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Lesson Plan

New Amsterdam: The Center of the Dutch Settlement

Geography

9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Teaching with Russell Shorto’s book Island at the Center of the World Objectives Students will examine primary documents and secondary sources to analyze the effects of the Dutch West India Company settlement in North America....

Lesson Plan

Transatlantic Trade, A Symbiotic Relationship

World History

1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Background Crates full of rice slip and slide across the floorboards as the ship rocks back and forth. The ship looks insignificant in the vastness of the ocean. Air scented with tobacco wafts through the cracks in the ceiling of the...

Lesson Plan

The Conquest of Mexico: Past and Present Views

World History

5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Introduction The conquest of Tenochtitlan by Hernán Cortez in 1519 is one of the most well-known examples of encounters between Europeans and Americans prior to 1600. Some primary sources that document the event still exist, though...

Lesson Plan

Women and the Civil War

9, 10, 11, 12

Introduction The growth of manufacturing in the decades prior to the Civil War transformed the country. The nation experienced the appearance of cities, manufacturing, and a commitment to wage labor at the same time as the expansion...

Lesson Plan

Deadly Diseases: A Fate Worse than Dying on the Battlefield

Science, Technology, Engineering and Math

9, 10, 11, 12

Background Cannons blasted and bayonets tore through flesh in America’s worst war, the American Civil War. This war was gruesome for many different reasons. It tore the country apart and created divides that exist to this day. One of...

Lesson Plan

"Men of Color: To Arms! To Arms!"

5, 6, 7, 8

Overview Approximately 200,000 African American men served as soldiers during the Civil War. This lesson seeks to teach fifth grade students not only the skill of analyzing a primary source but also the methods that were used to...

Lesson Plan

The Great Depression and The New Deal

Government and Civics

9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Essential Questions What should be the role of government in solving a national crisis? How effective were the responses of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration to the problems of the Great Depression? Objectives Write a Document...

Lesson Plan

Events at Sand Creek, 1864

7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Historical Context When the Civil War broke out, John Milton Chivington, a missionary in Kansas, was offered a commission as a chaplain but refused it as he wanted to fight. As a result he was given a commission as a major in the 1st...

Lesson Plan

Native American Housing

Geography

4, 5, 6, 7, 8

Historical Background American Indians (First Nations in Canada) constructed homes to conform to their needs and environment. Housing for some tribal groups was permanent, while other residences reflected the need to relocate, often...

Lesson Plan

The Promise of Democracy

Government and Civics

7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Source JFK’s Radio and Television Report to the American People on Civil Rights, June 11, 1963 , John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum (full text and audio available) Background Information This document will be used to...

Lesson Plan

First Day of Integration at Central High School, Little Rock, Arkansas

Government and Civics

8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Sources Students Entering School Building , National Park Service Book: Daisy Bates, The Long Shadow of Little Rock (1962), or online at Civil Rights Teaching Background Information On the first day of integration at Central High...

Lesson Plan

Evaluating Lyndon B. Johnson’s Character and Efforts during the Civil Rights Era

Government and Civics

9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Background Information In 1969 Thomas Baker conducted an interview with Roy Wilkins, executive directory of the NAACP, based on Wilkins’s experiences with Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. This abridged version of the...

Lesson Plan

Comparison of Ideas: Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois

Economics

6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Essential Question Which of the two views presented below, W.E.B. Du Bois’ or Booker T. Washington’s, offered a better strategy to put our nation on a quicker path to equality for African Americans at the turn of the twentieth century...

Lesson Plan

Articles of Confederation

Government and Civics

5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Essential Question How could our Founding Fathers best meet the governing needs of the various factions after the Revolutionary War? Materials Articles of Confederation (PDF). Source: Transcript of the Articles of Confederation , 100...

Guided Readings

Guided Readings: Using Primary and Secondary Sources: Slavery in the Founding Era

3, 4, 5

Primary and secondary sources can provide different kinds of information about the past. In the context of slavery, Phillis Wheatley is considered the most important figure of the eighteenth century. Two accounts of her experience...

