U.S. History Lesson Plans and Resources

This page was scanned for broken links and updated on 10-27-2024!
See my World History Lesson Plans Site (including prehistory and ancient history).
 

Site Index: Resources/Collections of Lessons, World History, Explorers, Colonies, Revolutionary War, Native Americans, 19th Century (Lewis and Clark,  War of 1812, Western Expansion, Slavery, Underground Railroad, Civil War, Reconstruction, Child Labor/Industrial Revolution, Age of Imperialism/Spanish-American War), Progressive Era, Women's Rights/Suffrage, Women's History Month, 1900-1940 (WWI, 1920s, Depression and New Deal), WW II, Holocaust, Late 40s/U.N./Truman, The 1950s and Eisenhower, Korean War, Cold War, Black History Month, Civil Rights, MLK, Jr., 1960s, Vietnam War, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and Gulf War, 2000+, Go to the National Standards for Social Studies, Go to World History Lesson Plans and Resources

Resources/Collections of History Lesson Plans
NEH Edsitement U.S. History Lesson Plans
Many lesson plans for U.S. history and American government teachers from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

HistorySimulation.com
Engaging and interactive lesson plans. History simulations for the American Civil Civil War, Imperialism, World War One, World War Two, and the Cold War.

Lesson Plans for AP U.S. History
From AP Central.

Plato's Peach
Many excellent U. S. history lesson plan templates complete with video. You'll have to sign up to access them, but it is free to do so is free as are the lesson templates.

Smithsonian Learning Lab
A searchable collection of high quality lessons and resources.

The History Teaching Institute at The Ohio State University
Many lesson plans for both European and U.S. history.

Teaching with Historic Places
From the National Registry of Historic Places. See their chronological index of available lesson plans.

HMH Free Teaching Resources
From Houghton-Mifflin. Search by subject and grade.

Mr. Donn's American History Pages
Excellent source for lesson plans and resources.

National Archives and Records: Teaching with Documents Lesson Plans (Docs Teach)
Wonderful teaching activities and lesson plans based on primary documents in the archives that can be viewed online. Lessons are correlated to national standards for history, civics, and government. 

Library of Congress Lesson Plans
Another site with many terrific lesson plans. Organized by topic or search their site.

National History Day
Teaching resources from the National History Day Program. See also National History Day in Minnesota.

Lesson Plans - American History
From the N.Y. Times Learning Network.

Women in World History Curriculum
An interactive site with lesson plans and resources documenting women's history.

A Curriculum of United States Labor History for Teachers
Lesson ideas and handouts organized chronologically.

Oral History and Social History
This lesson presents social history content and topics through the voices of ordinary people. It draws on primary sources from the American Memory Collection, American Life Histories, 1936-1940.

The American Dream
Investigate the American dream with this online lesson.

Children's' Literature and U.S. History
Good source for lesson plans and children's books integrating literature and history.

History Channel Home Page

American Educational History: A Hypertext Timeline
An extensive timeline with an associated lesson plan.

The History Place
An excellent resource.

HyperHistory Online
Another excellent history resource.

Eye Witness to History
A well-indexed collection of first-hand accounts (diaries, newspaper interviews, etc.) of historical events. An excellent resource for history lesson plans.

Today in History
Lists events that happened on every date of the year. Great way to start your class!!

Black History Pages.

Library of Congress
Access historical documents from the Library of Congress.

Explorers (Columbus, etc.) Lesson Plans and Resources
Land-Ho-Early-Exploration-and-Settlement-of-the-Americas
A 1st-grade unit in pdf format.

1492: An Ongoing Voyage
An on-line exhibit from the Library of Congress. See also Exploration and Explorers for more lesson plans from the Library of Congress.

Christopher Columbus
A lesson plan from a Native American Unit.

Why Do We Still Celebrate Columbus Day?
A middle school lesson plan.

New World Explorers
Lesson plans and activities from Mr. Donn.

What Was Columbus Thinking?
A lesson plan from EDSITEment in which students read excerpts from Columbus's letters and journals, as well as well as recent considerations of his achievements to learn about the motivations behind Columbus's explorations, his reactions to what he found, and the consequences, intended and unintended, of his endeavor. See also Other Worlds: The Voyage of Columbus.

