Need a DBQ practice set? Whether or not your class is preparing for the AP exam, learners will benefit from analyzing primary source documents about economic and social change. For Part A, the short-answer questions, participants read...

Students use primary documents to analyze the events surrounding black soldiers joining the Union Army. In this content area reading lesson, students view multiple primary documents, analyzing and answering questions about them.

Young scholars analyze primary source documents to learn about World War II. In this world history lesson, students use cheese and bread rationing coupons issued during the second World War to gather information about the documents and...

Pupils analyze a variety of primary source materials related to lynching (news articles, letters written to or written by prominent Americans, pamphlets, broadsides, etc.) in order to assess the effectiveness of the anti-lynching...

Who knew that one poster about George Washington could have so many learning possibilities attached to it? Here you'll find an attractive learning display on the first president of the United States, as well as worksheets and...

The post-Revolutionary Period of 1781-1787, also known as the Critical Period, is the focus of a series of lessons that prompt class members to examine primary source documents that reveal the instability of the period of the...

Learners put themselves in the shoes of students who integrated Little Rock High School in 1957-58. Note: The primary resources in this activity provide powerful and poignant descriptions of what those students faced.

What was California like before the Spanish came? Class members discover the answer to the question using images of Native Americans and diaries of the early Spanish explorers. Scaffolded activities allow instructors to adapt the...

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 Space Race saw the Soviet Union and the US go from competitors to partners. Scholars read a letter regarding the first docking of the US and Soviet space craft. Young historians also complete a written assignment and participate in...

The tenant farming and sharecropping systems that developed in the South after the Civil War, the reasons for their development, and the eventual decline of these systems are the focus of this two-day plan.

The end of World War II saw major events that would forever change the global landscape and international relations. Using a fantastic PowerPoint presentation and several primary source documents, your learners will discuss the...

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...

What would you do to protect your own freedom? How far would you go to protest injustice? Class members are asked to consider these questions as they read primary source documents that detail events in the lives of Gabriel, Nat Turner,...

Fourth graders distinguish between primary and secondary sources while creating an underground railroad presentation.  In this underground railroad lesson, 4th graders research the underground railroad using copies of primary and...

Fifth graders read My Secret War. In this social studies lesson, 5th graders discuss how United States citizens worked together to ensure success in the war. Students discuss primary and secondary sources. Students paraphrase.

Students sort documents into primary and secondary sources and analyze their reliability. In this history research instructional activity, the teacher gathers a selection of document images, then discusses primary and secondary sources...

What is the sharecropping system? What role did it play in the post-Civil War economy of the South? Who were the sharecroppers? Who employed them? How were they paid? To answer these questions, kids examine a series of sharecropper...

Primary and secondary sources are the focus of a lesson that showcases the important role women played during the American Revolution. Pairs review sources and discuss their findings. A close-reading of an informational text leads the...

Energize an environmental science unit on natural resources with this collection of instructional materials. From simple coloring sheets for primary grade children, to guiding questions for a high school research...

Students examine their own family heritage and share family stories with the class. They differentiate between primary and secondary sources, and bring in and write about three artifacts from their family. They conduct an interview...

Information, inferences, and innuendos. Text and subtext. Class members examine telegrams exchanged between President John F. Kennedy and Alabama Governor George Wallace, studying both what is stated and what is implied by the...

Learners take a closer look at the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson, including the Great Society and the passage of the Voting Rights Act, through image analysis and primary source worksheets.

What were the conditions that led to the American Revolution? What are the conditions that lead to revolution in other times and places? Class members examine primary source materials and use evidence drawn from these documents to craft...