Lesson Plan
All About Explorers

How Could They Be so Wrong?

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
If it's on the Internet, it must be true ... right? Introduce young Internet explorers to the importance of fact-checking through a fun web-based activity. Pairs work together to read and analyze biographies about world explorers, then...
Lesson Plan
Facing History and Ourselves

Us and Them: Confronting Labels and Lies

For Teachers 8th - 12th Standards
Stereotyping and discrimination based on religion catalyze many atrocities in the world. Explain the awful treatment of Jews and the lies Nazis spread by using an informative yet sensitive resource. Learners participate in a warm-up and...
Lesson Plan
Alabama Department of Archives and History

Settlement of Frontier Alabama

For Teachers 4th
What comes to mind when the class imagines settlers traveling out West? The lesson teaches pupils about the western frontier of Alabama and what life was like for people traveling West—in wagons with few possessions. Scholars write,...
Lesson Plan
Alabama Department of Archives and History

The Effect of the Great Depression on Children and Education

For Teachers 4th - 6th
What was it like to be a kid growing up during the Great Depression? Academics study primary sources to analyze the effect of school closures on children during the Great Depression. They then participate in group discussions and writing...
Activity
Carolina K-12

Revolutionary War Era Tick-Tack- Toe

For Students 5th - 8th Standards
So many fantastic activities on the American Revolution! From drawing political cartoons illustrating events of the Boston Massacre to writing a diary entry as a shopkeeper during the Boston Tea Party, your young historians will...
Lesson Plan
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North Carolina Consortium for Middle East Studies

The Importance of Holocaust Remembrance

For Teachers 9th Standards
Designed as the culminating activity after a unit study of the Holocaust, class members assume the voice of a world leader, write a speech, and participate in a simulation of the Stockholm International Forum on the Holocaust.
Handout
PBS

The Diary of Anne Frank

For Students 8th - 10th Standards
While designed to supplement a viewing of the PBS Masterpiece Classic The Diary of Anne Frank, this resource can also serve as an excellent informational text and activity source for your learners on the historical context and timeline...
Lesson Plan
Carolina K-12

The Twenty-Sixth Amendment and the Power of Youth

For Teachers 8th Standards
Empower teenagers to take political matters into their own hands! After completing an engaging warm-up activity, class members discuss both sides of the youth voting issue, learn about the connection between military history and the...
Lesson Plan
National WWII Museum

Communities at War: Reading Primary Sources Imaginatively

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Uncle Sam wants you to support the troops. Learners use an engaging lesson plan to analyze primary and secondary sources to discover what life was really like for American citizens at home during WWII. Pupils complete...
Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

“From Time to Time”: Presidents and Communicating with the Public

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
While the Constitution requires a "State of the Union" address, it doesn't give many details. In fact, it wasn't until Woodrow Wilson that the periodic update to Congress was given in-person. Using primary sources, recordings and...
Worksheet
Curated OER

How Do You Like to Learn?

For Students 6th - 12th
Use this worksheet to gather insight into the types of activities assignments that each of your students prefers, and create an effective, student-centered learning environment.
Worksheet
Curated OER

The Enlightenment: Matching Activity 4

For Students 7th - 9th
Just finished reading about the 17th century and the period of Enlightenment? Use this helpful worksheet that covers the people and events your class has just read about. Learners can use this resource to match ten different...
Worksheet
Student Handouts

Voting Rights Speech Before Congress

For Students 8th - 12th Standards
Is your class studying civil rights? Consider taking a look at President Lyndon B. Johnson's voting rights speech. This resource includes an abridged version and three related questions. Pupils consider Johnson's use of language and the...
Organizer
Student Handouts

Timeline Worksheet

For Students 2nd - 8th Standards
Don't let your pupils waste another second drawing out lines for your next timeline assignment. Pass out this worksheet and get straight to the main activity!
Lesson Plan
University of the Desert

How Do I Feel That My Culture Is Misunderstood by Others?

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Using video clips of young adults from around the world describing their cultures and how they can be misunderstood, learners compare their own cultural point of view to that of others through discussion and writing.
Lesson Plan
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum

Ask Not What Your Country Can Do for You

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Ask not what the lesson here can do for you, but what you can do with the lesson. The answer is quite a lot! Young scholars revisit JFK's famous inaugural address with a focus on his plea for civic engagement. There's a...
Lesson Plan
Heritage Foundation

The Powers of the Executive

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Are executives as powerful as they sound? High schoolers find out about the US president and executive branch. A variety of activities include scaffolded reading sections, research assignments, and collaborative group work.
Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Lesson 1: The First Great Awakening

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
High schoolers examine the First Great Awakening and how it affected religious belief in colonial America. They read and analyze primary source documents, explore various websites, and write a five-paragraph essay examining the beliefs...
Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Lesson 2: Religion and the Argument for American Independence

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Young scholars examine how religion affected arguments justifying American independence. They read and analyze primary source documents, and write an essay analyzing how Americans used religious arguments to justify revolution against a...
Lesson Plan
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National Endowment for the Humanities

The New Order for "Greater East Asia"

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Sometimes the New Order becomes synonymous with its implications for European countries, but what about its consequences for East Asia? The final instructional activity in a four-part series teaches scholars about World War II. High...
Lesson Plan
Carolina K-12

Turn of the Century Immigration

For Teachers 8th Standards
In an engaging simulation, class members imagine immigrating to the United States in the late nineteenth century and arriving at Ellis Island. They then write creative journal entries about their experience and chart their journeys.
Lesson Plan
Carolina K-12

Law, Jurisdictions, and Enforcement Agencies

For Teachers 10th Standards
How do you determine what law enforcement agency has jurisdiction when a crime has been committed? That's the challenge facing class members in this role-play activity.
Lesson Plan
Center for Civic Education

Becoming an Informed Voter: Creating Initiatives

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Continuing from a previous lesson on how to read and analyze proposed legislation on election ballots, your class members will now practice writing up their own proposals for a new school rule or local ordinance that will be...
Lesson Plan
PBS

Mark Twain: Storyteller, Novelist, and Humorist

For Teachers 3rd - 7th Standards
Scholars investigate the use of satire in Mark Twain's writing. Literary lovers research the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer, political cartoons, and videos to see how Twain uses satire to make the stories more memorable....