University of Wisconsin
Analyzing Presidential Campaign Propaganda
Campaign propaganda has evolved from 1952 through the presidential election of 2008. A social studies activity prompts class members to analyze the devices used in ads and political cartoons, noting strategies they believe would work to...
Curated OER
Who influences the development of the laws?
Ninth graders explore how laws are created. They examine how committee members are selected. Students assess the influences that affect the voting of Congressional Committee Members. They identify the formal majority and minority leaders...
Curated OER
Computers: Copyright Law
Young scholars visit various Websites to find information about copyright laws. Their research includes information about legal and ethical behaviors regarding Internet use. In addition, students complete online student activity sheets.
Library of Congress
Understanding Immigration Through Popular Culture
Class members are introduced to a project-based learning unit on US immigration with an activity that asks them to analyze sheet music and other primary source materials to uncover issues raised by immigration.
University of California
The Civil War: The Road to War
The United States Civil War resulted in the highest mortality rate for Americans since the nation's inception. Delve deeper into the causes for the drastic separation of states with a history lesson plan that features analysis charts,...
University of California
The Civil War: Strategies and Battles
Was it the War against Northern Aggression or the War to Unify the Union? Scholars investigate the key battles and strategies of the American Civil War to determine just why the North was victorious in the end.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Chief Executives Compared: The Federalist Papers
Delve into the responsibilities of the president by looking at President Hamilton's opinion of the presidential office in his own words. The second in a three-part series, the resource also offers an interesting compare-and-contrast...
University of California
The Civil War: Perspective
Confederate soldiers saw the Civil War much differently than their Union counterparts. Scholars analyze the perspective of the Civil War from the viewpoint of various key figures in the fourth installment of an eight-part series. By...
University of California
The Civil War: Final Assessment
Pupils discover the true nature and purpose of the Civil War in the eighth and final installment of an informative series. Using primary and secondary documents, history buffs merge social study knowledge with English skills to create a...
Curated OER
The Bill of Rights: Debating the Amendments
Pupils interpret historical evidence presented in primary and secondary resources. In this Bill of Rights lesson, students research 12 possible amendments that were considered for the Constitution in 1789. Pupils...
Curated OER
The Grapes of Wrath: Voices from the Great Depression
High schoolers research the Great Depression. In this Great Depression lesson, students analyze primary sources to develop an understanding of the plight of migrant farm workers during the Great Depression as they read Steinbeck's The...
Curated OER
Oil Crisis: What Would You Do?
The dynamics between the economies and politics of the United States and the Middle East are here to study. Upper graders read and discuss scenarios relating to OPEC and the current oil crisis, then in small groups role-play members of...
Northshore School District
American Voices and Their Audiences
Those new to teaching an AP level language and composition prep course and seasoned veterans will find much to treasure in a unit that is designed to help young language scholars develop the skills they need to analyze the language...
Stanford University
Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X: A Common Solution?
Much has been made of the differences between Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X. But was there any common ground between them? Class members reconsider what they think they know about these two civil rights leaders with...
TPS Journal
Sourcing a Document: The First Thanksgiving
How reliable is a painting of the first Thanksgiving if it was created 300 years after the fact? Learners assess the validity of a primary source image to determine what it can actually reveal about this event.
Library of Congress
Moby Dick
Few first lines of literature are as well-known as the first line from Moby Dick by Herman Melville. Readers discover the classic text that contains these lines using a digital eBook. The online version contains page-by-page...
Library of Congress
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Many people are familiar with the Disney version of Alice in Wonderland, but long before it was an animated movie, Lewis Carroll's story was a beloved book. An eBook gives readers access to an early edition of the story. The text...
BW Walch
“Outsider” Poet Kay Ryan Goes from Poetry Club Reject to Poet Laureate
The cat might have got your tongue, but you can’t avoid the elephant in the room while you wait for the other shoe to drop. After all, the early bird gets the worm and the chickens are circling. After researching Poet Laureate Kay Ryan...
Curated OER
Reading Poetry in the Middle Grades
Bring the beauty of "Nothing Gold Can Stay" by Robert Frost to middle school language arts. After learners read a copy of the poem, they follow an instructional sequence that focuses on sound, figurative language, and theme.
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Islamic Art and Geometric Design
After an overview of Islamic traditions and art, young artists create their own geometric shapes and patterns using only a straightedge and a compass.
Polk Bros Foundation
American Presidents
Emanuel Leutze's painting Washington Crossing the Delaware. Alexander Gardner's photograph of Abraham Lincoln. What do these works of art tell us about the character of these American Presidents? After examining the techniques the...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Upton Sinclair, Theodore Roosevelt, and Harvey W. Wiley
Though Upton Sinclair's novel The Jungle shocked the American public into a thorough examination of the meat-packing industry, the author was disappointed that his book's main argument—the exploitation of American immigrants—was not...
Jazz Academy
Let Freedom Swing
Three lessons in the Let Freedom Swing concert tour resource guide packed with information, materials, and activities that provide the context for any study of American history.
Curated OER
Freedom by the Fireside: The Legacy of FDR's "Four Freedoms" Speech
Students read and analyze Franklin Delano Roosevelt's 1941 State of the Union Address. They listen to recordings of speeches by F.D.R., answer discussion questions, and participate in a debate.