Your historical sleuths will work to research the in-depth history of chosen artifacts and will use their research to design a fictional advertisement for an early 20th century item.

This is a really good instructional activity. Learners explore US Foreign Policy, the Reagan Administration, and the Iran-Contra Affair through various documents and readers theater. Worksheets, script, and web links are all included....

Eighth graders investigate historical documents of the United States by reading the Mayflower Compact.  In this U.S. History instructional activity, 8th graders analyze the wording of the original Mayflower Compact of the first U.S....

Bring history to life for your young scholars with a Fourth of July lesson series. After a class reading of the Declaration of Independence, students translate this pivotal document into layman's terms before working in small...

Examine three perspectives of the slave trade - captain, sailor, and captive - through this collaborative analysis activity. Small groups study one perspective with a primary source to analyze. They discern what is a historical fact and...

Students complete a variety of activities as they examine the historical significance of the Transcontinental Railroad and the Golden Spike Ceremony in Promontory, Utah, which honored its completion. In one activity they plan and...

Students compare their travel needs to homesteaders from the late 1800's in this multi-lesson plan unit. Students analyze a historic document, explain modes of transportation of the homesteaders, and articulate the personal and economic...

Students build Henry's box. In this historical perspective lesson students listen to the story Henry's Freedom Box by Ellen Levine about an escape using the Underground Railroad. Students also read and discuss The Deliverer of Box Brown...

Students interpret historical evidence presented in primary and secondary resources. In this Brown v. Board of Education lesson plan, students examine sources that require them to consider the impact of the case in order to participate...

Students read Shakespeare's, Julius Caesar while identifying a number of literary elements including simile, metaphor, personification, and hyperbole. As a response activity, they simulate a mock trial, and finally, compare and contrast...

From stagecoach to railroad tracks, your class will discover how advancements in travel in the United States during the nineteenth century played an integral role in the industrialization and development of American society. The main...

Pupils explore the leadership of Eleanor Roosevelt through the use of historical documents. They examine the complexity of the creation of international documents. Students explore the Human Rights Declaration.

Role-play and simulation exercises are fantastic ways to help learners understand the reality behind many social and historical events. Pretending they are colonists, upper graders choose a location, create a history, establish laws, and...

Students become familiar with the historical and sociological aspects of the boarding house phenomenon in America. As students work in groups, they read and analyze documents that will help them gain a deeper understanding. To...

Young scholars view video The Electric Valley, discuss film clips and review news articles and other documents pertaining to eminent domain, prepare declarative statement on issue that has pro or con side, and present case to opposing...

Students participate in role-play activities to explain that emotional and social effects of prejudice discussed in the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird.

Young historians research the devastating attacks of 9/11 and use that information to script their own documentaries. The follow-up activity includes recording the documentary and conducting classmate interviews, 

Students investigate primary sources to experience first- hand accounts of Kansas pioneers. They write an historical fiction letter or skit based on territorial documents.

Students investigate the cultures of Native Americans and Euro-Americans through their clothing.  In this photograph analysis lesson, students observe historic photographs and analyze the style of clothes people wore and how it...

Middle schoolers read the play "Julius Caesar" by William Shakespeare. In groups, they identify the instances of similes, metaphors and personification. They use the Internet to compare and contrast the events in the play with historical...

Learners use drama and poetry in their Geography class. In groups, they role play an interviewer or the interviewee in various plays that were presented to them. In their role, they must locate and label where the countries mentioned...

Why did the Chinese develop paper money? They were the first society to use paper currency. Learners consider why paper money was more convenient than other mechanisms of trade using a helpful lesson plan, which includes a graphic...

Taking on the roles of a fiery Boston patriot, a Philadelphia merchant's wife, and a prominent abolitionist, your young historians will consider the reactions of these early Americans to the creation of the Declaration of...

Was James Monroe the sole contributor of the Monroe Doctrine? Young scholars study the doctrine and cite evidence to show contributions of John Quincy Adams and Thomas Jefferson in its formulation.