Lesson Plans
Oral History and Social History
Students study social history topics by analyzing life histories from the Federal Writers’ Project (1936-1940) that recount the lives of ordinary Americans. Based on these excerpts and further research in the collections, students develop their own research questions, then plan and conduct oral history interviews with members of their communities.
Welcome to Congress
Students are introduced to Congress through primary source analysis and discover how a member of Congress is part of two communities- their home community that they serve, and the community of Congress. After, the teacher may guide students in finding out about their congressional representative and consider sending the rep a letter (see Teacher’s Guide).