Explorers
A lesson plan for grades 3-5 focusing on Dutch, French, Spanish, and English explorations on the east coast of North America during the 1500’s and 1600’s.

Vikings in Vinland
A lesson plan for grades 6-12 from the NY Times Learning Network.

Viking Discoveries
A high school lesson plan from Discovery Education.

Evaluating the Validity of Information -  Did the Chinese Discover America in 1421?
A lesson plan for grades 6-8.

Colonial America Lesson Plans  
U, S. History, Colonial America 1600 - 1776
Many ideas and book suggestions from Carol Hurst's Children's Literature Site.  

Images of the New World
A high school lesson plan from EDSITEment. See also American Colonial Life in the 1700s: Distant Cousins, Mapping Colonial New England: Looking at the Landscape of New England, and Colonial Broadsides: A Student-Created Play for other lesson plans from this source.
 

The Pilgrim Story
A lesson plan from C-Span Classroom. See also Mayflower History, and Plimoth Plantation. Other lesson plans about pilgrims available on the Web include Packing the Pilgrim’s Trunk: Personalizing History in the Elementary Classroom (K--2), On the Mayflower (grades 1-2) and Pilgrim Projects (teaching ideas from Education World). For Thanksgiving lesson plans and units, go to Holiday Lesson Plans.

Colonial Williamsburg
Take an electronic field trip and experience colonial life. Click on Education to find the electronic field trips as well as teacher resources.

How America Began: The Founding of the Thirteen Colonies
A unit for third grade. See also Life in the Southern Colonies for another 3rd-grade unit from Core Knowledge.  For background information, go to Colonial Timeline and 13 Originals.

Jamestown Teaching Material
From Virtual Jamestown.

The Salem Witch Trials
A lesson plan for grades 9-12.

Ben Franklin
A teacher's guide from PBS. See also Ben Franklin for a lesson plan from Discovery Education.

Jefferson vs. Franklin: Revolutionary Philosophers
A lesson plan for grades from EDSITEment.

The Betsy Ross Story: Truth or Legend?
A lesson plan from Education World. See also Betsy Ross Home Page.  

The French and Indian War
Curriculum materials from Fort Necessity National Battlefield. See also French and Indian War.

American Revolution Lesson Plans
Join the Revolution! American Revolution Lesson Plans and Activities
Lesson ideas from Education World.

Revolutionary Tea Parties and the Reasons for the Revolution
A lesson plan for grades 6-8 from EDSITEment. See also Voices of the American Revolution for another EDSITEment lesson.

Boston Tea Party Took Place in 1773
A lesson plan  for grades 7-12 from Read-Write-Think.

The American Revolution and the Enlightenment
A 9th-grade lesson plan from HTI of Ohio State University. See also Espionage in the American Revolution.

Images of the American Revolution
A web-based lesson plan from the National Archives and Records Administration.

Why Do We Remember Revere?
A lesson plan for grades 6-8 from EDSITEment.  

The Declaration of Independence: From Rough Draft to Proclamation
 A lesson plan for grades 6-12 from the Library of Congress. See also The Declaration of Independence: Created Equal? for another lesson from this resource.

Mount Vernon Educational Resources
Excellent site for information and lesson plans about George Washington. 

Becoming George Washington: Unit 1
Five units for grades 4-6 from the National Park Service. This link takes to to unit 1. See also Unit 2, Unit3, Unit 4, and Unit 5.

George Washington: A National Treasure
A Teacher Guide with nine lesson plans as well as many resources.

George Washington: First in War, First in Peace, and First in the Hearts of His Countrymen
 A unit for grades 9-12 from the Library of Congress.

George Washington: The Precedent President
A lesson plan for grades 6-8.

Launching the New United States Navy
A lesson plan from the National Archives using historical documents related to the beginnings of the U.S. Navy immediately following the Revolutionary War.

Key Constitutional Concepts – Creating a Constitution
A lesson plan for grades 9-12.

Observing Constitution Day
A lesson plan using online documents from the National Archives.

The U.S. Constitution: Continuity and Change in the Governing of the United States
A middle or high school unit from The Library of Congress. See also The Constitution: Drafting a More Perfect Union.

