Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
Founding Documents
Teach the class about the predecessor to Declaration of Independence—the Virginia Declaration of Rights. Using the foundational documents, scholars examine the two writings to consider how they are similar and how they are different. A...
Curated OER
Exploring the Irish in America Through Found Poetry
What was life like for Irish immigrants settling in America during the late 1800's? Learners examine primary source documents, such as lyrics, poems, and letters, to understand the immigrant experience. They then use those primary source...
DocsTeach
Comparing American and French Revolutionary Documents
This document or that? Historians compare crucial documents from both the American and French Revolution to gain a better understanding of the purpose and impact the documents had on each nation. Academics read excerpts from both...
Curated OER
The Constitutional Convention: Four Founding Fathers You May Never Have Met
Middle schoolers read biographies of their assigned Founding Father. They present an oral argument that their assignee deserves to be better known by making connections between regional politics and postions defined by character.
Center for History and New Media
Founding of the Laurel Grove School and Other "Colored" Schools in Fairfax County, 1860–1890
The right to public education was not always so clear in American history. Readers study several primary and secondary source documents, including property deeds, maps, and photographs, about the founding of local schools during the...
Curated OER
Lesson 2: The Constitution: Our Guiding Document
Explore the structure and content of the US Constitution in the second lesson of this five-part social studies series. A collection of activities, games, and videos complement a class reading of a document summarizing the US...
Curated OER
Lesson 1: English-Indian Encounters
What did the English settlers think of the Native Americans inhabiting the Chesapeake region of the United States? Learners analyze a series of documents and images to determine the English perception of the local inhabitants. A great...
US National Archives
Benjamin Franklin: Politician and Diplomat
A scientist, inventor, entrepreneur, politician, and the founder of a nation—and that's just one person! Learners investigate the many lives of Benjamin Franklin. Using a hands-on interactive online resource, they analyze primary...
Curated OER
Documents and Symbols and American Freedom
Students complete a unit of lessons on the documents, symbols, and famous people involved in the founding of the U.S. government. They create a personal bill of rights, write a found poem, design a flag, conduct research, and role-play...
Curated OER
Adapting Documents for the Classroom: Equity and Access
Students examine primary sources to gain historical perspectives. In this historical analysis lesson, students analyze documents that their instructors have adapted to make more user-friendly. Example adapted primary documents are included.
Curated OER
Teaching With Documents: U.S. Constitution Workshop
What does it mean to be American? Explore the constitution and what it really means to be a citizen here. First, learners of all ages will investigate different primary source documents. Then, they establish each document's...
EngageNY
Documenting Research: Sorting and Recording Information About the Wheelwright
Fourth graders practice using a graphic organizer to record their notes and answer text-dependent questions while supplying evidence of how they found their answer. They focus on a machine called the wheelright, which was commonly used...
PBS
Myth of the West: Lonely But Free I’ll Be Found
Tumbling tumbleweeds! Scholars work with video clips, primary and secondary documents, and song lyrics to uncover life in the Old West. They examine song's lyrics to uncover myths told in the 1930s about life in the Wild West.
Curated OER
Citizens Together
Students examine the bill of rights as it relates to founding documents and their significance today. In this bill of rights lesson plan, students use newspapers as sources to answer critical questions regarding democratic citizenship....
Curated OER
2001 AP® United States History Free-Response Questions
Rigorous and challenging, the AP Test for AP United States History contains a document-based question (with nine documents), as well as two additional free-response questions. Students who are preparing for the test will appreciate the...
PBS
Why Should Women Vote? The Suffrage Question
An online interactive activity asks learners to analyze a group of documents related to the women's suffrage movement and then place the documents on a timeline. The results assess users understanding of the progression of the women's...
Oklahoma State Department of Education
Narrative Prompt
Reading about history is nothing like experiencing it firsthand. Encourage your eighth graders to do the next best thing with a historical narrative prompt, in which they describe the experience of a first-time traveler on the...
Curated OER
What Experiences Shaped the Founders' Thinking about Government?
Students study the ideas and experiences that shaped the founding fathers' perspective about government. In this the government lesson plan, students examine the Articles of Confederation as they relate to the power of government....
Curated OER
The Constitutional Convention: What the Founding Fathers Said
Students list some ideas proposed and debated during the Constitutional Convention, and discuss the important issues requiring compromise during the Constitutional Convention.
Curated OER
Creating a Bill of Rights
Creating a Bill of Rights isn't easy! Help your scholars experience what the Founding Fathers did by challenging them to write a Bill of Rights. Groups pretend they are a new democratic country and proceed to create that country's Bill...
Bill of Rights Institute
Preserving the Bill of Rights
Consider how America's founding fathers and their experiences contributed to the rights we all enjoy today. A collection of reading, writing, and collaborative exercises prompt high schoolers to think about the ways their current lives...
DocsTeach
To Sign or Not to Sign
To sign or not to sign, that is the question. Scholars review the Declaration of Independence and discuss the Framers' decisions for signing the document. The activity uses primary text, a worksheet, and group discussion to help...
National Constitution Center
Thirteenth Amendment Poster
President Lincoln believed in the Thirteenth Amendment so strongly that he signed 14 copies of it, but died before he could see it passed on December 18, 1965. Explore the text that forever abolished slavery in America with a document...
Ashbrook Center at Ashland University
Ratification of the Constitution
How difficult was it to get everyone to agree on the contents of the Constitution? Historians analyze the task of the Founding Fathers in creating the United States Constitution. They research a directory of video clips, primary sources,...