Lesson Plan
Curated OER

African Americans after the Civil War

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students explore the events of Reconstruction after the Civil War.  In this US History lesson plan, students complete several activities and worksheets that reinforce challenges and social upheaval experienced in the South after the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A House Dividing: The Growing Crisis of Sectionalism in Antebellum America

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students trace the development of sectionalism in the United States. They explore slavery, freedom and the Constitution. Students identify influential opponents and defenders of American slavery. They explain different solutions to...
PPT
Curated OER

The Brief American Pageant: Renewing the Sectional Struggle

For Teachers 9th - 11th
A panorama of the mid-19th century in America, this series of images present several issues that were prevalent before the Civil War. Territorial and social conflicts were heated during this time, and one map in particular shows a...
PPT
Curated OER

Famous African Americans,

For Teachers 2nd
Studying African American history? Explore and discuss famous African Americans such as Martin Luther King Jr., George Washington Carver, Harriet Tubman, and more. Simple bulleted facts detail the heroic deeds of these individuals. Use...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Great "What If" Question. How might American history have been different had Lincoln lived?

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders study the Presidency of Abraham Lincoln.  In this American History lesson, 11th graders analyze documents related to Reconstruction.  Students participate in a debate on Reconstruction.  
Lesson Plan
American Evolution

Virginia Runaway Slave Ads

For Students 11th - 12th Standards
What does an ad reveal about a culture, or about the values of its intended audience? Class members examine a series of runaway slave ads—one of which was written by Thomas Jefferson—and consider what these primary source documents...
Lesson Plan
Center for History Education

Slavery and Civil Disobedience: Christiana Riot of 1851

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
When is it a moral obligation to disobey the law or to fight back? Using primary sources that document the "Christiana Riot" of 1851, learners consider these questions. The firsthand accounts tell the story of the riot, which happened...
Unit Plan
Simon & Schuster

Classroom Activities for Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is the focus of three activities designed for readers of the autobiography.  First, class members deconstruct the title to understand Douglass's purpose in writing. Next, scholars...
Interactive
Curated OER

The Civil War 1850–1865

For Students 7th - 12th
In this online interactive history worksheet, students respond to 10 short answer questions about the American Civil War. Students may check some of their answers on the interactive worksheet.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Wolf by the Ear

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Students examine Thomas Jefferson's complex and contradictory relationship with slavery.
Lesson Plan
Constitutional Rights Foundation

History of Immigration Through the 1850s

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Everyone living in the United States today is a descendant from an immigrant—even Native Americans. Learn about the tumultuous history of American immigration with a reading passage that discusses the ancient migration over the Bering...
Lesson Plan
Crafting Freedom

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper: Lover of Literacy

For Teachers 6th - 8th
This, the sixth in a series of 10 related resources, examines the life and works of Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, an African American author, born in 1825, who advocated literacy for both free and enslaved African Americans.
Unit Plan
C3 Teachers

Uncle Tom’s Cabin: Can Words Lead to War?

For Teachers 7th Standards
"Words, words, words." Despite Hamlet's opinion, words can be significant. In this inquiry lesson, middle schoolers learn how the words in Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, in the view of many, lead to the American Civil War. To...
Unit Plan
Annenberg Foundation

Spirit of Nationalism

For Teachers 6th - 12th
What were the virtues and values that helped form America? Pupils watch and discuss a video, read biographies of early Americans, chart the differences between early American religious movements, write journals and letters, draw, and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

African Americans: 1800 - 1870

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students explore living and working environment of both slave and free African Americans from places throughout the United States.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Breaking the Chains, Rising Out of Circumstances

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students research slavery in ancient Rome and compare and contrast it to slavery in the United States.  In this slavery lesson plan, students investigate the differences of slavery in different parts of the country, write a paper to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Freedmen's Bureau

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students examine the African American experience after they received their freedom after the Civil War. They complete a Mind Map, read and analyze a poem, and write a paragraph using key vocabulary words. They analyze the impact of the...
Lesson Plan
Library of Virginia

Antebellum Freedom

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
From indentured servitude to involuntary race-based servitude, slavery has taken many forms in American history. Class members examine three manumission petitions that reveal how the rights of African Americans and African American...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What Events Led to Lincoln's Assassination?

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders use primary and secondary sources to research the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. They identify arguments supporting and opposing the position that Lincoln's assassination could have been prevented and write a report...
PPT
Curated OER

Life in the Colonies

For Teachers 9th - 12th
What was life like for the early colonists? Read along with an informational presentation, rich in text. Colonial slavery, slave culuture, colonial religion, and the Great Awakening are all described in full. Tip: The resource could be...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's Christmas Bells

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students read and analyze the anti-slavery poem, "Christmas Bells" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. They discuss the content and form of the poem, write an essay, write an original poem, examine how this anti-slavery poem was converted...
Lesson Plan
1
1
National Endowment for the Humanities

Women's Lives Before the Civil War

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Women's lifestyles before the Civil War made a huge impact as a point of causation. Give middle schoolers the opportunity to view firsthand the lives of women before the Civil War. They analyze primary source documents, view photographs,...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lincoln, Emancipation, and the Constitution

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers determine how President Lincoln promoted emancipation. In this slavery lesson, students examine primary documents, including the U.S. Constitution, to reconstruct Lincoln's attempts to end slavery and deliver the...
Organizer
Student Handouts

The Formation of the U.S. Constitution #3

For Students 8th - 12th
Finish up your study of the United States Constitution with the third resource in a three-part series. Class members respond to three questions that focus on the relationship between the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution and...

Other popular searches