The United States Constitution and Selected Amendments
A unit for grades 6-8 in which students learn and write essays about the origin and history of the Constitution and its amendments as well as the Declaration of Independence and  Bill of Rights.

Jefferson and Franklin: Revolutionary Philosophers
A lesson plan for grades 6-8 from EDSITEment.

Thomas Jefferson
A lesson plan for grades 6-8 from Discovery Education.

Monticello: For Teachers
Resources from Monticello: The Home of Thomas Jefferson.

Native American Lesson Plans and Units
To find resources for Native American languages, click here.

National Native American Heritage Month
A teacher's guide from EDSITEment. See the lesson plans in the right-side index.

November is National American Indian Heritage Month
Resources and lesson plans from Read-Write-Think.

Native American in Olden Times
A long list of Native American lessons and units from Mr. Donn's site.  For more information on specific American Indian tribes, go to the American Indian Tribal Directory.

Exploring Native Americans Across the Curriculum
Lesson ideas in a variety of subject areas from Education World. 

Three Native American Groups
A thematic unit for kindergarten.

Trails of Understanding: The Earliest Immigrants
A middle-grade lesson plan examining theories about the origins of the first inhabitants of North America.

Migration Theories
Lesson ideas and background information regarding the land-bridge and coastal-route theories. For similar lesson plans, go to Earliest Americans and Their Environments. For background information, go to Jeffers Petroglyphs, and Lake Agassiz: The Ultimate Fishing Spot?

Hunting Bison with Bows and Arrows
A "primary source" lesson plan from History Colorado for grades 3/4. For another lesson from this source, see also Indians and Whites: The Sand Creek Massacre.

Not Indians, Many Tribes: Native American Diversity
A lesson plan for grades 3-5 involving the use of primary documents. See also Native American Cultures Across the U.S.

Anishinaabe - Ojibwe - Chippewa: Culture of an Indian Nation
Another lesson plan for grades 3-5.

The Trail of Tears and the forced Relocation of the Cherokee Nation
A lesson plan from the National Park Service's Teaching with Historic Places.

Revisiting Pocahontas
A middle-grade or high school unit in which students engage in a critique of the historical and cultural accuracy of the Walt Disney film, "Pocahontas."

Sioux Treaty of 1868
A secondary lesson plan using historic documents from the National Archives and Records Administration.

American Indians and the Natural World: North, South, East. West
An excellent resource from the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.

Odin's Castle: The Native Americans
Another excellent resource with a great deal of information.

For other Native American resources, go to the Multicultural Page.

19th Century Lesson Plans (Including lesson plans on Thomas Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, Western Expansion, War of 1812, Slavery, the Underground Railroad, the Civil War, Reconstruction, the Industrial Revolution, and the Spanish-American War)

Thomas Jefferson
A lesson plan for grades 6-8 from Discovery.com.  

The Monticello Classroom
Lesson plans and other resources from Monticello: The Home of Thomas Jefferson.  

Accomplishments of Thomas Jefferson
One lesson plan from the above site.

Lewis and Clark Trail
Excellent source for information on Lewis and Clark. See their Curriculum Guide.

The Good, Bad, and Ugly: Comparisons and Contrasts of Native American Culture After the Lewis and Clark Expedition
A lesson plan from the Monticello Digital Classroom.

Lewis and Clark: The Journey West
A lesson planning article and 5 lesson plans from Education World.

Lewis and Clark: A Scientific Journey
A middle-grade lesson plan.

Lewis and Clark Expedition
A lesson plan from the National Archives and Records Administration using historical documents.

Lewis and Clark Barter with the Native Americans
An interesting lesson plan from Econoedlink.

On this Day with Lewis and Clark
A high-quality lesson plan for grades 3-5 from EDSITEment using online documents. See also Mapping the Past. 

Lewis and Clark    
Classroom resources from The Journey of the Corps of Discovery by PBS. See also Lewis and Clark: The Journey West.

The Louisiana Purchase: Real Estate Deal of the Century?
A three-period, middle school lesson plan.

Louisiana Purchase (1803)
A lesson plan from iCivics.

