Harry S. Truman Library & Museum
Marshall Plan: Convince the American People
This is an excellent resource for US history classes, especially AP history. After learning some background on the Marshall Plan, the class, divided into two groups, researches opposing positions on this aid program. Groups read and...
Curated OER
Global Health Issues
Examine global health issues and the philanthropic efforts of Bill Gates. Working in groups, your class will research selected diseases focusing on symptoms, transmission, and prevention. They also conclude by writing grant proposals to...
Curated OER
Scouting Civil War Sites
Students evaluate websites after gathering information from various search engines. In this Civil War lesson, students browse the web and find strategies for rating websites. Students choose the best sites in their opinion...
National Park Service
Should America Have Gone to War in 1812?
Using an incredibly engaging activity and detailed lesson plan, your learners will serve as advisors to President Madison on whether to participate in what would become the War of 1812! Utilize a variety of effective instructional...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
History of Immigration Through the 1850s
Everyone living in the United States today is a descendant from an immigrant—even Native Americans. Learn about the tumultuous history of American immigration with a reading passage that discusses the ancient migration over the Bering...
Advocates for Human Rights
The Rights of the Child
Don't be fooled by the size of the resource: these few pages provide the blueprint for a substantial, thoughtful unit on children's rights and the different philosophies and approaches that the United States and other countries have...
National History Day
“Saving the Bear”: The Russian Expeditionary Force of World War One
How have Russian politics affected countries on a global stage? The discussion of the Russian Revolution and World War I begins with an analysis of primary resource letters. Learners finish with a project where they create a timeline of...
Curated OER
Rockefeller's Revenge: Exxon and Mobil Unite
Study the impact and possible outcomes of the Exxon-Mobil merger in your language arts, social studies, or economics class. Secondary learners evaluate a series of graphs, write a paragraph interpreting the data, and engage in class...
Education Outside
Divine Dumplings
In a lesson that combines cooking, language arts, and social studies, learners create a delicious plate of dumplings for everyone to enjoy. After an initial discussion in the opening circle, pupils go to the cooking station and work...
University of Wisconsin
Why Did the Triangle Fire Occur?
An investigation of the 1911 New York City Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire leads class members to examine primary and secondary source materials related to the event and apply what they learn about the working conditions at the time to...
Curated OER
Solar Energy in New York
Middle schoolers examine a variety of information for New York State including insolation data, and economic or political data, thus incorporating both science and social studies. Encouraging learners to become concerned citizens as they...
Shakespeare in American Life
Tom Hanks and Caliban: Survivor Superstars
Here’s a clever way to combine language arts and social studies. Shakespeare’s The Tempest is believed to have been inspired by the wreck of the Sea Venture on Bermuda in 1609. The class views a brief scene from Castaway in which Tom...
Smithsonian Institution
Borders with the World: Mexican-American War and U.S. Southern Borderlands
The Mexican-American War created social borders—not just physical ones. Scholars learn about the effects of the Mexican-American War on the people living in the borderlands using text excerpts, maps, and partnered activities. Academics...
Curated OER
Unplanned Pregnancy: Parenting
High schoolers consider and discuss characteristics of an ideal parent. In small groups, they work together to examine the stereotypical roles of the father and the mother. The issues dealt with in this resource are thought-provoking and...
Curated OER
From Bolls to Bolts
Fifth graders explore the economic effects of the colonization of North America. In this Social Studies lesson, 5th graders examine the economic and cultural results that occurred due to North America entering the market. Students...
Curated OER
THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP
Students analyze how slavery shaped social and economic life in the South after 1800, the different economic, cultural, and social characteristics of slavery after 1800, and slavery both prior and after the Civil War.
Curated OER
WHERE DO I COME FROM?
Students analyze the struggle for racial and gender equality and for the extension of civil liberties, the social and economic impact of the Great Depression, and the economic boom and social transformation of post-World War II United...
Curated OER
SLAVE TRADING AND SMALL TOWNS
Learners research the ways slavery shaped social and economic life in the South after 1800, the different economic, cultural, and social characteristics of slavery after 1800, and how the Atlantic slave trade finally ended.
Curated OER
Fugitive Slave Narratives
Learners analyze the ways slavery shaped social and economic life in the South after 1800, the different economic, cultural, and social characteristics of slavery after 1800, and the ending of the Atlantic slave trade.
Curated OER
Inventions and Inventors
Fifth graders investigate an introduction to both Invention Convention and Unit 3 in the Social Studies Book, the teacher will point out that many changes occurred in the United States during the late 1800s and early 1900s.¿¿¿...
Curated OER
Afghan I Stand
Students explore the history of ethnic groups, leadership, internal and external conflicts, social and economic conditions, and geographical boundaries of Afghanistan to present to fellow classmates at a teach-in.
Curated OER
History - Up Close And Personal
High schoolers identify national origin and population movement across U.S. of ancestors and/or community residents, explain historical development of major local industries, identify local social patterns/economic development as...
Curated OER
Images of Slavery
Students analyze the ways slavery shaped social and economic life in the South after 1800, methods of passive and active resistance to slavery; escaped slaves and the Underground Railroad, and the ending of the Atlantic slave trade.
Curated OER
RAW HISTORY: USING PRIMARY SOURCES
Students analyze the ways slavery shaped social and economic life in the South after 1800, how slaves forged their own culture in the face of oppression; and the role of the plantation system in shaping slaveholders and the enslaved.