Thoughtful discussion highlights Native American veterans and the Native American Veterans Memorial. Scholars explore what it means to be a warrior—the Warrior Tradition—and the process of creating the memorial that honors Native...

We must remember the past in order to avoid its mistakes. Young historians analyze the importance of historical remembrance using primary and secondary documents, as well as video clips. They then study the creation of a World War...

Young historians use primary source materials to investigate the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor and the sinking of the USS Arizona. After reading background articles and studying maps and images of the attack, class members consider whether...

Public art, especially monuments and memorials, are designed to celebrate and honor those who have made significant contributions to a community or even an entire nation. Here's a lesson that asks scholars to consider who is represented...

United States symbols are the subject of a video brought to you by BrainPop Jr. Hosts, Annie and Moby, begin with a definition of the word symbol, then go on to detail ten American symbols—the American flag, a Bald Eagle, the Liberty...

After examining winning entries to the Nicholas A. Virgilio Memorial Haiku Competition, young poets try their hand at this fixed form.

Are Civil War monuments a kind remembrance or a reminder of a dark past? The lesson focuses on the public's memory of the Civil War and the monuments that represent it. Young academics explore past efforts to change historical symbols...

Imagine the task of designing a national memorial for a former slave, orator, editor, and abolitionist! Scholars research and analyze the impact of the life of Frederick Douglass. Incorporating primary and secondary sources as well as...

As part of their study of the contributions of Abraham Lincoln, class members design their own memorial for this great president.

Young historians examine a memorial sculpture of the first African American regiment in the Civil War, and then compare how the experiences of the regiment are portrayed in letters and poetry, as well as in the motion...

PBS provides educators with this "Utilization Guide," a four segment program that covers the Civil War, World War I, World War II, the Korean conflict, Vietnam, and the Gulf War. The 42-page packet includes lessons, background...

Don't be put off by the fact that the World War I propaganda posters in this packet are Canadian and some of them are even in French. All the better, in fact, to see the techniques. The richly detailed plan has instructors model...

Distinguishing between and understanding the purpose of landmarks and monuments is the focus a short activity designed to provide all learners with the context of a performance task. Images of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, the...

Was Nat Turner a hero or a violent criminal? Using primary sources and images that discuss the rebellion of enslaved people he led in antebellum Virginia, scholars consider the question. Then, they create memorials to Turner and...

The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre is the focus of a lesson plan that explores the causes and consequences of the destruction of the Greenwood section of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Pupils examine primary source images, a video clip covering the riots,...

What were the driving forces behind American expansion in the nineteenth century, and what were its effects? Scholars watch a video, read biographies, engage in discussion, write journals and poetry, draw, and create a multimedia...

David Binnington's mural commemorating the 1936 Battle of Cable Street is the focus of a lesson that looks at public art as a form of civic participation. After reading background material about the mural, individuals analyze a segment...

Scholars generally agree on the emancipation of enslaved people in the United States. This inquiry-based lesson asks high schoolers to consider more than the claims of who freed the enslaved people but the significance of the issues...

As Don Quixote asserts in the musical Man of La Mancha, it is possible to achieve your dreams. For the last lesson plan in the Getting Started Module, participants learn the importance of having dreams and setting goals that...

Although designed for the Canadian War Museum, the concept here is a solid one. Class members select an artifact from the First World War, examine it, research it, and craft an explanative label that they attach to their picture and post...

Mamie Till, the mother of Emmett Till and civil rights activist, believed that her son's murder was the last straw before public outrage over racial injustice spilled over into the Civil Rights Movement of the 20th century. A history...

Imagine dumping out a milk can and finding letters from one of the darkest moments in history! Scholars use Holocaust Reading Passages and research to discover how people recorded and hid history during the events of World War II. They...

Lilly Martin Spencer's "Peeling Onions" is the subject of a series of exercises that model for learners how to use the elements of art to read a painting. A series of worksheets focus viewers' attention on how Spencer uses...

Discover how writers express identity in their writing. Learners explore how issues of identity surface in the literature of minority writers. Scholars watch a video, read and discuss biographies, conduct research, engage in creative...