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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Celebrating Benjamin Franklin

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students explore various websites featuring the life and achievements of Benjamin Franklin. They investigate Franklin's roles in colonial society as well as pictures of his various inventions. They view excerpts of historical documents...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Military Tactics and Battle Plans Oh Boy!

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders compare and contrast a Loyalist and a Patriot. After reading selected pages in the book, 8th graders use a graphic organizer to examine the battle plans of the colonists and the British during the Revolutionary War. They...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Learning from Maps and Timelines Time Travel

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Students create timelines depicting the important events in the lives of the groups that arrived at the Fort St. Louis. They include the fate of La Salle and the colonists.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Deerfield Debates Its Future: What Constitutes Progress?

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explore the many resources that one can use to explore a community, the Colonial Revival movement, and how the industry and technology reshaped life in Deerfield the Connecticut River Valley.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Gone to Texas

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders role play as empresarios attempting to bring colonists to Texas in the 1800's. They create an advertisement that encourages the immigrants to come to Texas.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Indentured Servitude and Immigration

For Teachers 6th - Higher Ed
Learners examine indentured servitude. In this Teaching Tolerance lesson plan, students compare indentured servitude of colonial America to the undocumented immigration of today. Learners write reflections regarding how they feel about...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Right to Vote

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
In this voting worksheet, students identify and discuss changes in voting rights throughout American history. Then, they identify why voting is an important right for Americans. Finally, students create voting bookmarks instead of or in...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Foundations

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students investigate the history of literature in America by looking at the types of genres first read in the United States. They look at the foundations of how the original colonists had the intention of transmitting religious and moral...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

An Exercise in Seriation Dating

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Students study the different types of artifacts found that were made by the colonial people. For this archaeology lesson students take part in finding ceramic and charting their results.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Runaway Ad - Using Primary Documents

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Learners examine a runaway slave advertisement. In this American history lesson plan, students investigate a missing slave advertisement run by Thomas Jefferson in 1769. Learners make inferences based on the advertisement.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Learning About the Civil Rights Movement Through Photographs

For Teachers 4th - 7th
Students examine the racial inequality that existed in the United States before the Civil Rights Movement. After listening to song lyrics and viewing photographs, they discover the importance of the movement in helping society move...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What makes a Southern Colony a Southern Colony

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders answer questions put to them by the teacher that are intended to help them understand the different lives of slaves and indentured servants in colonial times. They make a list of Aristocrats and Farmers from their text...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Committing to Nonviolence: A Lesson from Viva La Causa

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students examine the social change movements of the American 20th century. In this nonviolence lesson, students research the work of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Caesar Chavez. Students compare and contrast the social...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The First Thanksgiving

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Learners research the first Thanksgiving. In this first Thanksgiving lesson plan, students research the Internet about how the first Thanksgiving came about between the Native Americans and the Pilgrims. They complete a KWL chart, and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Stop the Bus: Confronting Our Assumptions About Muslims in America

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explore Virginia Interfaith Center's A More Perfect Union "Misunderstanding" Ad Campaign, view two episodes of PBS America at a Crossroads series, examine historical context of colonialism and geo-political tensions in Middle...
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Lesson Plan
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Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary

Benjamin Franklin and the Long Struggle for Independence

For Teachers K - 2nd
Students explore U.S. history by reading biographical material in class. For this Benjamin Franklin lesson, students identify the life of Franklin and the events that led him to become one of America's first heroes. Students complete an...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rules, Rules, Rules

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders create their classroom rules.  In this Mayflower Compact lesson, 4th graders listen to the Plymouth story and learn about the Mayflower Compact.  Students analyze the Mayflower Compact and create a class compact...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Into the Wild: Settling the South Carolina Backcountry

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders select their own plot of land in the Backcountry to settle in the 1700s in SC.  Students first find a point for settlement and sketch out the best route from the Lowcountry to arrive at the point.  They...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Happy Endings: The Final Battle

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders explore all the myths of the battle of Yorktown. A variety of primary documents are viewed and analyzed for discussion. They become aware that what one sees and hears is not always as it seems in reality. Each group...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Jackie Steals Home

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students read articles relating to Jackie Robinson's breaking of the racial barrier in professional baseball. This leads to a deeper exploration of racism in the United States. They use a variety of worksheets imbedded in this plan to...
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Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Understanding the Salem Witch Trials

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students describe some of the important elements of life in Puritan New England. They create a timeline of the events of the Salem Witch Trials. They work in groups to explore the concept of multiple interpretations of history.
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Worksheet
Curated OER

4th Grade Social Studies

For Teachers 4th
In this social studies instructional activity, 4th graders answer multiple choice questions about colonies, the Revolutionary War, geography, and more. Students complete 25 questions.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Cherokee: Trail Where They Cried

For Teachers 4th - 5th
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.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Boston Spies' Report on the Redcoats

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students collect information about British actions in Boston and send it by secret message to leaders in Philadelphia.