University of Southern California
Persecution of the German-Jews: The Early Years - 1933-1939
Young historians learn about the dehumanization process of stripping German Jews of basic, fundamental rights prior to the genocide of European Jews in the 1940s. Learners watch video clips of survivors who recount such events...
Curated OER
Identifying and Using Parallelism and Balance in Literature
Analyze the use of balanced sentences and parallelism in a narrative. Included in this resource is a narrative about serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Kazakhstan titled, "The Train Ride Home". Middle and high schoolers review...
Curated OER
Stand Firm: Choice and Consequences
Students explore the Holocaust. For this world history lesson, students research Nazi oppression under Hitler's rule as they read Holocaust and Human Behavior and Facing the Lion: Memoirs of a Young Girl in Nazi Europe.
Curated OER
What's In a Phrase? Finding Historical Understandings in an Immigrant Guidebook
Using a Chinese-English phrase book from the late 19th century, learners view a glimpse of life on the frontier for a Chinese immigrant. They work in groups and on their own to analyze and summarize the content of various phrases, given...
iCivics
Hey, King: Get Off Our Backs!
Young historians explore the reason American colonists were unhappy under British rule. Class members complete hands-on activities and participate in a group discussions to understand why colonists drafted the Declaration of Independence.
Curated OER
Turning the Tide in the Pacific, 1941-1943
High schoolers explore the overall strategies pursued by the Japanese and the Allies in the initial months of World War II. What each side hoped to accomplish what what actually happened forms the basis of a comparison made in this lesson.
Curated OER
The War in the South, 1778-1781
High schoolers explore the major terms of the Franco-American alliance and their importance to the cause of independence. The most important military engagements in the South are discussed and their significance for the outcome of the...
Curated OER
Ending the War, 1783
Students investigate how successful they were in obtaining their goals in the Revolutionary War. The peace feelers of 1775 are examined and the reasons for the British rejection of them explored. the main provisions of the Treaty of...
Curated OER
The Great Depression and Everyday Life
Examine everyday life during the Great Depression, as well as the effects if the Depression on American population, society, and economy. Learners write who, what, where, when, and why summaries of a person who relocated to California...
Curated OER
Turning the Tide in Europe, 1942-1944
Students explore the overall strategies pursued by the Americans and their British allies in the initial months of World War II in Europe. By examining military documents, students examine the decision to invade North Africa instead of...
Curated OER
Minorities in Mainstream American Society
So many people fought for Civil Rights in the United States. Read about the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and discuss what the act guarantees. Then pass out a slew of magazines and encourage them to observe how often minorities appear in...
Curated OER
Mystery Strategy for Elementary Students
Learners of all ages solve historical mysteries. Elementary learners research historical topics by organizing information presented by their instructor, formulating hypotheses, and considering solutions to mysteries presented about...
Curated OER
Residential Power System
Perform data analysis on energy consumption to apply algebraic expressions to the real world. Learners will write and solve equations that answer various questions from residential power use. They will collect data at home and calculate...
Curated OER
William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury: Narrating the Compson Family Decline and the Changing South
Young scholars analyze the novel, "The Sound and the Fury," written by iam Faulkner, tracing the changing South. Through the narrative structure, the point of view, and the relationship between change and characterization, students view...
Curated OER
Introducing Jane Eyre: An Unlikely Victorian Heroine
Students investigate the expectations and limitations placed on Victorian women and evaluate Charlotte Bronte's position and desire for literary achievement in using the male pseudonym, Currer Bell.
Curated OER
Lesson: Tlatelolco: Mexican Student Massacre 1968
The Massacre of Tlatelolco is the focus of a discussion-based lesson. Civil-minded learners consider the nature of student movements that have ended in violence based on over-reaction and government oppression. They discuss the social...
Curated OER
Stephen Crane's "The Open Boat"
Students examine the relationship of man and nature as portrayed in Stephen Crane's, The Open Boat." The third person, omniscient point of view, the depth of character analysis found in the story, and the emotions evoked by the author...
Curated OER
Abraham Lincoln, the 1860 Election, and the Future of the American Union and Slavery
Students examine the political alternatives regarding the spread of slavery and the preservation of the American union facing the American people in the decade leading up to the 1860 presidential election.
Curated OER
Having Fun: Leisure and Entertainment at the Turn of the Twentieth Century
Students explore how the innovations in culture and technology influenced the development of a leisure industry in America at the turn of the twentieth century.
Curated OER
Witch Hunt or Red Menace? Anticommunism in Postwar America, 1945-1954
High schoolers investigate the goals and methods of the House Un-American Activities Committee and offer an opinion regarding whether their investigation of Hollywood was justifiable.
Curated OER
Chinese Landscape Painting
Third graders learn about Chinese poetry and landscape paintings, then create their own. They view several examples and discuss the elements of each, then paint their own landscape inspired by what they saw. They then listen to, read,...
Curated OER
Happy 100th Birthday Airplane
Students research the Wright Brothers and their plane. In this airplane history lesson, students use a hotlist of sites to research and create an airplane. A question is provided for each site.
Library of Virginia
An Overview of American Slavery
The final lesson in a unit study of American slavery asks young historians to synthesize what they have learned about how slavery in America changed over time. Revisiting the many documents they have examined, they consider the economic,...
Curated OER
Getting into Shape
Students identify 3-D geometric shapes through different pieces of artwork. They examine and identify segments and angles. Students act out shapes and create a piece of artwork. Additional cross curriculum activities are listed.