Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Virginia: Jamestown and Its People

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students familiarize themselves with the settlement of Jamestown and practice describing objects and their use. In this Jamestown lesson, students listen to stories about Jamestown, complete an artifact activity, and explore the story...
PPT
Curated OER

Social Studies: Famous History

For Teachers 2nd
While a rudimentary overview of facts relating to U.S. History, this resource could be used as a starting point for a discussion of this topic. However, there is very little information included on each slide, and one of the terms used...
Lesson Plan
PBS

The Sixties: Hitsville USA

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
James Jamerson. You probably heard him but may not have heard of him. But fans of Motown Records will certainly recognize his contributions to the sound that desegregated popular music during the 1960s. Challenge young history...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Building Suburbia: Highways and Housing in Postwar America

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students determine how suburbs changed America. For this post World War II lesson, students complete research projects that require them to examine the growth of suburbs in the 1950's and 1960's. Students reveal how government policies,...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

America's Favorite Landmarks

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Young scholars research using Google Earth a variety of websites to explore America's most prominent and famous buildings. They then compare and contrast architectural styles and write a position paper defending or arguing against their...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Abraham Lincoln on the American Union: " A Word Fitly Spoken"

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students consider Lincoln's perspective. In this presidential perspectives instructional activity, students explore the political thoughts of Lincoln through a series of lessons that make use of primary source analysis. They hypothesize...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The First Conservationists

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students read a story. In this Native American lesson, students learn about Native Americans and their responsibility to take care of a place called Turtle Island. Students learn the vocabulary words generation, befall, interdependence...
Lesson Plan
Library of Virginia

Life as a Liberated People

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Imagine having no control over your life and then suddenly having to provide for yourself. Such was the challenge faced by many American slaves after emancipation. Class members are asked to consider these challenges are they examine...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Storytelling In America

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Young scholars discuss how Washington Irving is considered an important 19th century-American storyteller. They create their own version of a passage from 'The Legend' after listening to the story.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Famous African Americans ABC Book

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students investigate the concept of a biography by using famous African Americans for a subject. Each student is assigned one biography and conducts research in order to complete an ABC book for the class that is used for display...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

America Poems

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students examine examples of how other Americans have expressed their feelings about America through songs and poetry, and write their own poems to express their relationship with America.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

WWI and Twenties & Thirties

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students study economics and timelines of events to understand changes in America.  In this Twenties and Thirties activity, students navigate Internet sites to research famous reformers.  Students recognize the economic changes...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Amazing Americans

For Teachers 1st
First graders research amazing Americans during the first 100 years of American history. After a lecture/demo, 1st graders use a worksheet imbedded in this plan to write 2-4 sentences about 4 of the Americans presented in class.
Interactive
1
1
Soft Schools

Civil Rights

For Students 4th - 8th Standards
Informational text about the Civil Rights Movement challenges young historians to prove their reading comprehension skills with six multiple choice questions. After answers are submitted a new screen displays a score,...
Worksheet
Curated OER

American Indians

For Students 5th - 6th
In this American Indians worksheet, students read a 2 page article on American Indians, answer 6 statements as true or false and fill in 8 blanks in 8 facts referring back to American Indians.
Lesson Plan
National First Ladies' Library

Were There Two Wars for American Independence?

For Teachers 10th - Higher Ed
Students debate whether or not the War of 1812 can be counted as America's second war of independence. After researching the War of 1812, they complete a WebQuest designed to help them decide on the validity of the war as a quest for...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Famous People and Cultural Diffusion

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students use the internet to identify cultural traditions throughout the world. In groups, they examine each culture and determine the effect they had on life in the United States. They use this information to write a family history...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lewis and Clark Expedition

For Teachers 9th
Ninth graders examine the goals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition and identify the present day cities, towns, rivers, and regions that are on the route of the expedition. They complete an online WebQuest, recreating the route of the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

"ART ZOO 'Blacks in the Westward Movement', 'What Can You Do with a Portrait', and 'Of Beetles, Worms, and Leaves of Grass'"

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students study black history, examine portraits and portrait making and create their own portraits, and  investigate their natural environment. This humanities lesson provides a text that can be used to teach lessons in black...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Colonization of the United States

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Bring the Age of Exploration into the 21st century with this ancestry activity! Learners get a chance to explore the complex genealogy of the Spanish settlers through watching two video clips (approximately five minutes each) featuring...
Interactive
DocsTeach

Twelve Years a Slave

For Teachers 8th - 12th
It's difficult to truly grasp the effects of slavery. Young historians use historical analysis to understand the struggle of slavery on African Americans. The resource provides text from the autobiography Twelve Years a Slave to help...
Lesson Plan
Museum of the American Revolution

Dissecting the Declaration

For Teachers 4th - 12th
Delve into the past to understand the issues that led to the Declaration of Independence. Academics read excerpts from the Declaration of Independence and take a virtual tour of the American Revolution Museum. The resource explains how...
Interactive
DocsTeach

Extending Suffrage to Women

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Votes for women! The activity highlights the push for the Nineteenth Amendment giving women the right to vote. High school scholars learn how the Fifteenth Amendment giving African American men the right to vote helped to spark the...
Interactive
DocsTeach

Responding to the Murder of Harry T. Moore

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Heroic civil rights leader Harry T. Moore is murdered! An eye-opening activity delves into the past to understand the murder of prominent civil rights leader and educator Harry Moore and his wife. Academics also read President Truman's...