Teaching for Change
Stepping into Selma
The 1964 Selma to Montgomery, Alabama voting rights marches are the focus of a lesson plan designed to introduce learners to people who took part in the Civil Rights Movement. Class members set into the role of one of the participants,...
Teaching Tolerance
Dismantling Racial Caste
It's time to end racism. The final installment of the series encourages scholars to consider what is needed to ended the racial caste system in the U.S. Young historians complete group discussion, written prompt, and a hands-on-activity...
DocsTeach
Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Fight for Civil Rights
Find clues to the past with photos! Young historians use a photo from one of Martin Luther King Jr.'s peaceful protests to practice photo analysis. Academics look at the image to gain clues about what is happening and why. To finish,...
Smithsonian Institution
The Suffragist: Educator's Guide for Classroom Video
Class members take on the role of historical investigators to determine why it took 40 years for women in the United States to get the right to vote. Sleuths view videos and analyze primary sources and images to gather evidence to answer...
Curated OER
Why is Handwriting Important?
Love this resource! Have your ever found it difficult to get your class to buy into the idea that handwriting is important? This resource provides a history of handwriting and a detailed discussion of the importance of it as a...
Curated OER
Pedro Menéndez de Avilés
Partners examine the family tree of Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, a Spanish admiral and explorer who founded St. Augustine, Florida, and answer several questions about the text using a worksheet. After they've explored the family tree,...
Smithsonian Institution
The Music of the Mardi Gras Indians
The traditions, costumes, and the music of the Mardi Gras Indians, African-Americans and those with African American or Native American Heritage are the focus of a unit that introduces class members to a little-known group that...
C-SPAN
Women's Suffrage and the 19th Amendment
The right to vote was hard-won after decades of organizing by women and their allies. Using a series of video clips featuring women's historians, class members consider the efforts behind the Nineteenth Amendment. Possible extension...
Curated OER
The Texas Social Studies Controversy
Examine the Texas social studies curriculum controversy with your class. Using a current events lesson, learners read the article "A Christian Land Governed by Christian Principles," respond to the discussion questions, and participate...
K12 Reader
Abigail Adams: Persuading Her Husband
After reading a brief excerpt from a letter written by Abigail Adams to her husband and future president of the United States, John Adams, your young historians will practice their reading comprehension skills and identify what Abigail...
DocsTeach
The Voting Record of the Constitution
A piece of the past helps shape the future. Learn what historical documents reveal about the past using an engaging activity. Academics participate in a role-playing scenario, view the voting record of the Constitutional...
Curated OER
Lesson: From Time to Time
A portrait The Radcliffe Family circa 1742 is inspiration for creative writing and empathetic reasoning. Your class discusses the period in which the piece was painted, then imagines what life was like for one of the people seen in the...
Curated OER
Lesson: Creating With A Purpose
Discovering the creative process can be done through critical analysis. Upper graders examine a hand -carved Shinto Deity, discussing purpose, technique, and artistic expression. They then read a poem about the creative process. and...
DocsTeach
Analyzing a Photograph of a Young American Indian
A true glimpse of the past, Angelic La Moose smiles back from more than 100 years ago. Young learners examine the picture of a young girl on a Montana Native American reservation from 1913 to comb it for historical details. A form, which...
Curated OER
The Impact of History: A Conversation with a Parent
Seventh graders interview parents about certain historical events. In this historical interview lesson, 7th graders create a web of events about historical events. Students interview their parents or grandparents about the event and...
Curated OER
Iraq's Latest Strategy: Suicide Attacks
This discussion based lesson plan focuses on the sensitive topic of suicide attacks or bombings used throughout history during times of militaristic upheaval. Learners read news stories, compose journal entries, and engage in a class...
Curated OER
Political Issues and Opinions
The emergent adults in your US Government class can become informed, self-aware voters. This activity enables them to form an opinion about particular political issues then identify themselves on the political spectrum. Informed and...
Curated OER
Mexican Americans Role In The United States
Students investigate the role of Mexican Americans in the history of the United States. They use the information to answer guided questions. Students conduct class discussion about the varying roles of Mexican Americans. Also they write...
Curated OER
Race, Education, and Income: Comparing Carter & Reagan
High school learners compare economic outcomes for 3 racial groups under the presidencies of Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan by analyzing a series of graphs, answering questions from a worksheet, and participating in a discussion.
Indian Land Tenure Foundation
Create a Map
Do your learners have a connection to their natural environment? Create neighborhood maps together with your little learners. The lesson starts as the class talks about where they live and what their homes look like. They review their...
Maine Content Literacy Project
Process of Reading
Assist your pupils with literary analysis by discussing and exploring theme. This plan, the twelfth in a series of fourteen, builds in some time to explore theme as a class. Learners also blog about the main event in their stories and...
Curated OER
The Brief American Pageant: The Rise of a Mass Democracy
Focusing on the 1828 election of Andrew Jackson, the removal of Southern Native American tribes (Trail of Tears), and the Texas Revolution, these three slides are full of good information for your lecture. Though brief, the maps featured...
Curated OER
The Brief American Pageant: Industry Comes of Age
Three interesting slides can be a good addition to your lecture on the end of the 19th century. Detailing the land grants given to railroads, the shift in cotton manufacturing, and the distribution of industry among the United States,...
Curated OER
The Brief American Pageant: American Life in the Roaring Twenties
Your lecture on the Roaring Twenties in the United States could use these two graphs. The first graph details the annual immigration and Quota Laws from 1907-29, and compares them to the McCarran-Walter Act of 1952. The second graph...