Louisiana Purchase
A lesson plan from Stanford History Education.

The Louisiana Purchase
A lesson plan from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.

War of 1812
A 2nd-grade unit with 6 lesson plans. See also What Cause the War of 1812? for a lesson plan from the National Parks Service.

President Madison's 1812 War Message
Three high school lesson plans from EDSITEment.

National Monument and Historic Shrine
Lesson Plans & Teacher Guides, including some about the War of 1812, from the National Park Service.

The War of 1812 and the Star Spangled Banner
A lesson plan from the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

Major Events of  the War of 1812
Resource from A Sailors Life for Me!

A Guide to the War of 1812
This excellent  resource from The Library of Congress compiles links to digital materials related to the War of 1812 that are available throughout the Library of Congress Web site.

War of 1812 from History Central
An excellent resource. See also The War of 1812 Web Site

Anti-Railroad Propaganda Poster: The Growth of Regionalism, 1800-1860
A lesson plan using original documents available online at the National Archives and Records Administration.

Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum
Photographs, stereoviews, engravings, maps, and documents illustrating the history of the first transcontinental railroad.

Westward Expansion: Early Exploration of the West
A 1st-grade unit. see America Moves Out and
Bewildered but Not Lost - A Trip into Early Exploration of the American West.

Frontier House
Lesson plans and resources from PBS.   

Settling the Western Frontier
An 11th-grade lesson plan.

Oregon Trail Theme
Links to many lesson plans about the Oregon Trail.

If You Were a Pioneer on the Oregon Trail
A K-2 lesson plan from EDSITEment.

Go West: Imagining the Oregon Trail
Another lesson plan from EDSITEment. This one is for grades 3-5.

On the Oregon Trail
One more EDSITEment lesson plan for grades 6-8.

Westward Expansion
Many lesson plans and resources from Mr. Donn.

Ghost Riders and Rest Stops
An elementary unit on the Pony Express and overland stagecoach from Utah Centennial Studies.    

The Buffalo War: A Clash of Cultures
A lesson plan for grades 8-12 using the PBS documentary "Buffalo War" to help students understand how cultures living together may come into conflict because of their different values.

Buffalo Soldiers
A middle-school lesson plan from Discovery Education.

Manifest Destiny
Resources for teachers and students from Mr. Donn.

Manifest Destiny and Western Expansion
A secondary lesson plan from Ohio State University. See also Westward Expansion at First Hand: Letters of Anna Ketchum and Ruhamah Hayes.

Teaching With Documents: The Homestead Act of 1862
A lesson plan from the National Archives.

The U.S. - Mexican War
Lesson plans from PBS.

Manifest Destiny and the U.S.  Mexican War: Then and Now
A lesson plan for grades 6-12 from the above source.

The Treaty of Guadeloupe Hidalgo
A lesson plan on this treaty which brought an official end to the Mexican-American War (1846-1848).

Colonial Mexico
Great site for information on 19th century Mexico.

Gold Rush Curriculum
Sample lesson plans for a variety of grade levels from the Oakland Museum of California.

Metaphorical Gold: Mining the Gold Rush for Stories
A middle-grade lesson plan from EDSITEment.

Migration North to Alaska
A lesson plan using historical documents from the National Archive on this other gold rush

Slavery Lesson Plans
African American History and Heritage Site
From the U.S. Department of State, this site offers many resources for African-American History including a Teacher Toolkit for Grades K-12. See also African American Mosaic.
Association for the Study of African American History and Life
The founders of Black History Month!

Slavery and the American Founding: The “Inconsistency not to be excused”
A high school lesson plan from EDSITEment.

Taking Up Arms and the Challenge of Slavery in the Revolutionary Era
Another high school lesson plan from EDSITEment.

Teaching with Documents: The Amistad Case
From the National Archives

Slavery in America
A unit from Digital History.

Slave Trade Lesson Plans
Six lesson plans from African Descent Society. See also Economy vs. Humanity: Exploring the Triangle Trade and The Middle Passage.

The Slave Dancer
A literature unit for this book by Paula Fox.

Was the Dred Scott Decision Judicial Activism?
A secondary lesson plan from Lincoln/Net. For more information, see The Dred Scott Case.