Lesson Plan

The Cold War Across Time (1945–1990): A Jigsaw with Expert Groups

Economics

9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Objective To discover the impact the Cold War had on multiple aspects of life, both in the United States and around the world, by exploring changes over time. Overview of Jigsaw Process Expert Groups will create four timelines...

Lesson Plan

Analyzing the Great Compromise, 1787

Government and Civics

5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Essential Question How could our Founding Fathers balance the needs of the states as we created a national government? Materials The Virginia Plan, 1787 (PDF). Source: Virginia (Randolph) Plan as Amended (National Archives Microfilm...

Lesson Plan

A Lesson on Détente

World History

5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Materials "Memorandums of Conversation," National Security Archive, George Washington University Notes and Excerpts from Nixon’s Meeting with Mao, February 1972 , National Security Archive, George Washington University "Nixon and...

Lesson Plan

How to Analyze Primary Source Documents / F.D.R. & The Great Depression

Government and Civics

7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Essential Question How effective was President Franklin Roosevelt in communicating with the American public during this time of crisis? Objectives Understand the importance of thinking critically about historical events. Be able to...

Lesson Plan

Making a Covenant with Death: Slavery in the Constitutional Structure

Government and Civics, Religion and Philosophy

7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Materials US Constitution , Our Documents Finkelman, Paul. Slavery and the Founders: Race and Liberty in the Age of Jefferson . New York: M.E. Sharpe, Inc., 2001. Essential Question Why did the Founders find it necessary to provide...

Lesson Plan

Nineteenth-Century Native American Viewpoints

Geography

7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Objective Identify and compare the ideas of major Native American leaders from the nineteenth century. Evaluate the impact of those ideas on the United States and Native Americans. Locate the original and final reservation territory...

Spotlight on: Primary Source

A proclamation on the suspension of habeas corpus, 1862

The doctrine of habeas corpus is the right of any person under arrest to appear in person before the court, to ensure that they have not been falsely accused. The US Constitution specifically protects this right in Article I, Section...

Spotlight on: Primary Source

The price of war: A letter from Mary Kelly to Sarah Gordon, 1862

James Kelly served with the 14th Indiana Volunteers beginning in 1861. In March 1862, his wife, Mary, traveled to the field hospital in Virginia where he lay wounded after the Battle of Winchester. She described the terrible...

Spotlight on: Primary Source

Gen. Ulysses S. Grant on the Siege of Vicksburg, 1863

One of the Union’s top military objectives was to gain control of the Mississippi River, and thereby split the Confederacy in two. General Ulysses S. Grant took up this challenge late in 1862 but was frustrated for several months by...

Spotlight on: Primary Source

George Washington would have supported the New Deal, 1934

During his first term, President Franklin D. Roosevelt sought to deflect opposition to the New Deal. Speaking at Gettysburg on Memorial Day, 1934, Roosevelt invoked the memory of George Washington by comparing his federal agenda with...

Site Search

90,976 items

New Amsterdam: The Center of the Dutch Settlement

Transatlantic Trade, A Symbiotic Relationship

The Conquest of Mexico: Past and Present Views

Women and the Civil War

Deadly Diseases: A Fate Worse than Dying on the Battlefield

"Men of Color: To Arms! To Arms!"

The Great Depression and The New Deal

Events at Sand Creek, 1864

Native American Housing

The Promise of Democracy

First Day of Integration at Central High School, Little Rock, Arkansas

Evaluating Lyndon B. Johnson’s Character and Efforts during the Civil Rights Era

Comparison of Ideas: Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois

Articles of Confederation

Guided Readings: Using Primary and Secondary Sources: Slavery in the Founding Era

The Cold War Across Time (1945–1990): A Jigsaw with Expert Groups

Analyzing the Great Compromise, 1787

A Lesson on Détente

How to Analyze Primary Source Documents / F.D.R. & The Great Depression

Making a Covenant with Death: Slavery in the Constitutional Structure

Nineteenth-Century Native American Viewpoints

A proclamation on the suspension of habeas corpus, 1862

The price of war: A letter from Mary Kelly to Sarah Gordon, 1862

Gen. Ulysses S. Grant on the Siege of Vicksburg, 1863

George Washington would have supported the New Deal, 1934

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