Walt Whitman's poem "As I Walk These Broad Majestic Days" offers scholars an opportunity to practice their noticing skills. They first examine a postcard of the Newport News Shipyard listing things they notice about the image and how...

Explore the idea of democratic poetry. Upper graders read Walt Whitman, examining daguerreotypes, and compare Whitman to Langston Hughes. They describe aspects of Whitman's I Hear America Singing to Langston Hughes' Let America Be...

Can you love something so much you want to change it? Young patriots investigate Walt Whitman's love of America—and his suggestions to improve it—using primary sources as well as video evidence. Scholars research American issues of the...

To begin a study of Walt Whitman's poem, "Election Day, November 1884," learners first call out a word or two that describes their reaction to the recent presidential election. They then read an encyclopedia entry about the Presidential...

The Mexican-American war marked a significant moment in United States history, as well as in the history of American media. The mid-nineteenth century saw the introduction of the Penny Press, which provided many American citizens with...

Who was Walt Whitman, and what link does he have to president Abraham Lincoln?  After Lincoln's assassination, Whitman wrote "O Captain! My Captain!" This poem and "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd" are the focus of...

Pair the famous poems "I Hear America Singing," by Walt Whitman, and "I, Too, Sing America," by Langston Hughes, with a more recent poem by Elizabeth Alexander called "Praise Song for the Day" to demonstrate a theme and introduce your...

Students determine if Lincoln and Whitman ever met and write a dialogue between the two men. In this Whitman and Lincoln lesson, students read Whitman's poem "Beat! Beat! Drums!" and connect it to the events of Lincoln's presidency....

Students study transportation in mid-19th-century Brooklyn. They look at several photographs of Brooklyn transport from the era and read Walt Whitman's poem "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry." In addition to making critical observations and...

Is, as Walt Whitman contends, America’s “almost maniacal appetite for wealth,” the heart of the American dream? Class members grapple with this question as they read David Brooks’ article “The Commercial Republic,” and quotes that...

Young scholars examine the Penny Press and how it began the era of mass circulated newspapers. They use the internet to research the writing style of the paper and write a short article using that style.

What do Jerry Yang, Patrick Ewing, John Muir, Charlize Theron, Peter Jennings, and Saint Frances X Cabrini all have in common? They are all immigrants to the United States. Famous and not-so-famous immigrants are the focus of a resource...

Learners examine the United States at the turn of the century. Using primary source documents, they interpret them within a specific historical context. Using this information, they write a poem with metaphors and a specific meter They...

An engaging biography of "Hoosier" poet James Whitcomb Riley serves as a springboard for study of his unique dialect-based verse. Several activities illuminate differences between spoken vernacular and formal language. Learners record...

Students explore the accomplishments of famous New Yorkers in the 19th century. In small groups, students read biographies and match them with a corresponding primary source document. The group that is most accurate in matching the...

Students examine poems dealing with Veteran's Day or Memorial Day. They discuss America's involvement in wars and if anyone in their family has served in the military. They write their own poems and share them with the class.

A lesson plan from the producers of the 16-episode PBS series "Freedom: A History of US" that examines the factors that led John Wilkes Booth to assassinate President Lincoln. Also involves comparing and contrasting Lincoln's and Andrew...