Curated OER
Looking at Photographs
Students evaluate photographs as historical documents and photographs as propaganda.
Curated OER
The Treaty Trail: U.S. - Clothing That Talks: Meaning and Material Culture
Learners investigate the cultures of Native Americans and Euro-Americans through their clothing. In this photograph analysis lesson, students observe historic photographs and analyze the style of clothes people wore and how it...
Curated OER
Remembering to Never Forget
Young scholars discover how the history of a place or event affects one's present perceptions of that place or event. They examine the current tensions caused by the decision to make Weimar, Germany Europe's cultural capital.
Curated OER
Bigger, Faster, Stronger . . . Higher
Students analyze popular feelings and beliefs about two major disasters: the sinking of the Titanic (1912) and the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger (1986). They compile evidence, through research and interviews, about how much...
Curated OER
A Moment in Time
Fifth graders research a year in history. In this research lesson, 5th graders choose a year between 1801 and 1999 and write three research questions to answer about their year. Students must include three major events and investigate...
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Whose "Truth" Is Out There?
Young scholars read article It's a Fact: Faith and Theory Collide Over Evolution, and examine different ways people arrive at what 'the truth' is, focusing on the evolution vs creationism debate that has been a hot topic throughout the...
Curated OER
Social Sstudies: Change in Space and Time
Students examine the dynamics of change and compare and contrast it with other cultures. They cite examples of how people change over time and explain why it is necessary. Students organize a skit, Webpage, or Powerpoint presentation...
Curated OER
Give Me Liberty
Fourth graders investigate the lives and societal contributions of Patrick Henry and Sojourner Truth. They complete a series of lessons that compare and contrast the biographies, historical context and work of these two revolutionaries.
Curated OER
World War II: Concentration Camps and Refugees
Students explore the experiences of the people in the concentration camps at liberation during World War II. Students read an article on the Liberation of Belsen Concentration Camp and D-Day and report to the class.
Curated OER
The Historiography on Robert Boyle: Was Boyle the Progenitor of Modern Science?
High schoolers participate in a warm-up activity by attending a football match writing an account of who won the game. They discuss how their account could differ from someone else's account of the game. They discuss how different...
Curated OER
The Sunflower
Twelfth graders analyze the ethical and moral decisions made by people during the Holocaust. They role play a situation placing them in an ethical delima. They must make a choice and defend it to their peers. Readings and test...
Curated OER
Lesson Plan on Important Citizens in the American Civil War
Students, in groups, half representing the Confederacy, half the Union, conduct research to find out about important Civil War era citizens from each side. They explore the effect these people had on the war and what effect the war had...
Curated OER
"You Shall Do Your Best Endeavor" - Working With Primary Documents
Students read and interpret primary source documents regarding historic Jamestown. In small groups, they read the primary documents, answer questions, and view online maps of Jamestown Island and Virginia.
Curated OER
New York on the Pacific Coast
Learners explore the interaction and consequences of contact among different ethnic groups. Students examine a timeline and the important historical
events in American History. They discuss immigration and migration.
Curated OER
Friends Circle
Students participate in a project in which they examine many different aspects of human life to gain knowledge of people around the world. They discuss social problems and historical events.
Curated OER
The Island of the Skog
Fifth graders investigate the historical events that surround the life of Anne Frank. They study the available information found while doing research. They record events of discrimination seen in school for a short period of time and...
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Letters from the Japanese American Internment
Students make deductions about life in an internment camp by reading and comparing letters written to Clara Breed. Along the way, they consider the advantages of looking at a historical event from the multiple points of view of...
Curated OER
Jutland: Death at Sea
Students analyze information about World War I and the Death at Sea historical event. In this World War I lesson, students analyze the documents from the National Archives to analyze the Jutland situation.
Curated OER
Historical Fashions - Interdisciplinary Experience, Art & Social Studies
Seventh graders research styles, construction, fabrics, colors, and cost of Colonial era clothing. They create a life-sized model of themselves wearing Colonial period clothing and write a report about the clothes they designed.
Curated OER
Historical Witness: Social Messaging
Students create political cartoons that feature satire. In this political cartoon lesson plan, students examine examples of satire and caricature prior to creating their own political cartoons that feature the French Revolution or...
Curated OER
First Nation People and European Explorers
Sixth graders investigate the characteristics of explorers. They research the factors that contributed to the first European explorers that came to North America. Students also concentrate on the interactions that explorers had with...
Curated OER
Character Traits and People in Black History
Third graders, after reading a one-page biographical essay, write in paragraph form how an African American has demonstrated a certain character trait.
National Park Service
Civil War to Civil Rights: From Pea Ridge to Central High
Explore how the Civil War impacted the Civil Rights Movement. Class members complete a series of projects for a unit that uses a layered curriculum approach to learning.
Hildegard Center for the Arts
Mardi Gras Masks
Laissez les bons temps rouler! Create your own festive Mardi Gras masks with a lesson that provides background information on the celebration and instructions about constructing the masks.