Curated OER
The Kennedys: An American Camelot?
A life in pictures makes sense for a frontline public family like the Kennedys. Slides depict the parents and each sibling as successful, sad, or tragic. The initial slide provides two web links for information to go along with the images.
Curated OER
Cartoons for the Classroom: Charisma vs. Experience
Which is more important for a president: experience or charisma? Scholars consider this as they analyze 2 political cartoons in this analysis handout. Background information gives context through a quote from The Telegraph, and 3 talking...
Curated OER
Angel Island
Eleventh graders understand that the experience of Chinese immigrants is exemplified as one of many other immigrants' experience coming to the United States.
Curated OER
Islam in America
Learners examine the cultural and religious diversity within the United States. Using the differences, they discover they are a source of growth and change as well as conflict. They identify the changes that occur when new immigrants...
Curated OER
The Eerie Canal
Learners discover bodies of water in the United States by investigating the Eerie Canal. In this U.S. Geography lesson plan, students discuss Lake Eerie and the canal that was built in order to transport goods. Learners...
Curated OER
Immigrant Role-Playing
Students role-play as immigrants coming to America during the early 1900's. They conduct Internet research printing out pictures and reading biographies. Students use the information gathered to create scrapbooks in which the write...
Curated OER
Federalism: The Nation and The States
Twelfth graders discuss the division of powers between national and state governments. Groups create a PowerPoint slide representing one of the 3 types of powers.
Teaching Tolerance
The Power of Words: Ethnocentrism and Xenophobia
Students discover articles of current events dealing with the experiences of immigrants in the United States. They brainstorm words used to describe immigrants. They answer questions to end the instructional activity.
Curated OER
In the Melting Pot
Students work in small groups, each group examining a different aspect of the immigration process (such as visas, work permits, and citizenship exams) or of illegal immigration (such as deportation), to better explain the immigration...
Curated OER
The House at 97 Orchard Street
Students examine the living quarters and belongings of immigrant families living in one tenement building spanning the years from 1830 to 1940. They explain how the national background of immigrants added to the "melting pot" of American...
Curated OER
Important Contributions to American Culture
Fifth graders explore the contributions of different cultures to the American landscape. Students work in groups and use a variety of resources to create a presentation about a group that emigrated to America.
Curated OER
Everything was up to date in 1628
Students view a video of Colonial House, a reality series where people lived according to the standards of European immigrants to the U.S. in 1628. For this colonial history lesson, students research changes in geographic areas over time...
Curated OER
Turning the Century
Students examine the Gilded Age. In this Gilded Age lesson, students create a museum of their own showing what life was like in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Students investigate immigration, settlement and how these...
Curated OER
The AME Church in U.S. History
Ninth graders explore the history of the African Methodist Church in the United States. For this African American history lesson, 9th graders discover why the church was founded and research its history and noteworthy members. Students...
Curated OER
Why do people mover where they do?
Students read factual stories of migration to Hawaii, analyze and explain push and pull factors, interview parents about their cultural heritage, identify countried of origin of their ancestors, graph migration patterns on an world map,...
Curated OER
Wisconsin Snapshots
Fourth graders study Wisconsin's culture and heritage. They research the state's symbols and identify leaves common to the Wisconsin area. They create a leaf booklet and visit the state park. They visit local farms and create nature maps...
Curated OER
The Welcome Wagon
Students demonstrate an understanding of the immigrant experience in their state. In this immigrant lesson, students listen to immigrant speakers to their state and what their lives were like. Students write brief reports or complete...
Humanities Texas
A President's Vision: Lyndon Baines Johnson
Learners take a closer look at the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson, including the Great Society and the passage of the Voting Rights Act, through image analysis and primary source worksheets.
Curated OER
Injustice on Our Plates: Immigrant Women
Students investigate the plight of undocumented workers. In this social justice lesson, students research undocumented workers as well as consumer boycott movements and write about their impressions.
Curated OER
We Have Rights
Students investigate the concept of having rights as citizens. In this citizenship lesson, students examine the rights that are given to citizens of the United States in the Bill of Rights. They draw pictures of eight of their...
Curated OER
Ellis Island: The "Golden Door" to America
Students write a narrative from the perspective of an immigration inspector or European immigrant. In this Immigration lesson, students read an online history of Ellis Island and evaluate its significance by writing answers to discussion...
Curated OER
Ellis Island Online
Students research their ancestors by visiting a number of online resources. They read personal immigration stories and begin creating their own family tree.
DocsTeach
The SS Quanza and European War Refugees
World War II not only resulted in major loss of life, but it also displaced thousands of people. An eye-opening activity uses primary documents to explore the refugee crisis during World War II. Scholars compare the event to modern-day...
US House of Representatives
Exclusion and Empire, 1898–1941
Often forgotten and written off as the model minority, Americans with heritage in Asia and the Pacific Islands have played an essential role in American history, including Congress. Budding historians reclaim history by researching the...