Curated OER
Unsung Military Heroes
In this instructional activity, students are introduced to the contributions made by African-American soldiers that have been excluded from traditional textbooks. To gain an appreciation for these unsung heroes, students engage in...
Curated OER
Mother's Day
Students construct Mother's Day cards. In this holiday lesson, students use art supplies to create Mother's Day cards. Students may include an acrostic poem about their mother or a coupon book for their mother.
Curated OER
Online Collaborative Social Studies Lesson Plan
Students create newspapers and post them online for others to see.
Curated OER
Graphing the Past Using Today's Technology
Eighth graders research and gather information from such sources as Microsoft Encarta, World Wide Web sites, and other sources using computer software to collect data.
Curated OER
Celebrating the Smithsonian's Birthday
Students examine online objects from the Smithsonian website and use them as subjects and inspiration for creative writing exercises.
PBS
Pbs Teachers: Conflicting Newspaper Accounts (Civil War Lesson Plan) [Pdf]
Multilayered lesson that begins with analysis of a series of photographs of the battle of Antietam and ends with writing an account of the battle in the style of a nineteenth-century war correspondent from opposing perspectives of North...
Success Link
Success Link: Civil War 1861 1865
An eight-lesson unit on the Civil War using Patricia Beatty's young adult novel, Charley Skedaddle, as the unifying text. Geared mainly for middle school, but certainly has good information for high school students as well.
Utah Education Network
Uen: Commemoration of the Gettysburg Battlefield
This lesson engages students in projects centered around the Gettysburg Address. Students will study primary sources and make group presentations to share their learning. Then students will assume the roles of "experts", hypothesize...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Alex: Newscast on the Battles of the Ironclad Ships
This lesson is on the ironclad ships and the battles that took place during the Civil War. Students will use the information from previous lessons to create a simulated newscast that takes place during an actual battle between ironclad...
HotChalk
Hot Chalk: Lesson Plans Page: Civil War Battlefields Virtual Field Trip
This detailed lesson plan has students analyzing battles of the Civil War through the Internet and creating a presentation using the information learned. Note: Some links may no longer work but these battlefield sites can be easily found...
US National Archives
Docsteach: Integration of the u.s. Armed Forces
Young scholars will draw upon the visual and textual data presented in photographs and documents to gain an understanding of the participation of African Americans in the U.S. Armed Forces and of changes in American military policy...
PBS
Wnet: Thirteen: A War to End Slavery: Gettysburg, Vicksburg and Children at War [Pdf]
A lesson plan from the producers of the 16-episode PBS series "Freedom: A History of US" that takes students through an investigation of two key battles of the Civil War--Vicksburg and Gettysburg. Students determine why these battles...
American Battlefield Trust
American Battlefield Trust: Working to Save America's Battlefields
This site is dedicated to saving American battlefields. It provides videos of Civil War battlefields including Bull Run and Manassas, animated Revolutionary War maps, and video of the life of Ulysses Grant.
Louisiana Department of Education
Louisiana Doe: Louisiana Believes: Grade 8 Social Studies Units
A grade 8 scope and sequence document with six complete units.
White House Historical Association
White House Historical Association: Thence Forward, and Forever Free
Informational text and lesson plan for grades 9-12 tracing Abraham Lincoln's battle against slavery from the time he was in the Illinois State Legislature through his presidency and writing of the Emancipation Proclamation.