This lesson explores the multiple causes of racial segregation and environmental racism, and helps students understand the perpetuation of institutional racism in the post-Civil Rights era. Students will perform a mock tribunal in which...

Students explore and analyze the position of freedmen in the post Civil War period as well as the impact of Andrew Johnson's presidency on Reconstruction. In addition, they evaluate the laws and amendments that were put in place during...

Students research the people and events involved in the abolitionist movement prior to the U.S. Civil War. They read about and discuss the roles of Nat Turner, Harriet Tubman, and John Brown. Students complete a word splash, Venn...

Students revisit issues of civil rights in the U.S. They use the recent national discussion of retiring Senator Strom Thurmond's 1948 Dixiecrat Presidential campaign as a starting point.

Students examine and analyze primary sources. They analyze the causes and effects of major events of the Civil War. They explain a variety of antebellum notions of slavery. They understand the impact that Uncle Tom's Cabin had on the...

Fifth graders create a KWL chart on discrimination and human rights. While reading different stories, they take notes on each character in the books. To end the activity, they discuss the forms of discrimination today and how African...

Students are introduced to the topic of civil disobedience. Using a historical event, they identify the disobedience act in the event. They explain the significance that civil disobendience played in the events of the 1960s. They write a...

Second graders discover who Rosa Parks was and the significance of her role in Black History. Students place events in Rosa Park's life in chronological order.

How did the Klu Klux Klan manage to gain so many members during the 1920s? Class members examine Klan documents and promotional materials to gain an understanding of the propaganda techniques used to attract members.

When Ruby Bridges entered an all-white school in New Orleans in 1960, she also entered history. Scholars consider what the experience must have been like for the young girl using two books that document her experience as well as a double...

Where have all the activists gone? Class members compare 21st-century activism with the suffrage movement and the work of Susan B. Anthony. They begin by examining Anthony's biography and speeches to find evidence that her words and...

Long before the term fake news, media outlets offered competing narratives of events at the time. Looking at newspaper reports from the Battle of Vicksburg, class members consider two different versions of the strategic siege—one...

The last battle during the War of 1812, was the Battle of New Orleans which is outlined in this detailed PowerPoint. This particular battle is described from the beginning until the end, when General Andrew Jackson became a hero....

Learn about the life, career, and policies established by President Andrew Jackson. Young historians can easily follow along with this resource or read about Jackson at an independent work station. Biographical information includes major...

The anti-busing movement in Boston is the focus of a instructional activity that asks young historians to examine primary source documents to identify the causes and consequences of busing pupils from one area of the city to another in...

"Redlining," "Blockbusting," and "White Flight" may not be terms familiar to young historians. Here's a lesson that introduces middle schoolers to these terms and the actions associated with them. Class members examine a series of...

Why did African American voters switch from the Republican Party to the Democratic party during the Depression Era? That is the question young historians attempt to answer as they study primary source documents from the period. The focus...

An interactive reading practice focuses on Susan B. Anthony. Scholars read an informational text, then answer 10 questions.

Young scholars analyze primary and secondary sources to explore slavery and emancipation, and write letter or diary entry from point of view of slave Hannah Harris or plantation owner Robert Carter. Students then dramatize their creative...

Students view image of Bridgeport Community Protest, discuss event depicted in image, and demonstrate knowledge of protest by organizing and carrying out an actual protest or demonstration.

After analyzing both examples and non-examples of a variety of protests conducted by ethnic groups in Seattle and the state of Washington during the twentieth century, your class members will work to identify the key ideas and...

Why did the Black Panther Party feel colonized, and what methods did they employ to achieve empowerment? Your class members will engage in an online PowerPoint presentation, analysis of several documents, and discussion in order to...

Explore the contributions individuals have made in the lives of American minority groups. Twelfth graders write a five-page expository piece providing a social history, examples of discrimination, and patterns of assimilation for an...

Get your historians to hop into someone else's 18th century shoes with a simulation on rights in early America. Each individual gets an identity card, indicating their race, gender, and status (slave or free). Areas around the room are...