-part series teaches scholars about a famous artistic style of stained glass windows and the influential women that used art to impact...
Curated OER
California's Golden History: 1848-1880
Using a variety of online resources, learners study life and society in California during the gold rush. They use a map to identify area where gold was located, explore pre-selected websites, describe mining practices, and create an...
Curated OER
Read All About It! California History of the 30s and 40s
Explore the Great Depression! Discover the challenges people experienced during the time period. Learners investigate photographs from the Dust Bowl and WWII era and create a story line about the photographs, writing a newspaper article...
Curated OER
Study History through Journal Keeping
Journal writing can be a fun way to bring history to life. Upper graders read a series of journals from the time of the westward expansion, specifically the pioneer journey along the Oregon Trail. They compose an ongoing journal from the...
University of Chicago
Comparing Modern and Ancient Ideas of Ethnicity and Identity
Explore ethnicity and identity with a research and writing assignment. Class members conduct online research, looking in particular at images and carefully noting down their sources on notecards. They read about identity and compose...
Teachers Network
Celebrating Black History Month
Students create a PowerPoint presentation using graphics, text, and animation. They are shown how to do slide transition, and create slides. Students create a PowerPoint presentation celebrating Black History Month. They are shown how to...
Curated OER
Passing Down Family History Through Oral Tradition: Corridos
Students create and perform Corridos which are oral tradition ballads. In this Passing Down Family History Through Oral Tradition instructional activity, students interview family members using a predetermined list of questions. In...
Curated OER
Arkansas History Lesson: Arkansans
Third graders investigate famous Arkansans and their contributions. In this Arkansas history lesson, 3rd graders are divided into small groups and use a variety of resources to research one important Arkansan. Students write a biography...
Curated OER
United States History Pretest
Have your U.S. history class engage in pre-assessment activities at the beginning of the school year. They activate prior knowledge to answer questions. They also use information about particular topics to fill in a graphic organizer....
PBS
Lesson Plan: “Seeing the Way: A Brief History of Cataract Surgery”
After looking at the history of cataract surgery techniques, your high schoolers will have a new perspective on medical and scientific advances. Kids alternate between watching short video clips, class discussion, and computer research....
Curated OER
Origin of the Modern Summer Games
Where did the Olympic Summer Games originate? The class takes a look at ancient origins of modern Olympic games. They research the Olympics and write a compare and contrast essay that describes how the Olympic Games have changed since...
Curated OER
Winter Olympics History Year by Year
Investigate the history of the Winter Olympic Games. After researching this event and compiling necessary statistics, pupils use a graphic organizer to chart their findings. A template for a chart is included in this resource. Have your...
Curated OER
Charting History With Pennies
Young scholars collect pennies and sort them in ascending order of dates. For the year on each penny, students research key events in history and pick a single event, explaining its historical significance. Then young scholars use these...
Curated OER
Life in Ancient Ghana, Mali, and Songhai
Students study the ancient African kingdoms of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai. They brainstorm what they know about ancient African kingdoms before investigating the trade and barter situations, and researching one of the kingdoms for an oral...
University of Chicago
Gender Roles in Ancient Egyptian Society
After reading about the legal status of women in the Old Kingdom of ancient Egypt and doing some additional research, your young historians will work in groups to develop short skits that reflect a typical gender-role related scenario...
Curated OER
The Mystery of History-Original Sources
Students research the events surrounding the Alamo in 1863, and explore the differences between primary and secondary sources of information. They brainstorm lists of items used to research a subject and categorize them as primary or...
Curated OER
Civilizations of the Ancient Near East
Sixth graders investigate ancient civilizations by creating a research project. In this world history lesson, 6th graders investigate historic civilizations developed close to important rivers of the near East. Students...
Curated OER
Islam: History, Society, and Civilization
Learners explore the Crusades. In this world history lesson plan, students watch a video regarding the Crusades and compile a list of facts regarding the series of religious wars. Learners compare the Muslim view of the wars to the...
PBS
The History of Book Banning in America
Harry Potter, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, To Kill a Mockingbird. Kids view a slide show and then discuss the seven banned books featured in the presentation and the reasons why the books may have been banned.
Curated OER
Black History Month
Students work in cooperative pairs to research information and give oral presentations about African American men and women who have made significant contributions to U.S. history.
Curated OER
A Day in the Life of a Veteran: Oral History
Seventh graders conduct an interview with a veteran of a recent war to provide an account of military conflicts. In this oral history lesson, 7th graders research a recent war and write interview questions for their research. Students...
Curated OER
Papier-mache Greek Vessels
Sixth graders create three-dimensional black and red figured Greek Vessels out of papier-mache, while researching and discussing Greek history, and myths of powerful gods and goddesses.
Curated OER
In Search Of Wisdom: An Interview With An Elder
The key to writing a good narrative is having good material to work with; and the key to getting good material is asking good questions. Working in groups, class members brainstorm questions that might result in the most interesting...