Uncle Tom's Cabin & The Ideology of Slavery
A lesson plan from The History Teaching Institute at The Ohio State University.

The Cotton Gin
A lesson plan on Eli Whitney's invention and its impact from The History Teaching Institute at The Ohio State University.

The Anti-Slavery Movement
A lesson plan in which students create and write a constitution for an anti-slavery society. See also Slavery and the Legal Status of Free Blacks.

Life in the North and South 1847-1861: Before Brother Fought Brother
A 5-lesson middle-school unit from EDSITEment.

Frederick Douglas's Narrative: Myth of the Happy Slave
A lesson plan for grdaes 9-12 from EDSITEment.

A Debate Against Slavery
One lesson plan from the above unit.

From Courage to Freedom: Frederick Douglass's 1845 Autobiography
Another high school unit from EDSITEment.

The Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858
A lesson plan in which students examine transcripts of these famous debates. See also Lincoln-Douglas Debates Interactive Map Activity.  

The Emancipation Proclamation: Freedom's First Steps
A high school lesson plan from ESITEment.


Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad
A lesson plan for grades 6-12 from EDSITEment.

Kentucky's Unmderground Railroad: Passage to Freedom
Resources and suggested activities.

Slavery and the Underground Railroad
A lesson plan for grades 3-5. See also WebQuest: The Underground Railroad.

Two Tickets to Freedom
A 5th-grade lesson plan based on this book about the dangerous journey of two fugitive slaves.

Underground Railroad
A Teacher's Activity Guide from Scholastic.

The Underground Railroad
A lesson plan from Songs for Teaching that uses the song "Follow the Drinking Gourd."




Civil War Lesson Plans
Civil War Traditional Curriculum
Many lesson plans for all grade levels from the American Battlefield Trust. See also Civil War Inquiry Curriculum.

The Civil War Letters
Several downloadable lesson plans. Also see Letters from an Iowa Soldier in the Civil War to supplement your lessons on the Civil War with these authentic letters.

Lesson Plans on Slavery, the Crisis of the Union, the Civil War. and Reconstruction
Many high-quality lessons from Edsitement including Causes of the War.
 
Lesson 1: Why Fight? Soldiers' Letters
A lesson plan for grades 5-8 from the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. See Lesson 2 and Lesson 3.

The Civil War Through a Child's Eye
A lesson plan for grades 3-8 from the Library of Congress. See their other lesson plans for 1861-1877.

Civil War War
A long list of links to lesson plans from Mr. Donn.

Civil War
A lesson plan for "low beginning" literacy levels. See also The Civil War for a 2nd-grade lesson.

Civil War Lesson Plans
Several lesson plans for elementary and middle grade students.

The Civil War
An elaborate unit plan from Small Planet Communications designed  for the upper-elementary grades. It  integrates historical fiction and writing with the study of the Civil war.

Shades of Gray
A Teacher's Guide. For a literature-based, 4th or 5th-grade unit on the Civil War, go to Literature of the U.S. Civil War.

Heroes of the Civil War Era
A 5th-grade lesson plan.

Pink and Say
This site provides a lesson titled "Acquiring New Vocabulary through Book Discussion Groups" using this book by Patricia Polacco.   Also, see The Civil War, for a middle-grade unit using trade books.

Civil War
A 5th-grade lesson on the causes of this conflict.

The Civil War: Classroom Activities
Several lesson plans from PBS.

The Fight for Equal Rights: Black Soldiers in the Civil War
A lesson plan using historical documents available via the Internet from the National Archives.

Life of a Civil War Soldier
A lesson plan for grades 5-12 from the Tennessee State Museum.

The Valley of the Shadow Project
This new, improved version of the Valley of the Shadow Project looks at two communities, one Northern and one Southern, through the experience of the American Civil War. The project is a hypermedia archive of thousands of sources for the period including newspapers, letters, diaries, photographs, maps, church records, population census, agricultural census, and military records. 

Choices and Commitments: The Soldiers at Gettysburg
A lesson plan from the National Park Service for grades 5-12. See also the Gettysburg History Information Center.  

