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Lesson Plan
Historical Thinking Matters

Scopes Trial: 3 Day Lesson

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Was the Scopes trial more complicated than a simple debate between evolutionists and creationists? As part of a structured academic controversy (SAC) activity, pupils consider multiple perspectives of the Butler Act and engage in close...
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Lesson Plan
Middle Level Learning

Philip Reid and the Statue of Freedom

For Teachers 8th - 11th Standards
Approach the concept of freedom in United States history from a variety of angles and delve into rich primary source analysis practice. Pupils study the Statue of Freedom, which sits atop the dome of the Capitol building in...
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Worksheet
K12 Reader

Summarize It: President Theodore Roosevelt's 7th Annual Message to Congress

For Students 8th Standards
How did Theodore Roosevelt stress the importance of conservation during his time as president of the United States? Take a closer look at the language Roosevelt used himself in a 1907 address to Congress, and have your young...
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Worksheet
K12 Reader

Abigail Adams: Persuading Her Husband

For Students 9th - 11th Standards
After reading a brief excerpt from a letter written by Abigail Adams to her husband and future president of the United States, John Adams, your young historians will practice their reading comprehension skills and identify what Abigail...
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Worksheet
K12 Reader

Two Viewpoints of the Same Event: Lee Surrenders to Grant, 1865

For Students 9th - 11th Standards
How did Union General Ulysses S. Grant view the surrender of Confederate General Robert E. Lee in 1865, which effectively ended the United States Civil War? After reading an excerpt from Grant's autobiography, your young historians will...
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Lesson Plan
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K12 Reader

Slavery in the Constitution

For Teachers 9th - 11th Standards
Your young historians will read excerpts from three parts of the United States Constitution—Article One, the Thirteenth Amendment, and the Fourteenth Amendment—and discuss how they each address the issue of slavery. 
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Worksheet
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K12 Reader

Find the Meaning: JFK's Inaugural Speech

For Students 9th - 11th Standards
Analyze a seminal speech from the 20th century with an activity focused on President John F. Kennedy's inaugural address. After reading an excerpt from the address, pupils use a worksheet to practice their reading...
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Worksheet
K12 Reader

Different Perspectives: The American Revolution

For Students 9th - 11th Standards
Prompt your young historians to hone in their reading comprehension skills by considering the fascinating perspective that Rudyard Kipling offers in his poem, "The American Rebellion", which provides an alternative...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Text-Dependent Questions and Making a Claim: Digging Deeper into Paragraphs 20–23 of Steve Jobs’ Commencement Address (and connecting to Chapter 11)

For Teachers 6th Standards
In preparation for the unit exam, groups employ the strategies they have been practicing to formulate an interpretative claim about the connections between Christopher Paul Curtis's " Bud, Not Buddy, and Steve Jobs' 2005 Stanford...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Text-Dependent Questions Text-Dependent Questions and Making a Claim: Digging Deeper into Paragraphs 12–14 of Steve Jobs’ Commencement Address (and connecting to Chapter 9)

For Teachers 6th Standards
Readers draw connections between Bud, Not Buddy and Steve Jobs' 2005 Stanford University commencement address and cite evidence from the two texts to support their analysis.
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Lesson Plan
Crafting Freedom

Creating Original Historical Fiction Using Henry "Box" Brown's Narrative and Runaway Slave Ads

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Young historians discover the experiences of runaway slaves after reading the brief biography and narrative excerpt of Henry "Box" Brown, who escaped slavery by having himself shipped away in a crate and popularized his...
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Lesson Plan
Crafting Freedom

Thomas Day's Letter to His Daughter, Mary Ann

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Why is a letter a better way to learn about a person than a different primary source? Explore Thomas Day's ideas and advice to his daughter in a letter from 1851, which details the struggles of the American South before the Civil War....
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Lesson Plan
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TCI

Ain't I a Woman?

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
Learners discover the impact of women on civil rights in United States history by analyzing primary source clues to identify influential female figures.
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Lesson Plan
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National Endowment for the Humanities

Using Historic Digital Newspapers for National History Day

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Your learners will take a trip through history as they peruse through historic digitalized newspapers, reading real articles from such historical periods in the United States as the Temperance movement...
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Activity
Curated OER

Current Event Project

For Teachers 4th - 12th Standards
One of the best ways to make history relevant and engaging is to analyze current events before they become history! Check out these project guidelines for a current event research paper, outlining the major required sections of...
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Worksheet
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Student Handouts

The Cold War: The Truman Doctrine of 1947

For Students 8th - 12th Standards
What was the Truman administration's position on foreign policy during the Cold War? Class members respond to an excerpt from President Harry S. Truman's "Truman Doctrine" with three questions in the space provided.
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Lesson Plan
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Center for Civic Education

The Power of Nonviolence: What Is Nonviolence? What Does It Cost?

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Your young learners will delve into the language of primary source documents in order to identify the characteristics, benefits, and costs of nonviolence. The lesson includes a mix of activities, including an anticipatory activity,...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Little House in the Census: Almanzo and Laura Ingalls Wilder

For Teachers 6th - 8th
How would you use census data from 1880-1900? Here are a set of ways you can incorporate the book Little House on the Prairie and US census data from that time period. Learners will research the validity or the book based on factual...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Worksheet for Analysis of a Letter

For Students 7th - 12th
Dear Nancy, how do you analyze a letter? Love, Trez. Dear Trez, you use a Letter Analysis Worksheet. Love, Nancy. This richly detailed worksheet provides multiple questions that lead researchers step-by-step through the process of...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson 2-Profiles in Courage: To Kill A Mockingbird and the Scottsboro Boys Trial

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Review one of the most memorable cases in the history of the United States. After reading To Kill A Mockingbird, young scholars read and select court transcripts and other primary source material from the Scottsboro Boys Trial of 1933....
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson 8: Prithee, Pause!

For Teachers 9th - 10th
High school learners examine primary source materials on history and the supernatural which relate to Julius Caesar. They then act out a scene based on different historical understandings and identify facts, theories, and similarities in...
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Interactive
Curated OER

Silas Marner by George Eliot

For Students 9th - Higher Ed
Mary Anne Evans, better known by her pen name George Eliot, wrote Silas Marner in 1861. While you're compiling materials for your Victorian unit, consider printing off these essay questions to help readers really explore the text. Some...
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Interactive
Curated OER

Demian - Essay Questions

For Students 9th - 12th
If your class is reading Demian by Hermann Hesse, consider printing this list of essay questions to help them explore the text. There are 13 questions provided; some are basic recall questions, but others encourage a deeper...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Primary Sources and Protagonists: A Native American Literature Unit

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Introduce your middle schoolers to the lives of past Native Americans. First, learners work together to put photographs in a sequence. Then, using their sequence, they create stories to share with the whole class. No matter how old your...