Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
What Brought Settlers to the Midwest?
Drawn by promises of fertile land, thousands of settlers poured West because of the Homestead Act of 1862. By examining images of the ads that drew them westward, learners consider the motivations for movement. They also consider how the...
Curated OER
The Founders’ Library: Thinking as a Founding Father
Students analyze the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights. In this U.S. government instructional activity, students examine books, movies, and music that influence them today and then investigate writings that influenced the framers...
Facing History and Ourselves
Kristallnacht: Decision-Making in Times of Injustice
Have you ever been singled out in a crowd before? Pupils investigate and analyze the events of the Holocaust. They dive into the life of a middle school student, as well as the diary entries of those in Kristallnacht during World War...
Library of Congress
Industrial Revolution
Could you live without your phone? What about cars, steel, or clothing? Class groups collaborate to produce presentations that argue that either the telephone, the gramophone, the automobile, the textile industry, or the steel...
Curated OER
Not Just Books
Students consider uses of a library and explore the collections at the Morgan Library and Museum in New York City, and create proposals for exhibits of various artifacts.
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Online Public Access Catalog
Fourth graders learn how to find books in the library. For this library lesson, 4th graders observe how to use an online system to search for a book by title, author and subject. Students practice searching for books.
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Sustainable Development
Twelfth graders explore the difference between natural and man-made environments. In this renewable resources lesson students evaluate the economic importance of resources.
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Glossary, Index, and Table of Contents
Fourth graders use two separate sources to learn about index, glossary, and table of contents usage. In this library instructional activity, 4th graders use two books, Learning About Weather with Graphic Organizers, and The World Almanac...
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From the Beginning of Time, Online: Using the Internet to Explore History
Students use the Internet to research historical events. They compare and contrast different websites to find the best information. They write summaries based on the information they found and give presentations.
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The American Dream
Students define the American dream. For this primary research lesson, students search the Library of Congress digital collections for primary sources regarding the ideal of the American dream. Students create presentation to...
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Where is Grand Dewey Daddy?
Third graders find books. In this library lesson, 3rd graders use the Dewey Decimal System to find books and determine the shelves they are located on.
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Dewey Rap
Fourth graders locate books in the library. In this Dewey Decimal System instructional activity, 4th graders listen to the Dewey Rap via power point or audio file. Students view a card from the Dewey system in their library and practice...
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The Home Front (Circa 1863)
Learners interpret historical evidence presented in primary and secondary resources. For this American Civil War lesson, students examine sources and then write personal accounts of the war.
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Reader's Paradise
Pupils visit the school or local library (or bookstore) to create short film or radio documentary that records a specific habit or ritual associated with reading, book buying, or book borrowing.
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Creating a Primary Source Archive: All History Is Local
Students explore personal, local, state, and national history. In this historiography lesson, students search the Library of Congress digital collections for primary sources regarding their family histories framed in local, state, and...
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Computers: Copyright Law
Students visit various Websites to find information about copyright laws. Their research includes information about legal and ethical behaviors regarding Internet use. In addition, students complete online student activity sheets.
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The Pirates of the Caribbean
Third graders participate in a demonstration lesson that shows a map of the Caribbean Islands. They examine a natural resource that each island is known for. Next, they listen to a read aloud of Gail Gibbons, "Pirates: Robbers of the...
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Going Green
Students create an action plan to learn how to preserve natural resources for future generations. In this environmental conservation lesson plan, students research the topic of preserving the natural environment and write a definition...
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Water, Glorious Water
Students identify the various uses of water. In this water conservation lesson, students read the book, The Drop In My Drink: The Story of Water On Our Planet and write down their favorite uses of water. Students illustrate how they can...
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The New Segregation
Pupils use census data to analyze the racial and economic diversity of their community. They discuss the role of diversity within communities and the impact that land use decisions can have on the composition of a community.
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Philanthropy in History
Students understand the importance of books in past and present societies. In this philanthropic instructional activity, students compare Andrew Carnegie and Benjamin Franklin's perspective on the importance of everyone being able to...
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Geometry is Fun and EverywhereGeometry, You Don’t Care? Geometry is Fun and Everywhere
Third graders investigate shapes in our world. In this geometry activity, 3rd graders describe plane and solid shapes and identify angles, solid objects and lines of symmetry. Students use online resources, graphic organizers and conduct...
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Severe Weather
Fifth graders identify the causes and effects of several different kinds of
severe weather phenomenon. They read an excerpt from John Muir's book The Mountains of California and research one of the following severe
weather phenomena...
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Message Drafted by General Eisenhower in Case the D-Day Invasion Failed
Students discuss how much effort and planning would therefore be needed to plan a secret invasion such as D-Day. They use library and Internet resources to find out what strategies were employed on D-Day and what the results of D-Day were.