Lesson Plan Westward Migration: Opportunities and Dangers K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Click here to download this four-lesson unit.
Spotlight on: Primary Source Franklin D. Roosevelt’s advice to high school students, 1922 Government and Civics 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 In 1922, Sharpless Dobson Green, a teacher at Senior High School in Trenton, New Jersey, wrote to influential people around the world to get their advice for his students. In his request, he explained his project: There are about 400...
Spotlight on: Primary Source “Columbia’s Noblest Sons”: George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, 1865 Art 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 Abraham Lincoln’s death on April 14, 1865, stunned the nation. He was the first US president to be assassinated and the third to die in office. As Americans mourned, they also began to see him as a martyr and the savior of the Union....
Spotlight on: Primary Source Japanese announcement of the attack at Pearl Harbor, 1941 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 In January 1941, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto began developing a plan to attack the American base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. For eleven months, the Japanese continued to refine their plans while at the same time working diplomatically to...
Spotlight on: Primary Source A brawl between Federalists and anti-Federalists, 1788 Government and Civics 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ In 1787 and 1788, debates over the ratification of the Constitution took place in towns and villages across the country. To gain support, both Federalists and anti-Federalists held meetings and marches that sometimes became violent....
Spotlight on: Primary Source A frightening mission over Iwo Jima, 1945 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 Lieutenant Bob Stone served as a bombardier in the 431st Bomb Squadron (Heavy), 7th United States Army Air Force in the Pacific. This Spotlight is part of a series of documents detailing the experience of airmen in World War II. Click...
Spotlight on: Primary Source A soldier’s reaction to the death of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1945 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 Lieutenant Bob Stone served as a bombardier in the 431st Bomb Squadron (Heavy), 7th United States Army Air Force in the Pacific. This Spotlight is part of a series of documents detailing the experience of airmen in World War II. Click...
Spotlight on: Primary Source The World War II experience of Robert L. Stone, 1942–1945 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 Lieutenant Robert “Bob” Stone served as a bombardier in the 431st Bomb Squadron (Heavy), 7th United States Army Air Force in the Pacific during World War II. Born on December 19, 1921 in New York City, Bob was a nineteen-year-old...
Spotlight on: Primary Source The Battle of Iwo Jima: A family waits for news, 1945 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 Lieutenant Bob Stone served as a bombardier in the 431st Bomb Squadron (Heavy), 7th United States Army Air Force in the Pacific. This Spotlight is part of a series of documents detailing the experience of airmen in World War II. Click...
Spotlight on: Primary Source “Defence of Fort McHenry” or “The Star-Spangled Banner,” 1814 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 In September 1814, Francis Scott Key, an attorney and DC insider, watched the American flag rise over Baltimore, Maryland’s Fort McHenry from a British ship in the harbor. Key had been negotiating the release of an American captive...
Spotlight on: Primary Source Anti-Communist Trading Cards, 1951 Government and Civics 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 On June 25, 1950, war broke out on the Korean peninsula when the Soviet-backed Communist forces in North Korea invaded the recently founded democratic republic of South Korea. Following a unanimous UN resolution condemning the...
Lesson Plan The Trail of Tears 5, 6, 7, 8 Historical Background In 1830, under President Andrew Jackson, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act directing the executive branch to negotiate for American Indian lands. The act set the tone for President Jackson in dealing with...
Lesson Plan Apprenticeship and Indentured Servitude: Contract Labor in the British Colonies 5, 6, 7, 8 Click here to download this three-lesson unit. About This Lesson Plan Unit The four lessons in this unit explore a massacre in colonial Pennsylvania in which the Paxton Boys—immigrants from Ulster,...
Lesson Plan Pilgrims, the Mayflower Compact, and Thanksgiving Government and Civics, Religion and Philosophy, World History 3, 4, 5 Click here to download this four-lesson unit.
Lesson Plan The American Revolution: The Boston Massacre, “Yankee Doodle,” and the Declaration of Independence, 1770-1776 Government and Civics 3, 4, 5 About this Lesson Plan Unit In the four lessons in this unit, students will explore the Revolutionary era through three primary sources: an image of the Boston Massacre, the song "Yankee Doodle," and the preamble to the...
Lesson Plan The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere: Literature v. History Literature 3, 4, 5 About this Lesson Plan Unit Over the course of three lessons, students will compare and contrast two documents describing one of the most iconic events in American history: Paul Revere's ride of April 18–19, 1775. They will...
Lesson Plan Pilgrims, the Mayflower Compact, and Thanksgiving 3, 4, 5 About This Lesson Plan Unit The four lessons in this unit explore the voyage of the Pilgrims to America aboard the Mayflower , the writing of the Mayflower Compact, and the origins of Thanksgiving. Students will read or...