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Lesson Plan
PBS

Think Like a Historian: A Viewing Guide

For Students 6th - 12th Standards
Calling all junior detectives! Scholars use the tools of investigation to determine the causes and impacts of the American Civil War. Using viewing guides, videos, group research, and written resources, they discover what it takes to...
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Website
University of North Carolina

History

For Students 9th - 12th
The past helps to inform the present and the future—that's why the study of history is so important. The handout describes what historians do and why their jobs are meaningful. Readers learn about what to expect in a college-level...
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Unit Plan
Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment

Victorian Historians

For Teachers Pre-K - 12th Standards
Take the class back in time to the Victorian Era! The resource provides a plethora of activities that create experiences for scholars in class. Some activities include a fun fair, viewing the starry-night painting, and even experiencing...
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Activity
PBS

Document This

For Students 6th - 12th
Being a historian requires serious sleuthing. They examine primary source documents and look for evidence, for clues that reveal who wrote the document, when, and why. After watching two historians model the process, young history...
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Unit Plan
University of Minnesota

Making an Immigrant Story

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Budding historians research the trip immigrants to the United States take and the reasons behind their willingness to start over in a new place. Groups create their own video lessons outlining the story of human migration from departure...
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Lesson Plan
Stanford University

Declaration of Independence

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Scholars work in pairs to decide whether leaders wrote the Declaration of Independence for the rich and powerful or for every man. To draw their conclusion, pairs read excerpts from two historians and complete a graphic organizer citing...
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Activity
PBS

Before We Travel, We Research

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Context is key when it comes to historical research. Prior to field research, class members learn as much as they can about the site they are going to visit. Groups investigate and prepare presentations about the history of the site, the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Writing History: From Students to Scholars

For Teachers 9th - 12th
An Online NewsHour article about scholarly ethics launches this study of plagiarism. Since historians are supposed to bring original ideas and perspectives to their publications, they must give credit to the ideas of others. After a...
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Lesson Plan
Briscoe Center for American History

Applying the SOAPS Method of Analyzing Historical Documents

For Teachers 4th - 7th Standards
Young historians use the SOAPS (Speaker, Occasion, Audience, Purpose, Subject) method of questioning to determine the historical value of primary source documents. The third in a series of five lessons that model for learners how...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson: Uncovering a Mystery: Making a Hypothesis

For Teachers 1st - 6th
The class is presented with an image of a hand-carved leg. They act as art historians and hypothesize as to the purpose, nature, and creators of this amazing wooden leg. They compose journal entries from the point of view of an art...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

"No News Like Ancient News"

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Want to know more about Ancient history? Young historians will read a minimum of two web sites to complete the chart "Residents of Olympus". They choose one Greek god or goddess to research. This could be a small group activity or...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Go for the Gold!

For Teachers 5th - 12th
The options are vast with this Ancient Greece and Olympics research project! Using Scholastic online resources, historians have interactive and educational supports to guide them through researching and writing about the 2004 Olympics in...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lights! Cameras! Action!: Creating a Drama About the Lyme Art Colony

For Teachers 4th - 7th
Discuss the lives of artists in the Lyme Art Colony in the 1900s with this resource. Young historians write and perform a short scene depicting individuals who lived in the Griswold boardinghouse, used by the colony artists. They use the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

War Literature

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Working in groups, young historians review a war poem written by Stephen Crane. After reviewing the poem, they present an oral interpretation of the poem and hold a panel discussion about their analysis. The panel is made up of five or...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Two Sides of the Declaration of Independence

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Budding historians read six documents related to grievances that led to the writing of the Declaration of Independence. They then craft an essay in which they discuss the perspective of both the colonists and the king. This DBQ could be...
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Historical Perspectives: Coming Home from War

For Teachers 7th - 12th
What do the homecoming experiences of soldiers who fought in WWII, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan reveal about the politics and culture of the US during the time period of each war? Young historians view The Way We Get By, which tells...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Mid-Unit 2 Assessment: Inferring About the Silversmith Trade in Colonial Times

For Teachers 4th Standards
The seventh lesson plan in this unit on colonial trade assesses fourth graders' ability to use details from an informational text to make inferences and create a piece of informative writing. The included assessment begins with learners...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Building Background Knowledge: Colonial Craftspeople

For Teachers 4th Standards
In the first lesson plan of this unit on colonial trade, fourth graders gain background knowledge of different jobs performed by early colonists. The class begins with a slide show presentation that includes a variety of great...
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Handout
Park City Historical Society & Museum

Oral History Interview Questions Worksheet

For Students 4th - 8th
What is an oral history interview? What goes into the planning and what should be said? Why is it important that we know and learn from oral history? This is an excellent worksheet to support your young historians as they conduct...
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Lesson Plan
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PBS

Muhammad Ali: Boxer and Civil Rights Activist

For Students 3rd - 7th Standards
Many young people today know Muhammad Ali as the aging boxer who lit the torch at the 1996 Olympics. Introduce young historians to Ali the boxer, the Civil Rights activist, the war protestor, and the humanitarian with a powerful lesson...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Betsy Ross Story: Truth or Legend?

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Students discover that some historians question the story of Betsy Ross's involvement in the creation of the first U.S. flag, study why historians question the story and list reasons the story of Betsy Ross might not be true.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

From George to Martha: Writing a Sonnet Using Primary Sources

For Teachers 9th - 12th
What was the relationship like between George and Martha Washington? To protect their privacy, Martha Washington destroyed all her husband’s letters after his death so historians have little evidence of their lives together. Two letters...
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Lesson Plan
PBS

The Sixties: Notes from the Ho Chi Minh Trail

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Young historians research the rationales for fighting the Vietnam War, and the controversies surrounding it. They watch film clips, examine photographs, and read Lyndon B. Johnson's message to Congress to gather information for a...
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Myth of the West: The Battle of the Washita

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Go West, young man! Scholars use PBS video clips, slide shows, and interactive materials to create a picture of Manifest Destiny in the American West. Using a variety of primary and secondary sources, young historians learn about the...

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