PBS
Puerto Rican Perspectives
Puerto Ricans are wholly American, but their history with the United States has been one of tumult. Using clips from a PBS documentary, viewers consider the history of the island and Puerto Rico's contributions to the mainland United...
Livaudais-Baker English Classroom
Heart of Darkness Introduction
Heart of Darkness is not an easy read, both because of the subject matter and Conrad's Impressionistic style. A 20-slide presentation introduces readers to Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. The presentation begins with a brief review of...
Benjamin Banneker Association
Celebrate Benjamin Banneker
Inventor, astronomer, surveyor, mathematician, clock maker. Learners celebrate the life of Benjamin Banneker by building creative analog clocks, making scale models, and solving problems related to surveying. The activities model the...
US House of Representatives
Exclusion and Empire, 1898–1941
Often forgotten and written off as the model minority, Americans with heritage in Asia and the Pacific Islands have played an essential role in American history, including Congress. Budding historians reclaim history by researching the...
E Reading Worksheets
Main Idea Worksheet 4
Does your class or do individual learners need more practice determining the main idea of a passage of informational text? Here is a learning exercise containing seven exercises that asks kids to read short paragraphs, summarize the...
College Board
2016 AP® United States History Free-Response Questions
The British and Spanish both had footholds in the New World, yet they had different approaches. Scholars explore the dynamics, along with the reasons behind immigration to the United States and business practices of the Gilded Age in a...
US Citizenship and Immigration Services
Thanksgiving 1—Pilgrims and American Indians
The Pilgrims first arrived in America in order to gain religious freedom. Here is a instructional activity that takes the class on this journey with the Pilgrims, stopping to look at how they got here, who they met when they arrived, and...
Curated OER
My Colonial Life
Students explore American colonial times. For this U.S. history lesson, students research typical colonial life and script interviews with people that might have lived during the time period. Students create podcasts of the interviews.
Curated OER
Colonial America
Fifth graders listen to the teacher read the book "Life in colonial America." As each section is read, 5th graders discuss the information. When the teacher reads about the music of colonial America, students listen to music from the...
Curated OER
The Non-Importation Movement
Students analyze a primary source document to determine appropriate colonial substitutions for British goods. They evaluate colonial perspectives of the Non-Importation Movement. Students discuss women's unique roles in the...
Curated OER
Examining Passenger Lists Lesson Plan
Students learn about the colonists that settled in the New World. In this famous explorers lesson, students learn about famous explorers and how they used to keep diaries about their travels. Students read passenger lists...
Curated OER
The Making of Our First President
Students investigate George Washington's military career. For this George Washington lesson, students research the contributions of Washington the colonial military and then write editorials about his accomplishments for a mock colonial...
Curated OER
The Pilgrim Fathers
In this social studies worksheet, students recall the events of the Pilgrims, their arrival in Plymouth and the events of the first Thanksgiving. Students read a story which has 8 missing words. Students choose the correct word from the...
Curated OER
Dear Abby- Colonial Style
Students review the Colonial period in American history and read literature from this era. They assume the roles of a colonial young person and an adult to compose letters from each and communicate their ideas through the letter writing...
Curated OER
Signs of the Times
Students pretend to be 18th century shopkeepers or trades people and create signs representing their shops or trades.
Curated OER
Intro to Witch on Blackbird Pond
Fourth graders read Witch on Blackbird Pond and understand the difficulties of traveling to America during the colonial period. In this Witch on Blackbird Pond lesson, 4th graders compare the choices we have in...
Scholastic
Thanksgiving Lessons Grades PreK-2
A quintessential resource for teaching an elementary unit on the first Thanksgiving addresses a variety of skills, including informational reading, critical thinking, comparing and contrasting facts, technology tools, and historical...
Curated OER
Colonial Tea Parties
Students compare protests and points of view from two different accounts of the Boston Tea Party. They then create a flyer inviting other colonist to participate in the dumping of the tea.
Curated OER
Bartering for a Living: Lesson 3
Students explore the concept o bartering during colonial times. In this colonial lesson, students discover what it was like to live and servive during the colonial times. Students also discover how people using to barter for...
Curated OER
Through the Looking Glass: Life in Colonial Times
Fourth graders examine the life and times of those living in the colonial era. With a partner, they use laptops to complete their research on different aspects of colonial life. They also role-play the role of colonists and share their...
Curated OER
Building a Nation
Eighth graders identify the main ideas of the U.S. Declaration of Independence. They read and discuss text, read and summarize a section of the Declaration of Independence in small groups, and write a paper on why the colonists felt it...
Curated OER
Language Arts: Novel Guides
Students discuss the Revolution and consider the causes of the war, the attitudes of the colonists, and the position of the British. Then students explore American involvement in wars since the country's inception.
Curated OER
Colonial Silver and Tea
Students examine silver pieces from colonial Boston in order to determine the social context of these objects. They compare signs of social status in colonial Boston with those of today by looking at the associated visuals.
Curated OER
Colonial American Trade, Currency, and Economy: The instability of a colonial economy
Students view an image of Nathanial Hurd's "Table of Conversions." They will work in small groups to complete a worksheet. Students participate in a discussion about colonial Boston's economy. This lesson is a precursor to a visit to the...