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National Endowment for the Humanities

Lost Hero: Was John Hanson Actually the First President?

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
The first president of the United States was ... John Hanson? Scholars investigate the notion that the initial leader of the nation was not George Washington. Using research, articles, and open discussion, individuals create a quest for...
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Worksheet
Prestwick House

Their Eyes Were Watching God

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
The main character in Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, is the focus of a crossword puzzle that asks readers to identify key events and characters in Janie Starks' life.
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Their Eyes Were Watching God: The Impact of Language

For Teachers 10th - Higher Ed Standards
Author, filmmaker, and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston was also a dialectologist. The dialogue of the characters in her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God reveals her fascination with accents and dialects. A short video from the Great...
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Lesson Plan
NET Foundation for Television

1850-1874 Homestead Act Signed: Who were the Settlers?

For Teachers 3rd - 12th Standards
Life in the great, wide-open spaces of the West! Scholars analyze the reasons behind the vast movement to the Great Plains after the passing of the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the Homestead Act. Using photographic, document, map, video, and...
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Lesson Plan
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Albert Shanker Institute

Heart of the Matter

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Most people have heard of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his famous "I Have a Dream" speech, but few have heard of Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin. Who were these guys and what did they have to do with this famous landmark event in...
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Website
Anne Frank House

Who Was Anne Frank?

For Students 6th - 12th Standards
Set the stage for a study of The Diary of a Young Girl with a resource that includes background information about Anne Frank's early years, the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands, her Secret Annex hiding place, and her capture and...
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Lesson Plan
Center for History Education

Cold War Case Files: The Rosenberg Trial - Was Justice Fairly Served?

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The Rosenbergs—executed for their role in a Soviet-era spy ring—continue the captivate the American imagination. Using a history lab format, young historians examine the trove of documents associated with the case, including photographs...
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Activity
Digital Public Library of America

The American Whaling Industry

For Teachers 6th - 12th
When thinking about the American whaling industry most imagine Moby Dick and Nantucket sleigh rides, harpoons and scrimshaw, whale-oil lamps and baleen in women's corsets. But it may come as a surprise that the industry was also...
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Lesson Plan
Syracuse University

Erie Canal

For Teachers 3rd - 5th Standards
While canals are not the way to travel today, in the first half of the nineteenth century, they were sometimes the best way to move goods and people. Scholars examine primary sources, including maps and pictures, to investigate the role...
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Abraham Lincoln: Man versus Legend

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Abraham Lincoln was one of the greatest presidents ever ... right? Scholars research the accomplishments and struggles of the Lincoln presidency. They uncover facts, materials and information via video clips, primary, and secondary...
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Constitution Day

For Teachers 6th - 12th
September 17, Constitution Day so named because that was the day in 1787, that 39 men signed the Constitution, is the focus of a series of activities designed to simulate a Constitutional convention and open a study of the US Constitution.
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Activity
Mission India

My Passport to India: What's Caste Like?

For Students 8th - 10th
To gain an understanding of what it was like to live under India's caste system, class members engage in a role-playing activity that assigns group members to four different groups, each with different rules for behavior.
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Lesson Plan
Alabama Department of Archives and History

What Were They Thinking? Why Some Some Alabamians Opposed the 19th Amendment

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
To better understand the debate over the 19th Amendment, class members examine two primary source documents that reveal some of the social, economic, racial, and political realities of the time period.
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Lesson Plan
Alabama Department of Archives and History

World War II - Life on the Home Front in Alabama

For Teachers 6th
What was life like for civilians who were home during WWII? The lesson uses a PowerPoint presentation with photos to explain life on the home front was like during World War II, including shortages of food, collecting scrap metal, and...
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PPT
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Mr. Roughton

The Travels of Marco Polo

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Were the stories of Marco Polo's travels and interactions with the Mongols actually true? Using an excerpt from the book The Travels of Marco Polo, your young historians will answer guiding questions to discuss the accuracy and...
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Lesson Plan
Library of Virginia

Life as a Liberated People

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Imagine having no control over your life and then suddenly having to provide for yourself. Such was the challenge faced by many American slaves after emancipation. Class members are asked to consider these challenges are they examine...
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Lesson Plan
Center for History Education

Who Burned the Peggy Stewart?

For Teachers 3rd - 5th Standards
Not all Patriots were on the same page against the British before the Revolutionary War. While some wanted to use peaceful means, such as debate and petition, others used violence, such as burning ships carrying British tea. Using...
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Lesson Plan
Teaching Women's History

Medieval Women

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Not all the women in the late Middle Ages (1400-1510) lived lives of quiet desperation. Young historians study images and read primary source documents to gain an understanding of what life was like for the elite class of medieval women.
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Activity
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Facing History and Ourselves

Maintain and Modify

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Maintain or modify? That's the question scholars answer as they reflect on their focus and engagement in that day's lesson. Were learners focused and contributing, or do they need to modify their level of participation?
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PPT
Mr. E. Science

Manned Spaced Exploration: From Start to Gemini

For Students 7th - 8th Standards
Seven percent of Americans believe the moon landing was staged. The presentation covers manned space exploration from the beginning of the space race through the Gemini missions. The lesson is the 23rd in a set of 26.
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Activity
Constitutional Rights Foundation

How the First State Constitutions Helped Build the U.S. Constitution

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Did you know that the United States Constitution was adopted after many state constitutions were already in place? Young scholars examine facts about the influence of states through an informative and interesting resource. Groups then...
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Lesson Plan
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NPR

Partners In Winning The War Lesson Plan

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
How propaganda was used to change the concept of women's roles during World War II is the focus of an online exhibit provided by the National Women's History Museum. Packed with propaganda posters and pictures, the packet points out how...
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Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

David Walker vs. John Day: Two Nineteenth-Century Free Black Men

For Teachers 6th - 11th Standards
What was the most beneficial policy for nineteenth-century African Americans: to stay in the United States and work for freedom, or to immigrate to a new place and build a society elsewhere? Your young historians will construct an...
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Lesson Plan
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National Endowment for the Humanities

The House Un-American Activities Committee

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Was the House Un-American Activities Committee justified in investigating subversive influences in the entertainment industry? Part two of the three-part series of lessons that examine the anti-communism movement after World War II,...

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