The Battle of Fort Sumter was both the first and the least deadly battle of the American Civil War, with no soldiers lost during the lengthy bombardment. Learn more about the first shots of the Civil War with a short reading passage and...

Imagine a war being fought to free slaves, with slaves on the front line. Scholars use primary documents, videos, and research in the second installment of a three-part series to guide their analysis of the first African-Americans on the...

Have you ever seen a movie about the romance of the American West with its buffalo, horses, cowboys, and endless frontier? The 13th installment of a 22-part series on American history presents the myths associated with the American West....

Who were the Anti-Federalists and what do primary sources tell young historians about their beliefs? Learners read Paper No. 3 to understand their values in relation to government, such as their discussion on foreign policy and the pros...

Learn about the events that helped shape the United States of America. Elementary schoolers explore the Civil War with six different activities. Each activity has a different focus: literature connections, primary sources, vocabulary,...

Middle schoolers read one of the most important documents in our nation's history: The Emancipation Proclamation of 1863. After everyone reads the proclamation, they set out to write a "You Were There" type of report on it. They pretend...

Students read the Emancipation Proclamation and investigate steps that led to its signing. They read and discuss period news articles from both sides of the argument and create portfolios of documentation supporting both sides.

Learners take an in depth look at different aspects of the Civil War. Using primary source documents, they discover that people who lived during the war are not so different from them. They read about the experience of a Confederate...

Young scholars research nonprofit organizations. As they research, they learn how those living in the colonial period formed community organizations to provide for the common good of their society. Each pupil chooses one organization to...

Learners consider the impact of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation In this U.S. Constitution lesson, students read a narrative regarding the move by Lincoln to officially end slavery. Learners take notes on the case and respond to...

Who were the Iroquois, and how did they compare with the Romans? Attached is a three-page article and a set of accompanying questions. Only four questions are included, but you could require your readers to write two or three...

A good addition to a unit on the War of 1812, this slideshow details causes, specific battles, political contexts, and several campaigns of the war. Maps and pictures with broad topics allow teachers to bring their own discussion topics...

One skill essential to reading comprehension, is learning how to summarize a text. After reading a biography of Abraham Lincoln, readers demonstrate this ability by crafting a brief summary of Lincoln's life.

Learners, examine The Civil War, from a variety of perspectives and assignments. After taking notes, they can choose from creating a front page newspaper article describing the fall of Fort Sumter, discuss the pros and cons of fighting,...

Students investigate the Native Americans of the Muscogee Creek and their use of the land. For this U.S. history lesson, students investigate the importance of the deer for the Muscogee Creek peoples' way of life and the many uses they...

Students study the Earliest Americans. In this interactive lesson on the Native Americans, students study different tribes over the course of seven lessons. Students culminate their studies with a presentation and assessment.

Fifth graders become familiar with the events of Reconstruction and the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments. In this reconstruction instructional activity, 5th graders work in pairs where each student  creates a building with blocks and...

Learners identify and describe characteristics of civic virtue. Following a class discussion, they create their own definitions of civic virtue. They write essays based on their own definitions and formulate conclusions on the state of...

Students explore the role that African American soldiers had in the Civil War and the impact they had on the US Civil Rights movement after the war. They complete a timeline, read an excerpt and analyze a primary image.

Students explain how a history of slavery distinguishes American society from other societies. They study posters and documents from different eras in our history which document the practice of slavery, and civil rights violations.

Students study about the Civil War through primary sources used in the PBS production of "Freedom: A History of US" based on Joy Hakim's books, "A History of US", and the companion PBS Web site.

Fifth graders create multi-media newscasts based on their knowledge of Civil War battles of the ironclad ships.

Fifth graders discover new and interesting technologies of the Civil War. In this Civil War portfolio of lessons, 5th graders analyze primary resources, develop new vocabulary, investigate websites, and create a time line of new...

Students explore public sentiment regarding Reconstruction. In this Reconstruction instructional activity, students analyze primary sources for evidence of the political, social and economic stability of the U.S. following the Civil...