Lesson Plans
Primary Sources & Me
In this lesson geared towards kindergartners, students analyze primary sources to understand what primary sources are and how they help to tell the story of each unique member of a community.
Trade: Responsibility on the World Stage
In this lesson geared towards fifth graders, students analyze primary sources to understand the principles of fair trade and consider their responsibilities as global citizens.
Rules & Responsibilities
In this lesson geared towards kindergartners, students analyze primary sources to reinforce the definitions of rules and responsibilities and consider why rules matter and ways to be responsible at home and in the classroom as well as a ways to act as a responsible citizen of their local community and of the world.
Learning About (Dis)ability in History
Students—particularly young children learning about the world and their place in it—easily recognize common differences and (dis)abilities among classmates. This guided inquiry situates students to consider the (dis)abilities they see and do not see, both in history and today. The sources and strategies mix reading, writing, and thinking with history, civics, and social and emotional…
One Today
Students analyze primary sources from presidential inaugurations of the past to deepen their understanding of presidential inaugurations, then read and listen to the inaugural poem, One Today, that Richard Blanco wrote and delivered at President Barack Obama’s second inauguration in 2013. After, students consider their to hopes and dreams for the United States and create…
This Is Not a Small Voice
Students analyze photographs from the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and read the poem, This Is Not a Small Voice by Sonia Sanchez to consider the power of using one’s voice. After, students consider how they could use their voices and create a poem inspired by the one they just read.
Prospects for Peace in the Middle East
Students analyze a set of political cartoons to deepen understanding of the conflict in the Middle East during the 1950s and 1960s and efforts made towards building peace. After, students conduct research to identify a major issue that is currently affecting efforts at brokering peace in the Middle East and create their own political cartoon…
Was Jane Addams a Wonder Woman in History?
Students analyze primary sources to investigate the life and deeds of Jane Addams, ultimately making an argument to recommend to answer this compelling question. After, students will review actions people can take to get qualified women to run for political office and then write a note to a woman they know, or their future selves,…
Removal of the Cherokee
Students analyze primary sources to investigate the removal of the Cherokee from their lands in the state of Georgia, then participate in a mock Congressional debate on the Indian Removal Act. After, students create a product of their choice that explains, and defends the rights of a minority group whose rights are being denied in order to…
Setting the Pace for Racial Tolerance
Students analyze an historical newspaper article to learn about a 1944 conference on building better race relationships and identify the claim that keynote speaker first lady Eleanor Roosevelt made about the need for the U.S. to set the pace for the rest of the world and provide supporting evidence for that claim. After, students consider…