Curated OER
Nos Creemos Americanos: Braceros in History and Song
Mexican folk songs offer an authentic look at WWII immigrant workers. This study of the U.S. Bracero Program sets historians up with context information so they can write their own corrido. The class reviews themes and formulas of...
Mississippi Department of Archives and History
Protesting Violence without Violence
The ultimate legacy of Emmett Till's violent death is its role in the non-violent roots of the Civil Rights Movement. A lesson compares contemporaneous articles with the lyrics of Bob Dylan's "The Death of Emmett Till" and prompts...
Teaching Tolerance
Critiquing Hate Crimes Legislation
The high school lesson explores what hate crimes are and how the government has responded to those crimes. Academics read legislation, analyze political cartoons, and complete hands-on-activities to understand what motivates individuals...
Teaching Tolerance
Introducing 'The New Jim Crow'
When Jim Crow Laws ended, the intent behind them did not. Academics read "The New Jim Crow Laws" and an interview from the author to understand how racism has not ended, but rather changed over time. The activity explains how prejudices...
DocsTeach
Election of 1800
The 2020 election is not the only unpredictable one in history. The Election of 1800 highlighted an unforeseen event in a presidential election. The activity reviews documents from the elections and what happened when the electoral...
Digital Public Library of America
African American Soldiers in World War I
Finding good primary source materials to support any study of history can be a challenge and time-consuming. A set of 11 primary source letters, images, and text excerpts provide young historians with an opportunity to sharpen their...
New York City Department of Education
Colonial America and The American Revolution
How did the founding of the American colonies lead to a revolution? Use the essential question and sample activities to guide learners through a series of history lessons. Additionally, the packet includes effective strategies to...
National Endowment for the Humanities
The Creation of the Bill of Rights: “Retouching the Canvas”
While the Constitutional Convention lay the foundation of the new government for the United States, the protections given under the Bill of Rights were controversial. Using documents, such as James Madison's and Thomas Jefferson's...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Lesson 4 James Madison: Internal Improvements Balancing Act—Federal/State and Executive/Legislative
Who has the power? The founding fathers asked the same question when the United States was formed. Learners explore issues that arose during Madison’s presidency that raised constitutional questions. Through discovery, discussion, and...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Lesson 2: Religion and the Argument for American Independence
Young scholars examine how religion affected arguments justifying American independence. They read and analyze primary source documents, and write an essay analyzing how Americans used religious arguments to justify revolution against a...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Ending the War, 1783
The various peace proposals, made by both sides, to end the Revolutionary War come under scrutiny in this final lesson of a three-part series on the war. Class members read primary source documents and compare them with military...
Curated OER
The Changing Role of Women
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...
Middle Tennessee State University
John Brown: Hero or Villain?
"Love it or leave it." "You're either for us or against us." Rhetoric and it's polarizing effects are the focus of a instructional activity that uses John Brown's attack on Harper's Ferry as an exemplar. Groups examine primary source...
Humanities Texas
Primary Source Worksheet: Lyndon B. Johnson, Excerpt from “The Great Society”
Young historians examine Lyndon Johnson's vision for a rich, powerful, and upward society as detailed in this excerpt from his famous "Great Society" speech presented at the University of Michigan in 1964.
Humanities Texas
Primary Source Worksheet: Tip O'Neill, "Epilogue: What I Believe" from Man of the House
The epilogue to former Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill's memoir provides readers with an opportunity to practice their informational text reading comprehension skills.
Humanities Texas
Primary Source Worksheet: Lyndon B. Johnson, Excerpt from “The American Promise”
"I want to be the president who educated young people to the wonders of their world." Readers examine the vision Lyndon B. Johnson presented for his presidency in this excerpt from his "The American promise" message delivered to Congress...
National Constitution Center
Thirteenth Amendment Poster
President Lincoln believed in the Thirteenth Amendment so strongly that he signed 14 copies of it, but died before he could see it passed on December 18, 1965. Explore the text that forever abolished slavery in America with a document...
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Harriet Beecher Stowe Sends Uncle Tom’s Cabin to Victoria and Albert, 1852
Harriet Beecher Stowe's plea for abolition is not only laid plain in her acclaimed novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin, but in her written correspondence as well. High schoolers read a letter written by Stowe to Prince Albert and Queen Victoria to...
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...
Administrative Office of the US Courts
Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier
Freedom of speech is not always free. Scholars investigate how the First Amendment provides for the right to express opinions. Through the court case Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier, they analyze free speech using primary documents—and hopefully...
Curated OER
Build It With Lincoln Logs!
Students use primary sources to analyze advertisements, prices, and styles of Lincoln Logs from Carson Pirie Scott catalogs from 1952 to 1960. Students then compare modern-day toy to Lincoln Logs of the 1950s by analyzing differences in...
Curated OER
Understanding the 1855 Census Database
Use data from the 1855 New York census to better understand the Irish immigrant experience during the late 19th century. Young historians analyze information from the census and build three hypotheses regarding the residents of the Five...
Agriculture in the Classroom
Growing a Nation (1930-1949): From Defeat to Victory, Lesson 2
Using primary source materials including radio broadcasts, films, and interview transcripts, history students gain a better understanding of the Dust Bowl, relief efforts for farmers, and the nation's agricultural past. It includes...
Curated OER
Transformations in the Coordinate Plane
Your learners connect the new concepts of transformations in the coordinate plane to their previous knowledge using the solid vocabulary development in this unit. Like a foreign language, mathematics has its own set of vocabulary terms...