Lesson Plan
TCI

Picking Rusty Gold: Why Do People Buy and Sell Antiques?

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
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.
Activity
2
2
Teach Engineering

Earthquakes Living Lab: Finding Epicenters and Measuring Magnitudes

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Pairs use an online simulation to determine the epicenter and magnitude of an earthquake. Using real data about the earthquake's maximum S wave amplitudes, they then determine the magnitude. The resource provides a great career...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Mayflower Compact

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders investigate historical documents of the United States by reading the Mayflower Compact.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....
Activity
1
1
Council for Economic Education

Paper Money of the Sung, Yuan, and Ming Dynasties

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
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...
Lesson Plan
1
1
Smithsonian Institution

Students’ Response to 9/11—A Documentary Report

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
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, 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Time Has Come: Poetry and Drama Use in the Geography Class

For Teachers 6th - 8th
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...
Unit Plan
National Constitution Center

Fourth of July (Grades 3-5)

For Teachers 3rd - 5th Standards
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...
Lesson Plan
National History Day

Reporting on World War I

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Throughout history, newspapers have reported the events of the day as they unfolded. Using primary and secondary sources from World War I, scholars uncover how the American people learned of the events of the War to End All Wars. History...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Many Passages: The Voyage of the Slave Ship Brookes

For Teachers 8th - 11th
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rendezvous at Promontory: A New Look at the Golden Spike Ceremony

For Teachers 7th - 12th
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Bring No Poor Articles with You

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Students compare their travel needs to homesteaders from the late 1800's in this multi-lesson unit. Students analyze a historic document, explain modes of transportation of the homesteaders, and articulate the personal and economic...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Underground Railroad: Henry "Box" Brown

For Teachers 3rd - 4th
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

History According to Shakespeare

For Teachers 6th - 8th
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...
Unit Plan
Henry Ford Museum

Human Impact on Ecosystems

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
An environmenta science unit includes three lessons plus a cumulative project covering the ecosystem. Scholars follow the history of the Ford Rouge Factory from its construction on wetlands and how it destroyed the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Old Stone House Lesson Plan

For Teachers 7th - 12th
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Eleanor Roosevelt and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Young scholars 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.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Run Your Own Boarding House

For Teachers 10th - 12th
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Private Property Vs. the Public Good: the Problem of Eminent Domain

For Teachers 9th - 12th
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

To Kill a Mockingbird - Introductory Role Play and Historical Background

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students participate in role-play activities to explain that emotional and social effects of prejudice discussed in the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Wreck Detectives

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Junior archaeologists examine types of artifacts from the Bronze Age on the internet. In collaborative groups, they create a story about a ship from this period and then construct a model of the ocean floor after their ship has sunk....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Treaty Trail: U.S. - Clothing That Talks: Meaning and Material Culture

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Inference By Analogy

For Teachers 4th - 12th
Students infer the use or meaning of items recovered from a North Carolina Native American site based on 17th-century European settlers' accounts and illustration.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The People of Kansas

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students investigate primary sources to experience first- hand accounts of Kansas pioneers. They write an historical fiction letter or skit based on territorial documents.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Teams in the Field

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students conduct team interviews outside the classroom, either within the school or beyond, as part of a fieldwork project. They use reasoning skills as they formulate questions, plan, predict, hypothesize, and speculate about the...