National Endowment for the Humanities
Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart: Oral and Literary Strategies
Readers are first introduced to Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart by making a map of Africa. They will better understand the novel's historical and literary contexts, European and African literary traditions, and how historical events...
Curated OER
Human Needs
Students investigate human needs and how they have adapted to different environments. They complete an experiment to discover the effect of stress on muscles. They use the food pyramid to create a plan for healthy eating.
Curated OER
Jefferson vs. Franklin: Renaissance Men
Students list a variety of interests and achievements of Franklin and Jefferson. They take a position that one or the other's interests and achievements were more wide-ranging or that they were equivalent. They write out their findings.
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Mapping Community Values
Students discuss the origin of various maps focusing on the values behind them. Students also explore how human needs and geography influence community settlement patterns. Students extend learning by creating and mapping their own ideal...
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Create Your Own Colony
Students investigate the history of the 1607 Popham Colony and its plan of being established for inhabitation. They analyze the plan by answering key questions. Then students come to a conclusion about its effectiveness. The project is...
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Strengthening Democracy in Africa
Pupils analyze democratic advances in Africa. In this global issues activity, students research Internet, video, and print sources regarding current political developments in Africa. Pupils create e-collages or digital videos that...
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Daily Life in Pennsylvania's Historic Cloistered Religious Communities
Study the daily life of three religious communities from Pennsylvanian history. Learners research the religious communities of the Ephrata Cloister, Bethlehem, and Harmony. They study primary sources for each community and complete...
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Discovering and Converting the Battle of Homestead
Students study and explore the Homestead strike and locate where the events took place. In this investigative lesson students use several perspectives to write an objective newspaper article on the event.
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Land Use in New Hampshire: Farming
Students examine how the environment as affected people farming in New Hampshire. They visit a field trip to a local farm to make observations. They create a poem based on their observations.
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Rules, Resistance and Repeal: How the Stamp Act Was Repealed
Eighth graders examine the causes of the American Revolution. Participating in activities, they discover how it would have felt to be taxed without representation. They identify an object from a museum and discuss how it might have been...
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The 1726 Casco Bay Treaty Conference
Students simulate the Casco Bay Treaty Conference. They read and discuss an excerpt from the Conference proceedings. They work in groups to discuss the concerns of the Conference and why the Indians conceded. They write a response to...
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Through The Looking Glass
Students examine the time period of westward expansion. In groups, they use the internet to research the reasons why people moved west during the 1800s. They write their own narratives playing the role of a member of a pioneer family...
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Paving the Road to the Constitution
Eighth graders assess the strengths and weaknessess of the Articles of Confederation as related to the United States and North Carolina. They demonstrate an argument for or against ratification of the United States Constitution.
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Creating a Neighborhood Timeline
Students research information about their neighborhoods. Uncovering facts about geology and Native Americans, they examine how the neighborhood has evolved over time. They work together to create a timeline of specific events.
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The Terrible Transformation: Freedom Denied
Students learn about the legal foundations for slavery and explore autobiographical writings of slaves. Students trace the development of laws that enforced the slave status of Africans and their descendants.
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Chinese communities, Federation and the early Commonwealth
Students search and use a database. They compare and analyze primary sources and develop an awareness of the nature and extent of the Chinese community's involvement in the Federation celebrations.
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Little America in Liberia
High schoolers study the history of Liberia prior to and after the influx of immigrants of African Americans. They investigate the cultural differences between the African Americans and newly-arrived Liberians.
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The Boundary Dispute between New Hampshire and Massachusetts, 1677-1741
Learners research primary and secondary source documents to examine the separation of New Hampshire from the larger colony of Massachusetts.
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Divided We Fall
Middle schoolers investigate the consequences of eliminating one or more of the amendments to the Bill of Rights.
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Good Brother, Bad Brother
Students are exposed to the writings of John Wilkes Booth. They discover that fanaticism is not just a modern phenomenon. They examine four periods in American history when treason was at issue.
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Blessings of a Free Government: The Louisiana Purchase in 1803
Learners may take part in a multitude of activities listed such as creating political cartoons, comparison papers, and creating a portfolio to reinforce concepts and ideas surrounding the Louisiana Purchase.
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"To Terraform or Not to Terraform?"
Learners analyze an article written by an engineer at NASA proposing colonizing Mars with human explorers on the fastest track possible. They are invited to react to the article through several activities.
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Powder Horns: Portals to the Past
Students discuss the uses of a powder horn. They identify the types of etchings soldiers would make on them. They create their own design for their own powder horn.
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South Carolina's Constitution
Eighth graders explore the definition of political culture. After viewing a movie, 8th graders discuss how the political culture of the 1600 and 1700s is reflected in early drafts of the South Carolina constitution.