Toss the Textbook & Use The Killer Angels to Teach the Civil War
A review and ideas for teaching with this fabulous book by Michael Shaara about the Battle of Gettysburg. Michael's son, Jeff Shaara, has also written several excellent books about the Civil War. 

Myth and Truth: The Gettysburg Address
A high school lesson plan from Read-Write-Think.

Gettysburg Address Lesson Plan
A lesson plan from battlefields.org.

The Civil War as Photographed by Mathew Brady
A lesson plan from the National Archives and Records Administration. See also Civil War Photographs: What Do You See for a lesson plan from the Library of Congress.

Mid 19th Century
Lesson plans from Teaching with Historic Places, including many related to the Civil War.

The Lincoln-Douglas Debate of 1848
A lesson plan in which students examine transcripts of these famous debates. See also Lincoln-Douglas Debates Interactive Map Activity.  

We Must Not be Enemies: Lincoln's First Inaugural Address
A unit for grades 3-5 that uses archival documents available online. See also Lincoln Goes to War.

Abraham Lincoln Lesson Plans
From the Chicago History Museum. See also Lincoln's Undying Words and Abraham Lincoln-Related Curriculum Resources and Lesson Plans.

Emancipation Proclamation: Freedom's First Steps
A high school lesson plan. Go to America's Historic Documents to see the Proclamation.

Teaching Lincoln's Assassination and Legacy
Lesson plans from Ford's Theatre

Lincoln's Assassination
A lesson plan for grades 5-8.

Reconstruction Lesson Plans
Reconstruction: Inquiry High School Lesson Plan
From American Battlefield.

Reconstruction: A Time of Turbulence
A 5th-grade unit from Core Knowledge.  See also The Plight of Four Million Newly Emancipated Slaves: Reconstruction 1865-1877 .

The Reconstruction Era
A Teacher's Guide from EDSITEment.

Reconstruction Lesson Plans
Three lesson plans from South Carolina ETV.

After Reconstruction: Problems of African Americans in the South
A lesson plan using the Internet to access pamphlets and other materials, most of which were written by African American authors about pressing issues of the day.

Racial Violence in America: Lynchings, 1877 to 1920
A lesson plan from The History Teaching Institute at The Ohio State University.

George Washington Carver
Curriculu materials from the National Park Service. Scroll down the page to find 5 high school lesson plans.

Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Dubois
A unit on the issues raised by the celebrated debate between these two famous African American leaders.  

Child Labor/Industrial Revolution Lesson Plans
A Day in the Life of Children: Then and Now
An elementary grade lesson plan comparing children's lives now and in the 19th century.

Giving Voice to Child Laborers Through Monologues
A lesson plan for grades 6-8 from Read-Write-Think.

Photographs of Lewis Hine: Documentation of Child Labor
A lesson plan from the National Archives and Records Administration which uses primary sources.

Child Labor in America
A middle or high school lesson plan. See also Child Labor and the Building of America.

America's Industrial Revolution
A high school unit from The Henry Ford.

Was There an Industrial Revolution? New Workplace, New Technology, New Consumers
A lesson plan for grades 9-12 from EDSITEment.

The Industrial Revolution
A web-based lesson from the History Teaching Institute at Ohio State.  

A Curriculum of United States Labor History for Teachers
An entire curriculum complete with handouts.

The Industrial Revolution and the Progressive Era: 1877-1913
One segment of the above curriculum.

Age of Imperialism/Spanish-American War
Age of Imperialism Lesson Plan
Excellent resource on 19th century US expansionism developed by Small Planet. See also their page, " A Splendid Little War."  

Imperialism and Expansion: Part 1
A middle school lesson plan. See also Imperialism Vocabulary and Imperialism and Expansion: Part 2.

1898-1998: Centennial of the Spanish-American War
Offers concise information about this conflict as well as links to related sites. 

Spanish-American War Timeline
Lesson plans from Arlingtom National Cemetary

The Spanish-American War
An inquiry-based lesson plan from the Stanford History Education Group.

America Becomes a World Power
A 7th-grade unit.

Theodore Roosevelt Association Curriculum-Based Lesson Plans
Many lesson plans for grades 5-12 from the Theodore Roosevelt Association.|


Progressive Era Lesson Plans
Progressive Era Project
Several middle and high school lesson plans from Jane Adams Digital Edition.

