Curated OER
“Will I or Won’t I?” Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, 54th Massachusetts Regiment
Students discover the story of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment. In this American Civil War lesson plan, students study the life of Robert Gould Shaw and the regiment he led. Students research primary and secondary sources to learn about...
Curated OER
Kensington Mansion: Plantation, Sharecroppers, Tenants
Eleventh graders investigate the significance of the Kensington Mansion. In this South Carolina history lesson, 11th graders take field trips to the mansion and research primary and secondary sources about plantations, sharecropping, and...
Curated OER
Turn of the Century Immigration
Students explore the immigration wave that hit the United States in 19th century. In this immigration lesson, students examine primary and secondary sources to determine what the immigration experience was like for new citizens. Students...
Curated OER
Cultural Inquiry Lesson 2B: Finding Artifacts and Analysis
Students build on their knowledge of sources, by looking at 2 types of information sources: artifacts or primary sources and analysis or secondary sources. They brainstorm a list of primary and secondary sources connected to one of...
Curated OER
Immigration History Firsthand
Middle schoolers interpret historical evidence presented in primary and secondary resources. In this immigration lesson, students conduct research regarding Ellis Island and the American immigrant experience. Middle...
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.
Curated OER
Civil War Battles: The Reporter's Perspective A WebQuest
Students interpret historical evidence presented in primary and secondary resources. In this research skills lesson, students research the job of reporting for new agencies during the American Civil War as they complete the provided...
Syracuse University
Women's Suffrage Movement
Women gained the right to vote in the twentieth century, but the fight for equality dates back centuries. Using an invitation to an 1874 suffrage convention, eager historians consider the motivations behind supporters of the suffrage...
Arizona Department of Education
American History Impact of the Women’s Movement
Take a look at important images that depict the women's suffrage movement, the support for the Equal Rights Amendment, and wage equity for women over the last two centuries. As class members work through a lesson on...
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,...
Curated OER
1863: Shifting Tides
The victory at Gettysburg is forever immortalized in the famous speech given by Present Abraham Lincoln. Designed for secondary pupils, an interesting lesson plan explains how 1863 was a pivotal year for the Union. Academics explore the...
National WWII Museum
The Red Ball Express: Statistics as Historical Evidence
Historians use all kinds of information to make conclusions ... including statistics. Young scholars examine how two historians evaluate The Red Ball Express—a supply line staffed primarily by African Americans—using numbers. The...
Curated OER
Lincoln, Emancipation, and the Constitution
High schoolers determine how President Lincoln promoted emancipation. In this slavery lesson, students examine primary documents, including the U.S. Constitution, to reconstruct Lincoln's attempts to end slavery and deliver the...
Curated OER
Teaching With Documents Lesson Plan: Images of the American Revolution
Students interpret historical evidence presented in primary and secondary resources. In this American Revolution lesson, students examine international involvement in the war as well as major events of the war.
Curated OER
The Importance of Plants to Native Cultures in the Past and Present
Eighth graders investigate the founding and history of Sluice Boxes State Park. They use both primary and secondary resources to collect data. The focus is upon the use of native plants to make medicines. They write reports about several...
Curated OER
Botanical Discoveries
Sixth graders study the chronology of major events of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. They use primary and secondary resources to obtain information about the plants which were identified by Lewis and Clark.
Curated OER
The Impact of the Cotton Gin
Fourth graders study Eli Whitney and the cotton gin. In this lesson on the cotton gin, 4th graders use primary and secondary sources to gather information about Eli Whitney, the cotton gin that he invented and how it changed the south.
Curated OER
Learning from Primary Source Documents One Day at a Time
Students differentiate between primary and secondary research sources before making a visual representation of their research into the colonist of Fort St. Louis. They write inquiry questions to guide their research.
Mr. E. Science
Electricity and Magnetism at Work
I don't get electricity jokes, watts so funny about them? The 13th in a series of presentations covers energy, motors, currents, generating electricity, calculating electrical energy cost, transformers, and batteries.
Curated OER
The Industrial Age in America: Robber Barons and Captains of Industry
Students define terms "robber baron" and "captain of industry," list positive and negative actions of one or more captains of industry/robber barons, and take and support stand as to whether particular financier/industrialist is or is...
Curated OER
What Can We Learn From the Past?
What would future archeologists learn from your scholars' personal belongings? Have them bring in a box of "primary sources" from their home. Discuss the difference between observations and inference, using some of your own items to...
Curated OER
Primary Source? What is That?
Learners examine the use of primary sources. They read and discuss excerpts from the "Diary of Anne Frank," write journal entries, identify examples of altruism from the book, write an essay, and complete a worksheet.
Curated OER
Using Primary Sources to Discover Reconstruction
Fifth graders discover how reconstruction had an impact on racial issues in the United States. In this Reconstruction lesson, 5th graders are introduced to primary vs. secondary resources and then rotate through stations to view...
Curated OER
Games Children Play: Then and Now
Second graders examine primary documents to discover similarities and differences in life today and life before. In this toys then and now lesson, 2nd graders complete a graphic organizer to show how things have changed or stayed...