Facing History and Ourselves
Many Voices, One National Identity
To conclude the unit on "Exploring Identity in the United States," pupils consider whether it is possible to combine many voices into one national identity. After creating an identity chart that lists words, phrases, and images that they...
American Battle Monuments Commission
The Great War: U.S. Division Under Allied Command
The victory of Allied forces in World War I is due in large part to the continued collaboration and support of the Allied divisions themselves. Learn more about the ways Australia, Britain, France, and the United States worked together...
National Endowment for the Humanities
A Day for the Constitution
The "Constitution Day and Citizenship Day" law requires schools receiving any federal funding to provide educational programming on the history of the American Constitution. The lesson plans, materials, videos, questions, and activities...
DocsTeach
Suffrage Photograph Analysis
Votes for women! Young scholars use images to explore the suffrage movement and its impact on the United States. Historians work in groups or pairs to interpret the photograph, complete a worksheet, and discuss how their opinions of the...
Curated OER
The Articles of Confederation (1781-1789)
For this online interactive history worksheet, learners respond to ten short answer and essay questions about the Articles of Confederation. They may check some of their answers on the interactive worksheet.
Reading Through History
Patriots and Loyalists
Patriots versus Loyalists, a huge divide during the Revolutionary War in what would become the United States of America. An informative resource includes both direct instruction about the two groups and a quiz pupils take after reading...
Baylor College
Microbes and Disease
Discuss how diseases have impacted human history. Divide your class into groups and assign each group one of the following: tuberculosis, malaria, plague, cholera, smallpox, and AIDS. They read up on, complete a concept map, and present...
Baylor College
Milestones in Microbiology
Life science learners read a set of six short Discovery Readings that describe historical events in the field of microbiology. For each, they identify clues about when the event occurred and then they try to arrange events in...
PBS
Out of the Shadows | Black America Since MLK: And Still I Rise
Two powerful video clips launch a study of race relations in the United States after the Selma, Alabama riots, the passage of the Votings Rights Act, and the riots in Watts, California.
PBS
Connecting Post-Civil War Mob Violence and the Capitol Hill Riot
Anti-democratic violence is not new in the United States. Learners watch videos and then compare and contrast the 1873 Colfax and the 1898 Wilmington massacres. They then watch a video about the Capitol Hill insurrection of 2021 and...
Center for Civic Education
Constitution Day Rap
Engage your class while learning about the US Constitution with this fun primary grade social studies lesson. After viewing a picture of the US Constitution, young learners piece together a US flag using stars and...
Polk County Public Schools
The Blame Game for the Loss at Pearl Harbor
Known as the day that will live in infamy, the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 was a shock to all. But why was the United States unprepared on that December morning? Study a series of primary sources in a document-based question that...
Law Focused Education
Federalist — Anti-Federalist
Deciding how to rule a nation is no easy task. Scholars use an online quiz to test their knowledge of Federalist and Anti-Federalist positions, ideas on the Articles of Confederation, and finish with questions on the United States...
PBS
Earth’s Ever-Changing Surface
The Grand Canyon formed between five and six million years ago, but is it still changing? Scholars explore 10 sites in the United States, including the Grand Canyon, to better understand the geoscience processes that formed these...
National WWII Museum
Pearl Harbor: Analyzing FDR's Pearl Harbor Address
FDR's words calling the attack on Pearl Harbor a "day in infamy" have been immortalized. Learners use analysis and discussion questions to consider the origins and drafting of the famed speech that brought the United States into World...
Curated OER
George Washington: His Life and History
This a visually attractive presentation, which dedicates slides to summarizing George Washington's basic life facts and professional events. This presentation would be a good accompaniment to a lecture, and to the four children's...
National Endowment for the Humanities
The Declaration of Independence in Six Parts
Everyone knows that the Declaration of Independence is important, but what does it actually say? Members of American history classes analyze the Founding Fathers' arguments against British tyranny and for a more perfect union with a...
DocsTeach
Chinese Exclusion Broadside Analysis
Racism against Asian American goes deep in American history. Using a broadside in favor of the Chinese Exclusion Act, class members examine clues—with key portions of the document blacked out—to better understand the roots of anti-Asian...
National Woman's History Museum
Women of Wonder: Who Do I Admire?
Celebrate superwomen during Women's History Month with a lesson that showcases a variety of female role models. Following a whole-class discussion on superheroes, role models, respect, and admiration, scholars listen to several...
American Institute of Physics
The Physical Sciences at Women's Colleges
After a brief introduction to the history of women's colleges in the United States and a discussion of the resistance such institutions faced, young scientists investigate seven traditionally women's colleges and their physics programs....
C3 Teachers
Civil Rights: What Made Nonviolent Protest Effective during the Civil Rights Movement?
Sit-ins and boycotts, marches and speeches, songs and demonstrations were hallmarks of nonviolent protest of the civil rights movement. Young scholars research primary and secondary source documents to determine what made nonviolent...
Carolina K-12
African American Troops in the Civil War
Middle schoolers explore the history of the African-American troops that served during the American Civil War. After reading primary source documents that detail the controversies about permitting freemen and former slaves to serve,...
Anti-Defamation League
Shirley Chisholm: Unbought, Unbossed and Unforgotten
A 13-page packet introduces high schoolers to a lady of amazing firsts. Shirley Chisholm was the first Black woman elected to Congress, the first Black woman to run for President of the United States, and a leader of the Women's Rights...
National Woman's History Museum
Women, Education, Sports, and Title IX
Title IX did more than change the face of sports in the United States. This landmark legislation also impacted women in education and politics. High schoolers examine the text of the legislation and the 2016 Senate resolution and watch...