Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
Immigrant Discrimination
For a class learning about Chinese and Irish immigration in America, here's a great starting lesson plan. It has your critical thinkers examining song lyrics, the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, and a political cartoon, and finally...
Curated OER
Decoding Strategies
Young readers apply decoding strategies to identify unknown words. In this reading lesson, they read the Preamble and practice using decoding strategies. Small groups rotate to five charts that have questions regarding the Constitution...
K12 Reader
Responsibilities of Citizenship
Your pupils are all citizens of your classroom. Provide some more instruction on how people can be citizens with the reading passage included here. After reading, learners answer the five related questions.
Mr. Nussbaum
Thomas Jefferson Reading Comprehension
Discover a little bit about Thomas Jefferson in a brief reading passage. Learners then answer a set of multiple choice comprehension questions.
Curated OER
Religious Tolerance in Colonial Maryland
Young scholars complete worksheets and analyze passages about religious tolerance in Colonial Maryland. In this religious tolerance lesson plan, students discuss Maryland as a colony and answer short answer questions about it.
Curated OER
ESL Reading Quiz
In this ESL comprehension activity, students read a passage from Proposed Roads to Freedom, then complete 15 multiple choice comprehension questions.
Curated OER
The Freedom to Fight
High schoolers study the African American troop experiences in the Civil War. In this American history lesson, students examine primary and secondary sources regarding the experiences and contributions of African American soldiers who...
Teach-nology
Author's Purpose
Challenge your class to find the three purposes for writing. After they read three short passages, kids note whether the author's purpose was to inform, persuade, or entertain.
Curated OER
Reading Comprehension: Test-taking version
In this reading comprehension worksheet, young scholars explore and analyze test taking techniques, read a short story and then answer eight comprehension questions.
James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation
A Deliberate, Palpable and Dangerous Exercise of Other Powers: James Madison & Homeland Security
This resource uses primary source documents to explore the First Amendment. After reviewing key events of the 1790s, government or US history classes explore Madison's letter to Jefferson regarding the Alien and Sedition Acts. They then...
Curated OER
The Dred Scott Decision
In this reading comprehension worksheet, students read a passage about the Dred Scott Decision and answer questions about what they read. Students write 4 short answers.
Curated OER
John Gary Evans and the Politics of Race
Students read letters written by Evans and Gunton regarding race relations. In this Progressive Movement lesson, students interpret the intentions and tone of the letters to understand contemporary racial beliefs. Students discuss the...
Curated OER
Cartoons for the Classroom: Liberty vs. Security
In this current events activity, students analyze a political cartoon about civil liberties and respond to 3 talking point questions.
Curated OER
Applying Decoding, Vocabulary, and During Reading Strategies
Apply reading strategies to boost phonemic awareness. While reading a provided informational text, learners use decoding, vocabulary, and a graphic organizer to strengthen their overall reading ability. Handouts and the reading passage...
Curated OER
Walk a Quote: A Lesson Based Upon the Sugihara Story
Tenth graders gather information on the history of anti-Semitism and Judaism. Using texts from a variety of sources, they analyze the role of rescue and resistance in children's books. They discuss the child's point of view and reflect...
Curated OER
The Life Of a Sailor
Learners gain information on how sailors, and to a larger extent how people in general, lived in the 18th Century. They are shown how the life of the sailor is different from their life, so they can see how different people live.
Teaching for Change
A Documents-Based Lesson on the Voting Rights Act
How did the Voting Rights Act affect the daily lives of American citizens? A document-based lesson developed by the Student Non-Violent Coordinating committee (SNCC) presents a case study of the impact of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 on...
Curated OER
The Active Learner: "Dia's Story Cloth" Literature Guide
Students discuss pre-reading focus questions and complete a KWL chart. In this language arts lesson, students mark passages or words they are unsure of with post-it notes to discuss later and answer comprehension questions after reading....
Curated OER
US Emergence of Power in the Pacific Northwest: General Howard and the Nez Perce Tribe War
Students discuss the role of the military in acquiring territory in the Pacific Northwest. Using a map, they locate the areas in which the Nez Perce were prominent and the routes used by the military to chase them. They discuss whether...
Curated OER
Native People of the Caribbean
Eleventh graders use a map and locate and define the Caribbean region and then work in groups to read the passage and timeline. The groups' reader will read the passage aloud and the recorder makes a list of why colonists used slave...
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Commonly Confused Words Worksheet 1
In this grammar activity, students practice identifying commonly confusing words in two passages and correct the twenty mistakes on the lines provided.
Curated OER
Examining the Declaration of Independence
Students examine the Declaration of Independence and its significance to American history. They read the document, identify America's grievances with Great Britain, and restate a part of the document in their own words.
Curated OER
Aung San Suu Kyi
In this famous leaders worksheet, students read a passage about Aung San Suu Kyi and then complete a variety of in-class and homework activities to support comprehension, including partner interviews, spelling, cloze, synonym...
Curated OER
Statue of Liberty: A Famous Gift
In this Statue of Liberty learning exercise, students read a passage, then answer 5 multiple choice questions; answers included on page 2.