Lesson Plans

Digital Stories of Our Heroes

Students learn about U.S. history while adding to the collective American memory as they use interview and digital presentation skills to discover, elicit, and relate the stories of local veterans and others who contributed during times of conflict.

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Alice Paul and Strong Women

Students analyze primary sources and the poem "Alice Paul" by Katharine Rolston Fisher to gain a deeper understanding of women suffragists and to make comparisons with a strong woman that they know. After, students might interview the woman or write a poem about her.

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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, encouraging her to consider running.

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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 serve the needs of the majority today.

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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 the relevance the article has today and create a product to demonstrate their understanding.

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I’m More Than You See

Students learn about Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and use primary sources to cement their understanding. Then they reflect on the identities of others and how people’s basic needs affect their own stages of needs on the road to achieving their full potential. After, students will work in small groups to discuss how understanding these different levels of needs could help people in their school or local community reach their full potential. Then they create a poster with examples from their discussions, illustrating people at each level on the road to self-fulfillment.

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What Are the Props Behind Propaganda?

Students learn about the "props" or techniques political cartoonists to present a view on an issue ("propaganda").  Next, they analyze a series of Cold War political cartoons to investigate issues and perspectives related to the Cold War. After, students create their own political cartoon on a contemporary issue.

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Did We Overcome?

Students analyze primary sources to deepen understanding of Jim Crow laws and the discrimination they perpetuated, how civil rights protests helped secure civil rights, and make connections between the past and recent events. After, students will create a pamphlet, modeled after the historical document they analyzed, that illustrates, defines, and discusses an instance where they took action to make change.

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