The Progressive Era
Several lesson plans for grades 8-12.

Progressive Social Reformers SAC Lesson Plan
A lesson plan from the Stanford History Education Group.   

The Gilded Age
 Seven lesson plans from  the Stanford History Education Group.       

The Muckrakers and the Progressive Era
An interdisciplinary unit for the 8th grade.

Political Cartoons Illustrating Progressivism and the Election of 1912
A lesson plan using documents from the National Archives.

How did the Progressive Party affect American Society?
A U.S. History lesson plan from Mr. Donn.


Women's History/Suffrage Lesson Plans (Scroll down for Women's History Month Lessons and Resources)
Women, Suffrage, and the 19th Amendment
A lesson plan using documents available online from the National Archives and Records Administration.  

Teaching With Documents: Woman Suffrage and the 19th Amendment
Another lesson plan using historic documents from the above site.

Woman Suffrage, 1890-1920
A discussion-based lesson plan for AP History.

Women's Suffrage: Why the West First?
A lesson plan for grades 6-8. See also Voting Rights for Women: Pro- and Anti-Suffrage.

Women's Suffrage Their Rights and Nothing Less
A high school lesson plan on the suffrage movement. See also Women's Suffrage Teacher's Guide, a" Primary Source Set" from the Library of Congress, and Woodrow Wilson and the Women's Suffrage Movement: A Reflection.

Women's Suffrage Teacher's Guide
A unit for grades 3-8 from Scholastic.

Women's Suffrage WebQuest for 12th Grade
From the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. See also the Women's Suffrage Unit from this orgnization.

Susan B. Anthony
A  lesson plan from the Academy 4 Social Change. See also Susan B. Anthony Activist for a lesson plan from a middle-grade unit titled Women of the Industrial Era.   

March is National Women's History Month
A "Calendar Event" from Read-Write-Think.

Women's History Month Lesson Plans and Activities
From Education World.

Women's History Month: Six Lesson Plan Resources for Teachers
From Edutopia.

Women's History Month: A Collection of Teaching Resources
From Scholastic.


1900 to 1940   
Turn of the Century Lesson Plans
Having Fun: Leisure and Entertainment at the Turn of the Twentieth Century
A lesson plan from EDSITEment

1900 America: Primary Sources and Epic Poetry
An interdisciplinary lesson plan for grades 10-12 from the Library of Congress which looks at what life was like at the turn of the century.

Change in Early 20th Century America: Doing the Decades
Another high school lesson plan from the Library of Congress.

Thomas Edison's Inventions in the 1900s and Today: From New to You
A lesson plan fro grades 3-8 which examines life in 1900 and how technology has changed people's lives.

Galveston 1900: Storm of the Century
Resources for educators including lesson plans.

The Mann Act of 1910
A lesson plan from PBS using the video "Unforgivable Blackness."

Political Cartoons Illustrating Progressivism and the Election of 1912
A lesson plan using documents from the National Archives.

Historical Atlas of the Twentieth Century
A very good resource.

WW I Lesson Plans
The Great War Was Not Great Enough to End All Wars
A 7th-grade unit from Core Knowledge.  

Poetry of the Great War
A high school lesson plan.

Causes of WWI
A 6th-grade lesson plan.

World War I Resources
Excellent information from the Indiana Department of Education.

World War I Unit
This 7-lesson unit. For more information on World War I, go to WorldWarI.com, an Internet history of the "Great War." Also take a look at the WWI Document Archive.  

The Zimmerman Telegram
A lesson plan from the National Archives using online documents to teach about this infamous telegram that contributed to the U.S. entry into WWI.

The United States Entry Into World War I
A three-lesson high school unit.

Harry Truman's World War I
Many secondary lesson plans from the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum.

Photographs of the 369th Infantry and African Americans During World War I
Another lesson plan from the National Archives using primary sources which are available online. See also Sow the Seeds of Victory! Posters from the Food Administration During World War I for one more lesson plan from this source.

Lesson Plans: The Great War in Global Context
A large number of lesson plans from The History Teaching Institute at The Ohio State University.

