Lesson Plans
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…
Did the Founders Want Government to Work?
Students analyze primary source texts, including excerpts from the Federalist papers, to investigate the purposes of the Necessary and Proper Clause, the ways in which the separation of powers limit government, and how factions and personal liberties affect the functioning of government. Next, students will write an essay or produce another type of product to…
Tactics in the March to Suffrage
Students examine the tactics supporters of the woman suffrage movement used in their long quest to gain the right to vote through primary source analysis, consider the effectiveness of various social movement strategies, and create their own tactical plan to affect change on an issue relevant to their own lives.
In Service of a Cause?
Students analyze images in conjunction with historical and contemporary texts, comparing and contrasting point of view, details, claims, evidence, and reasoning as they learn about the purpose of the 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry led by John Brown and consider whether or not his actions were justified in the historical context. After, students will debate…
Why I Believe in Santa
Students build knowledge and understanding of claims, arguments, themes, and community spirit as they analyze an historical newspaper page. After, students write about the spirit of a special holiday, describing why it is meaningful to them and the community they celebrate it with.
Does the Camera Ever Lie?
Students do a close reading of an historical newspaper article to analyze the evidence presented as evidence of its argument. After, students search for contemporary examples of how cameras can lie and consider what that means for consumers of visual media.
Chinese Citizenship in Hawaii
Students analyze early 19th-century arguments against citizenship for Chinese immigrants to Hawaii and one journalist’s rebuttal to that “defense”, then investigate arguments for and against an immigrant group in America today and compare the historical and contemporary debates.