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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

I Hear the Locomotives: The Impact of the Transcontinental Railroad

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students examine the effects the Transcontinental Railroad had on the regions through which it passed. They analyze and discuss maps, view and describe online images, and use photos and documents to develop a cause-and-effect ladder.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Character in a Box

For Teachers 5th - 9th
Partners choose, research, and analyze fictional or historical characters and design character life boxes to represent them. They also compose a rhyme royal, which they understand inductively by deconstructing examples. Based largely on...
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Lesson Plan
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National Endowment for the Humanities

George Washington: The Precedent President

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Everyone knows that George Washington was the first president, but do your scholars know why that was so important? The lesson plan, the third in a sequence of three, allows learners to understand how George Washington set a precedent...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Deutschland und die Europäische Union (Germany and the European Union)

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Introduce your language students in German class to the European Union, including the historic developments, the current structure, and some of the political and social principles behind it with this lesson. In small groups, learners...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Oral History: Park City Museum

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Bring U.S. history to your language arts class with this activity. Middle schoolers complete an interview for an oral history project, and discuss the importance of oral histories - and how they embellish written accounts. They write...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What's in the Time Capsule? A Technology-Connected Lesson Plan

For Teachers 12th
Twelfth graders use computers and the Internet to research a specified area, word processors to prepare an essay, a digital camera, a video camera gather visuals, and a scanner to add visuals to a PowerPoint presentation as they discover...
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Lesson Plan
NPR

The History of America’s Weed Laws

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
To understand the laws regarding marijuana use in the United States, you can go all the way back to the 1800's to learn about farming hemp, or you can go back to 2018 when California became the sixth state to legalize recreational...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Hollywood Magic-The Dream Factory Recreates the Novel

For Teachers 9th - 12th
The Great Gatsby, The Jungle and study HRC's Teaching the American Twenties-The Dream Factory are the focus of this instructional activity, Your young scholars will rewrite a small scene from the novel into a dramatic film scene and then...
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Lesson Plan
Civil War Trust

Civil War Reader's Theater

For Teachers 4th - 8th Standards
Encourage class members to add expression and put themselves back in time during the Civil War with a reader's theater activity. The scripts include dialogue on what it was like for the Union and Confederate sides during this time.
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Lesson Plan
NASA

Discovering the Milky Way

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
What do you call a tiny collection of galaxies? A puny-verse! Young scholars graph data gathered by scientists studying Cepheids. They attempt to identify a relationship between the variables through standard and logarithmical graphing....
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Lesson Plan
Messenger Education

Sensing the Invisible: The Herschel Experiment

For Students 5th - 8th Standards
The electromagnetic spectrum includes everything from very powerful gamma rays (which are used to treat cancer) to much weaker radio waves (which include microwaves). Through a hands-on activity, scholars explore the temperature...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Black Panther Party Lesson Plan

For Teachers 11th Standards
Why did the Black Panther Party feel colonized, and what methods did they employ to achieve empowerment? Your class members will engage in an online PowerPoint presentation, analysis of several documents, and discussion in order to...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Historical Research Using the Internet

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students complete Internet research based on historical origin of something of their choosing, and discuss procedures and options for conducting successful search. Students then collect and interpret data, consider various ways to...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Life of a Hoosier Soldier, based on the letters of Lt. John V. Hadley

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders take a closer look at the life of Union soldiers. In this American Civil War lesson, 8th graders read and analyze a series of letters from Lt. John Hadley to his fiancée. Students chart their findings from the letters on...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Styles in Context: Is it Music?

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Students view the video, Behind the Music: 1992, and discuss the new genres of pop music that were emerging in that era. They discuss the content of the music and what it's like on the surface. They write an essay comparing it to other...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Symbols of Canada Lesson

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Young scholars examine the most common symbols of Canada and explain their importance. For this Canadian culture lesson, students identify the beaver, maple leaf, and Inuksuk and discuss why Canada feels these are representative symbols...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Helping Students Do History on the First Day of Class

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students watch a video about Barack Obama and problems he faces as the president. In this president lesson plan, students write their own list and then compile a class list of problems and discuss them.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Historical Witness: Social Messaging

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students create political cartoons that feature satire. In this political cartoon activity, students examine examples of satire and caricature prior to creating their own political cartoons that feature the French Revolution or...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson Title: El Paso and the Oldest Mission in Texas

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders explore Spanish Texas. In this Spanish mission lesson, 7th graders discover the reasons that El Paso was settled. Students respond to the provided questions regarding the El Paso Mission.
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Lesson Plan
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Facing History and Ourselves

Emmett Till: Choosing to Remember

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Mamie Till, the mother of Emmett Till and civil rights activist, believed that her son's murder was the last straw before public outrage over racial injustice spilled over into the Civil Rights Movement of the 20th century. A history...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sea-ing More Clearly

For Teachers 1st - 2nd
Students explore historical importance of fish as food source, examine works of Robert Harris, create their own fish, and compose accompanying poetry. Students then explore dramatic tradition of Chorus inspired by Greek theatre,...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Abraham Lincoln: The Face of War

For Teachers 4th - 10th
Young scholars compare life masks and photos of Abraham Lincoln that were made before and at the end of the Civil War. In this "Faces of War" instructional activity, students analyze images of Lincoln in a historical context and create a...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Pictures of the Berlin Airlift: Primary Sources (Photos and Cartoons) to Motivate Learning

For Teachers 10th
Tenth graders describe cartoons and photos from the Berlin Airlift and put them into a historical context. After a lecture/demo, each pair of students be asked to describe what they see in the photos. They then write a caption for each...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Reconstruction to Civil Rights

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders complete a unit of lessons on the period of time from Reconstruction to the Civil Rights movement. They analyze and interpret political cartoons and editorials, conduct research on famous civil rights places, and complete...