Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Introduction of Primary Sources

For Teachers 1st
First graders examine a database to explain the use of primary source documents.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Primary Source Adventures: Texas Annexation: United We Stand? Lesson Plan

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders study the national effect that the annexation of Texas had on the 1844 Presidential election using primary source documents which they access through web based sources. They examine slavery in Texas during the 1840's and...
Lesson Plan
1
1
Center for Civic Education

The Power of Nonviolence: Rosa Parks: A Quest for Equal Protection Under the Law

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
Teach young historians about the historical legacy of Rosa Parks with a multi-faceted lesson plan. Pupils follow stations and use journals to explore prominent events, analyze primary resource documents, and engage in interesting...
Lesson Plan
1
1
Virginia Department of Education

Geometry and Volume

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
The history of math is fascinating! Utilize a woodcut primary source image from 1492 and posters from the 1930s to help geometers apply their volume-calculation skills to real-life questions. 
Assessment
1
1
New York State Education Department

Global History and Geography Examination: January 2011

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Using primary and secondary sources—including classics such as the Communist Manifesto—class members consider the effects of these ideas on the course of history. Another essay prompt explores geography and history, while multiple-choice...
Lesson Plan
Middle Tennessee State University

Preparing for Revolution

For Teachers 8th Standards
Class members create a timeline of actions by both the British parliament and the colonists that led to the outbreak of the American Revolution. Groups use the provided Primary Source Analysis Tool to examine and...
Lesson Plan
University of Chicago

Using Artifacts for Clues About Identity

For Teachers 6th - 10th Standards
Learn about the ancient Near East through a close examination of ancient artifacts. Lead your class into analysis by first observing an artifact as a class. Pupils can then work in pairs to analyze the other artifacts and compile a list...
Assessment
New York State Education Department

US History and Government Examination: January 2011

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
The presidencies of John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, and Ronald Reagan were defined by the Cold War. Using primary source documents and scaffolded analysis questions, pupils explore the effect the Cold War had on these presidencies. A...
Interactive
DocsTeach

Analyzing the Cotton Gin Patent

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Decode primary sources in a fast-paced activity. A quick guessing game helps pupils use visual clues to understand primary sources. Academics look at a picture of the cotton gin and must guess what it is without other knowledge or clues....
Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Empire and Identity in the American Colonies

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The American Revolution was born out of a European conflict that spilled over into North America—and the documents prove it! Using primary sources from the era of the French and Indian War, including British plans to try to unite its...
Interactive
DocsTeach

Environmental Case Study: Hetch Hetchy Valley

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
What is more important: building a new school or preserving a nature reserve? Keeping a natural area clean or providing clean drinking water to a city of millions? Young scholars weigh these questions—almost literally—using an...
Lesson Plan
Center for History Education

The Cuban Missile Crisis

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Cold War tensions led to hostile actions. Scholars use primary sources to understand the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis during President Kennedy's administration. The lesson provides primary sources and a graphic organizer to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Kids These Days!

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Young scholars create a scrapbook of college student life during the 1960's using digital archives and Internet research. They read and discuss the article "What's the Matter With College?" and then compare college experience of today...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Jeffersonianism at the Bar

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders participate in a political roundtable discussion. For this Jeffersonianism lesson, 11th graders role play individuals from the 19th century and discuss issues of the Federalist period.
Lesson Plan
Alabama Department of Archives and History

Conflict in Alabama in the 1830s: Native Americans, Settlers, and Government

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
To better understand the Indian Removal Act of 1830, class members examine primary source documents including letters written by Alabama governors and the Cherokee chiefs. The lesson is part of a unit on the expansion of the United...
Lesson Plan
Smithsonian Institution

The Suffragist: Educator's Guide for Classroom Video

For Teachers 5th - 12th Standards
Class members take on the role of historical investigators to determine why it took 40 years for women in the United States to get the right to vote. Sleuths view videos and analyze primary sources and images to gather evidence to answer...
Lesson Plan
PBS

Evaluating Conflicting Evidence: Sultana

For Teachers 6th - 10th Standards
What sunk the Sultana? Scholars become investigators to uncover the facts behind the 1865 sinking just after the end of the Civil War. Through group work, videos, and primary documents, they research and analyze why 1,800 men died....
Lesson Plan
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1
Facing History and Ourselves

The Political Struggle, 1865-1866

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Healing versus justice. The central source of tension following the United States Civil War was between the demands for healing and the demands for justice, the battle between President Andrew Johnson and Congress. A video introduces the...
Lesson Plan
2
2
Smithsonian Institution

Racism and Removal: Japanese Incarceration During World War II

For Teachers 8th - 11th Standards
During World War II people saw how far the government's control would go, but it was at the expense of its citizens. The resource brings the conditions of Japanese American internment camps to light using primary documents. Scholars...
Activity
University of California

Jewish Holidays

For Teachers 6th Standards
Modern Jewish holidays have ancient roots with many connections to today. Using photographs of primary sources, such as fragments of a shofar, as well as texts, such as the Hebrew Tanakh, learners explore how Jewish holidays reflect...
Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

The Tulsa Race Massacre

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre is the focus of a activity that explores the causes and consequences of the destruction of the Greenwood section of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Pupils examine primary source images, a video clip covering the riots, and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Life in the Floating World: Ukiyo-e Prints and the Rise of the Merchant Class in Edo Period Japan

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Young scholars explore Jananese history through the use of the woodblock print called "ukiyo-e" prints. The audience attracted to the prints, their interests and tastes as well as how the prints reflected the life of the merchant class...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Declaration of Independence

For Teachers 11th - 12th Standards
Learners analyze the Declaration of Independence. They identify and describe various sections of the document then discuss how the colonists responded to it. As a culminating activity, they write their own declarations of independence as...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Liberty for All: Voices from the Revolution

For Teachers 8th - 10th
Did the Declaration of Independence really intend to grant liberty for all? Get your class thinking about historical perspective with documents relaying the experiences of women, white men, and African-Americans during the Revolutionary...

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