Young scholars examine primary sources as related to Nevada and the Civil War. In this United States history instructional activity, students gather and analyze various primary sources in small groups and interpret unknown vocabulary...

Learners write a journal entry about where there food comes from. In this Civil War lesson, students discuss journals, the crops grown within the U.S., the import/export process and what food preparation must have been like on a...

Learners choose a historical book set in the Civil War. They create a flow chart of the steps involved in producing a film. They select one scene and prepare props, costumes and setting for the scene.

Fifth graders complete a short unit on slavery and the U.S. Civil War. They read and analyze the book, "Follow the Drinking Gourd," compose their own secret song, complete an Abraham Lincoln crossword puzzle, and dramatize a historical...

Students examine letters of Japanese-American children during internment in World War II. They discover what it was like in the camps and how they were treated once they were released. They also view photographs of the camps.

Students investigate civil liberties in the U.S. They watch and discuss a PowerPoint presentation, conduct research on an event from a timeline, complete a worksheet, take an ideology quiz, and conduct a debate.

Students experience profiling first-hand through creation of a Class ID, and daily persecution of a selected group of students. They examine the tension between the concern for national security and for the preservation of civil liberties

Eighth graders complete a unit of lessons on the period of time from Reconstruction to the Civil Rights movement. They analyze and interpret political cartoons and editorials, conduct research on famous civil rights places, and complete...

Students investigate icons, monuments and places that serve as symbols of American history, assessing how and why the meanings of these historic symbols evolve through time to acquire new or different significance.

Students examine the issues surrounding Gulf War Syndrome. In groups, they analyze evidence from the war and medical information. They participate in a debate in which they support their feelings on whether the government of the United...

Students explore lives of African-Americans in Iowa. Students will examine biographies and discuss perspectives of African-Americans. They will then create posters illustrating elements of those lives finally, putting on a five act play...

Students research early Indian adaptations in this lesson. They research the different American Indian tribes. They also research and compare the tribes' rituals, daily lives, and their impact on the Europeans who came later to the...

Students compare the social and cultural characteristics of the North, the South, and the West during the antebellum period, including the lives of African Americans and social reform movements such as abolition and women’s rights.

Fourth graders examine social changes in Texas during last half of ninteenth century relating to the institution of slavery. They brainstorm methods that unhappy slaves may have used to avoid obeying their masters, and read and discuss...

Students read the Trail of Tears about the Cherokee Nation removal and write a letter pretending they are the grandparent of a Cherokee child. In this Trail of Tears lesson plan, students understand the changing of boundaries.

Students discover the significance of various historical events. Using the information they find, groups re-enact these events, stressing their importance to history and our lives today.

Learners describe some of the distinguishing characteristics of rock, folk, blues, and country music. They identify two main musical roots of today's American popular music.

Sixth graders assess how a Native American's environment and the geographic region where they lived influenced their food, clothing, shelter and the overall culture of a tribe. They study the impact of conservation, family, rural life,...

Fifth graders view examples of trading cards. They research a chosen topic related to the American Civil War. They create three sets of trading cards using details from their research. They exchange trading cards with their classmates.

Students use a primary resource to collect information about a Civil War battle. They identify similarities and differences between historical wars and modern wars.

Young scholars examine the feelings associated with segregation and then act out a scene based on those feelings.

Students evaluate the ship of state metaphor in relation to the historical events in America from the Revolutionary War to the Civil War. They synthesize ideas presented in ten different primary source documents and compose an essay...

Students explore organizations founded for the common good. In this character education lesson, students read about organizations that developed for the common good during the Civil War and Reconstruction. In small groups, students...

Just because slavery was illegal doesn't mean it went away ... Jim Crow Laws took its place. An eye-opening lesson focuses on how Jim Crow Laws were used as a form of racial social control against African Americans in the United States....