Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Interviewing Famous Leaders in History

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students explore historical figures. In this history/research lesson plan, students use a variety of research materials to learn about the historical figure of their choice. Students write questions and responses as if they were...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A River Ran Wild: An Environmental History

For Teachers 11th - 12th
The Nashua River serves as the focal point of an investigation of the treatment of and care for natural resources. A reading of A River Rand Wild: An Environmental History by Lynne Cherry, launches the study and class members consider...
Lesson Plan
Macmillan Education

Webquest: Thanksgiving

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Class members use the Internet to research the history of Thanksgiving in the United States and Canada, as well as the traditions surrounding the Thanksgiving-style celebrations of the Hebrews, the Chinese, and in Ancient Greece and Rome.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Changing Role of Women

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders examine the evolution of women's rights in America. As they analyze primary documents and discuss historical events, learners determine how Abigail Adams, Eleanor Roosevelt, Lady Bird Johnson, Margaret Sanger, and James...
Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Government and Your Right To Vote: Voting Rights In America

For Teachers 11th - 12th Standards
Gaining voting rights was difficult over the course of decades, but the debate over who should actually be allowed to cast a ballot remains. Scholars explore the history of the struggle, including the fifteenth and nineteenth amendments,...
Lesson Plan
Personal Genetics Education Project

Using Primary Sources to Examine the History of Eugenics

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed Standards
Eugenics philosophy takes survival of the fittest to a whole new level. With a research-focused activity, young scientists examine the history of the eugenics movement and its impact on society. Pupils engage with a video clip, primary...
Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Jazz In Oklahoma

For Teachers 9th - 12th
When considering the possible hot spots of jazz in the United States, Oklahoma isn't the state that first comes to mind. However, it is the birthplace of several jazz musicians that influenced the evolution of the genre and Oklahoma City...
Lesson Plan
1
1
Breaking News English

More People to Stick to New Year's Resolutions

For Teachers 4th - 8th
What makes a good New Year's resolution? Practice goal-setting and reading comprehension with a set of language arts activities. English learners work on cloze passages, synonym matches, interviewing exercises, and...
Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Many Trails of Tears: The Era of Indian Removal

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole. All were forced off their ancestral lands in the southeastern United States as part of the Indian Removal Act of 1830. Young historians research the tribes' reactions to this removal and...
Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Whose Manifest Destiny? Westward Expansion

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Your land is my land! Young historians investigate the concept of Manifest Destiny used by the United States government to justify western expansion. Jigsaw groups read primary source documents to gain an understanding of the movement...
Lesson Plan
1
1
Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary

What Good May I Do: Franklin and the American Civic Association

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Benjamin Franklin may have been a Founding Father of the United States, but he also founded a number of civic associations. Learners explore his legacy using a biographical essay and collaborative activity. After their exploration,...
Lesson Plan
1
1
Curated OER

Volcanoes: Kindergarten Lesson Plans and Activities

For Teachers K Standards
In the pre-lab, kindergarteners mimic the movements of the eruption of a volcano and discover various volcanoes around the United States. Then, pupils sort different types of volcanic rocks in the lab before learning how volcanoes grow...
Lesson Plan
PBS

Sitting Bull: Spiritual Leader and Military Leader

For Teachers 3rd - 7th Standards
Sitting Bull was not expected to be a great warrior. Yet, he led the Lakota people and other tribes to several pivotal victories against the United States government when federal troops threatened their land. Using primary sources, such...
Lesson Plan
Constitutional Rights Foundation

Why Don’t More People in the U.S. Vote?

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
To vote or not to vote, that is the question. Secondary scholars explore voter turnout in the United States. The resource uses informational text, group discussion, and  a worksheet to help academics understand hindrances to voting...
Lesson Plan
National Woman's History Museum

Creating a Historical Thesis Statement

For Teachers 7th - 10th Standards
A strong thesis statement not only identifies the subject of an essay but also presents a claim that must be supported with evidence. After researching how nursing has evolved in the United States since the Colonial era, young writers...
Lesson Plan
Smithsonian Institution

The Suffragist: Educator's Guide for Classroom Video

For Teachers 5th - 12th Standards
Class members take on the role of historical investigators to determine why it took 40 years for women in the United States to get the right to vote. Sleuths view videos and analyze primary sources and images to gather evidence to answer...
Lesson Plan
1
1
Curated OER

Introduction to Abigail Adams

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed Standards
Remember this lady! Abigail Adams, the wife of John Adams, the second President of the United States, and the mother of the sixth president, John Quincy Adams, was much more than a wife and mother. This prolific letter writer is the...
Lesson Plan
2
2
Curated OER

Tracing Our Own Family Pilgrimages

For Teachers K - 4th
The Pilgrims may have arrived in North America by way of the Mayflower, but chances are, your class members' ancestors came to the United States in another way. Guide them through an exploration of their own heritage, countries of...
Lesson Plan
C-SPAN

Landmark Supreme Court Case: Roe v Wade

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed Standards
Perhaps no issue is as controversial than abortion in the American landscape. Go beyond the rhetoric by examining the Supreme Court case that legalized abortion in the United States. A guided note-taking activity unpacks the arguments...
Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Manifest Destiny: U.S. Territorial Expansion

For Teachers 8th
A close examination of John Gast's painting "American Progress" launches a study of the concept of Manifest Destiny used to justify United States' policy of westward expansion. Young historians read statements from persons with different...
Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Of Mice and Men in the Great Depression: Background and Setting

For Teachers 9th Standards
What were living conditions like in the United States during The Great Depression, and how do those conditions compare with today? That's the question young scholars consider as they prepare to read John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men....
Lesson Plan
1
1
Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary

Benjamin Franklin: Master Diplomat for One Last Time

For Teachers 9th - 12th
At 81, Benjamin Franklin was the oldest delegate to the 1787 Constitutional Convention, where he exercised significant influence in shaping key elements of how the United States operates. The class examines his role, using “The Scene at...
Lesson Plan
Smithsonian Institution

We Have a Story to Tell: Native Peoples of the Chesapeake Region

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
How did colonial settlement and the establishment of the United States affect Native Americans in the Chesapeake region? Your young historians will analyze contemporary and historical maps, read informational texts, and work in groups to...
Lesson Plan
Constitutional Rights Foundation

Winner-Take-All: The Two-Party System

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Two's company, three's a crowd. High school historians learn about the Electoral College, a two-party, winner-take-all voting system in the United States. The lesson explains the pros and cons of the two-party system, roadblocks for...

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