Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
Immigration: Why Come to the United States?
Don't limit your curriculum to texts! Young historians listen to a song, read an interview, and examine a cartoon as they explore motivations for immigrating to the US in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Deliberating in a Democracy
Freedom of Movement
Class members examine human migration. For this population lesson, they read an article entitled, "Freedom of Movement" and respond to discussion questions about the article related to guest worker programs.
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Hotel Development on a Greek Island
Students investigate various locations on Greek Island of Santorini, and create hotel development to encourage tourism on island. They consider importance of balancing economic development with historic site preservation.
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Date with Destiny
Students examine the outcome of the war in Iraq. In this Iraq history instructional activity, students discuss the effects of the war and the regime of Hussein. Students write and design textbook pages that feature the contemporary...
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The Heritage of a Pioneer Quilt
Students discuss and view how the first quilts were made. They compare modern quilts to ones of the past. They create a quilt pattern by using math and creative thinking.
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American Indian Cooking Before 1500
Young scholars read and discuss an article about Native American cooking practices before 1500. In small groups they recreate a recipe for pemmican and sample the results. They discuss how food preparation and ingredients differ from...
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Walking Down Main Street: The Changing Times of a Railroad Town
Students explore the historic district via a scavenger hunt. In this community history instructional activity, students complete a scavenger hunt using historic postcards and clues as guides. Students create a timeline demonstrating...
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Economics During Colonial Virginia
Students communicate their knowledge of life in the Virginia colony. They describe how money, barter, and credit were used. Students observe a United Streaming video on trade. Students complete a review guide and write an essay.
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What Fostered the Axis?
Ninth graders present the major cultural, economic and political forces in Germany, Italy & Japan that allowed for the rise and dominance of totalitarian regimes in that country. They discuss how the above listed forces brought the...
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Fertile Crescent Map Project
Sixth graders develop a multimedia presentation of the Fertile Crescent that compares modern day geography, economics, government, and transportation resources. They work in groups to research their specific topic.
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Japanese Culture
Seventh graders make connections with the history of Japanese art with the modern use of ancient warriors in the popular Yu-Gi-Oh trading cards. They journal and reflect upon the research and comparison of the ancient to modern art.
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What's Cooking - A Colonial Recipe
Eleventh graders explore Colonial and modern techniques, vocabulary, and ingredients of cooking and recipes. They gain understanding of the challenges of cooking in colonial times and modern adaptations.
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State of Mind: Inventing the American Identity
Learners define national identity, explain importance of having national identity, describe America's national identity, work together and formulate class vision of what America's national identity is, identify United States symbols and...
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British Colonization-Settling the Thirteen Colonies (1607-1733)
Students study the thirteen colonies: geography, economics, politics, and religious groups. They explore early colonial life, and create a travel brochure, travel guide of the 13 Colonies, and word search.
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The Roar of the Twenties; The Crash of the Thirties
Eighth graders, after assuming identities of prominent figures from the 1920's and looking at slides and data from the era, relate, in diary form, the cultural, economic and political changes that happened in America between 1920 and 1939.
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Low-country Rice Planting and Cooking
Eighth graders compare the use of rice in the 1700s to the modern use of rice. In this activity examining the importance of rice in US history, 8th graders learn about the role of rice in the early 1700s and compare the use of rice in...
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The Opium Trade, the Opium War and the Treaty of Nanjing
Ninth graders analyze the English model if imperialism with regard to China and examine the economic and political impact of trade and conflict between England and China in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. They discuss the...
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The Great Depression: Part 1
Pupils explore the causes and effects of the Great Depression. In this Great Depression lesson, students analyze the economic and political causes as well as the economic, foreign affairs and political effects of the depression....
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Segregation: From Jim Crow to Linda Brown
Students examine the African American social, economic, and political conditions between 1896 and 1953. In this segregation lesson, students analyze primary sources to develop an understanding of the plight of African Americans'...
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Not the Stereotypical Immigrant?
Students complete a Venn diagram comparing the stereotypes of modern African immigrants to those of other major immigrant groups in the U.S. They write an essay on their observations.
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Having Fun: Leisure and Entertainment at the Turn of the 20th Century
Students inquire about the history of enterntainment and flim. The development of the modern industry of entertainment is done from reflecting upon its roots and background. The discussion is leading to answering how Americans have...
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Edible Coal Mining
Learners explore the concept of bituminous coal and the role it plays within our world. In this economic and earth science lesson plan, learners discover and model the extraction methods with hands-on activities. Learners also identify...
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Who Were the Ottomans?
Learners explore the Ottoman Empire. In this Ottoman Empire lesson, students analyze images of the empire as they take a gallery walk. Learners compare and contrast the Ottoman Empire to the other empires in the region of modern-day Turkey.
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Tiananmen Square
Students identify and explain the Tiananmen Square incident of June 1989.
Studentsl compare what it is to be an American Citizen (Democracy) vs.
Chinese Citizen (Communism). Students identify and define various vocabulary terms,...