Lesson Plan
Center for History Education

Japanese American Internment During World War II

For Teachers 9th - 12th
World War II turned nations against each other and neighbors into enemies. An eye-opening lesson plan explores the dark past of Japanese-American internment camps during WWII. Scholars learn of the fear and distrust toward Asian...
Lesson Plan
Center for History Education

Continuity or Change? African Americans in World War II

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
While World War II was a pivotal moment in history, historians debate its importance to the civil rights movement. Class members consider the implications of segregation and the war using a series of documents and a jigsaw activity....
Lesson Plan
Center for History Education

Understanding the Great Migration

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
What would make someone leave home and travel thousands of miles to find another one? Young historians look at letters, demographic data, and artwork to answer the question for the Great Migration, or the movement of thousands of African...
Lesson Plan
Center for History Education

Civil Rights and Cold Warriors

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Three presidents, three views on civil rights. Scholars compare the administrations of President Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy to understand how each addressed the issue of civil rights. The lesson uses primary sources and graphic...
Lesson Plan
Center for History Education

Contextualizing a Historical Photograph: Busing and the Anti-busing Movement in Boston

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The anti-busing movement in Boston is the focus of a instructional activity that asks young historians to examine primary source documents to identify the causes and consequences of busing pupils from one area of the city to another in...
Lesson Plan
Center for History Education

Blockbusting: Social and Economic Change through Real Estate

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
"Redlining," "Blockbusting," and "White Flight" may not be terms familiar to young historians. Here's a activity that introduces middle schoolers to these terms and the actions associated with them. Class members examine a series of...
Lesson Plan
Center for History Education

African Americans and the Democratic Party

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Why did African American voters switch from the Republican Party to the Democratic party during the Depression Era? That is the question young historians attempt to answer as they study primary source documents from the period. The focus...
Lesson Plan
Center for History Education

Did Southern Free Men of Color Fight for the Ideals of the South?

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Much of history is distasteful. Primary sources often reveal attitudes acceptable at the time that no longer are. But to understand controversial historical events, historians must examine primary sources that represent a wide variety of...
Lesson Plan
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Facing History and Ourselves

The 1968 East LA School Walkouts

For Teachers 9th - 12th
The East LA School walkouts are the focus of a lesson that looks at the importance of an education that honors the culture of all learners. Class members watch videos and read an article on the LA student demands to gather background...
Lesson Plan
Newseum

Recognizing Bias: Analyzing Context and Execution

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Young journalists learn how to identify bias in the news media.  First, they watch a video in which a Newseum expert identifies bias in a story about the 1919 Chicago race riots. They then use what they have learned to analyze a...
Lesson Plan
Newseum

Compare Coverage of Brown v. Board Ruling

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Young journalists analyze how The Topeka State Journal, the Jackson Daily News, and The Providence Journal reported on the 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v Board of Education. Scholars scrutinize the headlines, photographs,...
Lesson Plan
Center for History Education

Where Did Thomas Jefferson Stand on the Issue of Slavery?

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Thomas Jefferson was a complicated man with a complex legacy. Middle schoolers examine a series of primary source documents to gather evidence for an essay in which they answer where Jefferson stood on the issue of slavery.
Lesson Plan
Newseum

When Tragedy Hits — Role-Playing a Breaking News Story

For Teachers 6th - Higher Ed
Young journalists engage in a role-playing exercise that asks them to consider the journalism and ethical issues raised by the coverage of the mass shootings at Virginia Tech on April 16, 2007. Pupils play the role of either a reporter...
Lesson Plan
Newseum

'The Press and the Civil Rights Movement' Video Lesson

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed Standards
Scholars watch a video featuring journalists who covered the civil rights movement, then respond to questions on a viewing guide. The video features interviews with participants and original news footage from the 1950s and 1960s. In...
Lesson Plan
Newseum

Stereotypes: Identifying One Form of Bias

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Class members brainstorm a list of people in the news (immigrants, millennials, etc.). Teams then select one to research. Using the provided worksheet and guided by a list of questions, the teams examine the stereotypes in news reports...
Lesson Plan
American Institute of Physics

African American Inventors in History

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
A two-part lesson plan introduces young historians to the work of famous African American inventors. Groups first research and develop a presentation of an inventor that includes biographical information and information about one of...
Lesson Plan
American Institute of Physics

When Computers Wore Skirts: Katherine Johnson, Christine Darden, and the “West Computers”

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Did you know that people, known as computers, performed the complex calculations that are now done by electronic computers? Three of these human computers, Katherine Johnson, Christine Darden, and Melba Roy Mouton are featured in a...
Lesson Plan
PBS

Jackie Robinson's Complicated — and Important — Legacy

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Americans tend to lock their heroes in history, holding these icons to a particular event or time. Jackie Robinson is such a hero, remembered by most for becoming the first African American to play in the Major Leagues. Young historians...
Lesson Plan
PBS

Race and Vaccine Hesitancy in the US

For Teachers 9th - 12th
What does race have to do with COVID vaccine hesitancy? That is the question young scholars pursue in a video lesson that looks at the impacts of such things as the Tuskegee Experiment, the unauthorized use of Henrietta Lacks's cancer...
Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

The Bank Of Justice: Civil Rights In The US

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
To launch a study of racial segregation and integration, young historians first watch a news video about a prom in Georgia that was first integrated in 2013. They then compare the goals in Lincoln's Gettysburg Address to King's "I Have a...
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
American Institute of Physics

Physicist Activist: Dr. Elmer Imes and the Civil Rights Case of Juliette Derricotte

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Elmer Imes was not only a brilliant physicist but also a civil rights activist. After an introductory lecture, groups read two articles about a traffic accident that killed one Fisk University student and injured several others. The...
Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

The African American Experience

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Disrespect can be as subtle as a frown or a turn of a head. To prepare for a study of Toi Derricote's poem "The Weakness" class members create wordless skits that demonstrate subtle or not so subtle signs of disrespect. After a...
Lesson Plan
PBS

Remembering Nelson Mandela

For Teachers 6th - 12th
To learn more about Nelson Mandela, young historians watch a 20 minute video that traces his life from boyhood in a small South African village, to his work as an activist opposed to Apartheid, his imprisonment, and to his leadership as...

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