World War I and Its Aftermath
A high school lesson plan from the Discovery Education.

Treaty of Versailles Simulation
See also The Great War: Evaluating the Treaty of Versailles for a high school lesson plan.

Debate in the United States over the League of Nations
A high school unit from EDSITEment.

1920s Lesson Plans
The 1920s
A lesson plan for U.S. history. 

From the Great War to the Great Depression
A lesson plan for grades 6-8 from Discovery Education.

The Roaring 20s WebQuest
See also The Roaring 20s.

The Volstead Act and Related Prohibition Documents
A lesson plan on prohibition using primary sources available via the Internet. Though no suggested grade level is provided, the lesson and supporting documents would appear to be most appropriate for secondary students.

Scopes Trial Lesson PLan
A lesson plan Stanford History Education. See also Historical Thinking Matters: Scopes Trial for a 5-day lesson plan, The Scopes Trial Began Today in 1925 for a "calendar event" for grades 5-12, and Whose ‘Truth’ Is Out There? for a lesson plan from the N.Y. Times. For background information, see The Antievolution Crusade of the 1920s and Clash of Cultures: The Scopes Trial.

1920s Consumer Culture
An AP History lesson plan from HTI.

The Destruction of Black Wall Street: The Tulsa Riot of 1921
Another AP History lesson plan from HTI.  

The Automobile
One more lesson plan from HTI.

A Harlem Renaissance Retrospective
An interdisciplinary lesson plan for grades 9-12. For another lesson plan, see Drop Me Off in Harlem

Great Depression Lesson Plans and New Deal Lesson Plans
Brother Can You Spare a Dime?
A 10th-grade lesson plan from the Library of Congress. See Immigration/Migration Today and During the Great Depression for an 11th-grade lesson plan from this program. See more lesson plans on the Great Depression from the LOC.

Using Primary Sources in the Classroom: The Great Depression Unit
A 6-lesson high school unit.

The Great Depression Curriculum Unit
Six lesson plans as well as a great many resources.

The Great Depression and Herbert Hoover
From C-Span.

The Great Depression and the New Deal
An elaborate unit from Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute.

Worth a Thousand Words: Depression-Era Photographs
A lesson plan for grades 9-12 examining the Great Depression and  New Deal programs through an Internet archive of photographs.

Life During the Great Depression - Pictures
A lesson plan from Learning to Give.

Ten Lessons for Teaching About the Great Depression
From Education World.

The Great Depression: A Dear America Activity
A lesson plan for grades 3-5 from Scholastic.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt
There are many lesson plans about FDR, including the one linked above titled The Foreign Policy of Franklin D. Roosevelt and the U. S. Entry Into World War II. Other similar lesson plans about FDR include Documents Related to Churchill and FDR, FDR's Fireside Chat on the Purposes and Foundations of the Recovery Program, and FDR's First Inaugural Address. For a lesson plan that examines the impact of FDR's disability, see Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Disability: Was He Successful in Concealing It? For additional information on FDR, see Roosevelt Institute, The FDR Library and Museum, and The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial.

World War II Lesson Plans and Resources
"A Date Which Will Live in Infamy"
A lesson plan from the National Archives and Records Administration on Roosevelt's address to the joint session of Congress following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Internet links provided allow students to actually listen to the speech.

The Date That Lives in Infamy: Pearl Harbor Lesson Plans
Four lesson plans from the U.S. Navy Historical Center. For other lesson plans and resources, see A Day of Infamy: Analyzing FDR's Pearl Harbor Speech,  The First Typed Draft of Roosevelt's War Address, A Date Which Will Live in Infamy, and Remembering Pearl Harbor: The The USS Arizona Memorial.

Documents Related to Churchill and FDR
A lesson plan from the National Archives and Records Administration.  

World War II as Seen Through the Eyes of Children's Literature
An elaborate unit plan.

A Perspective on World War II
A lesson plan for grades 9-12 in which students work with students from other countries via the Internet to compare the WW II information contained in each country's textbooks. For excellent sources of information on WW II, see The National WWII Museum.

Those Who Fought
A lesson plan for grades 6-12 from Education World in which students read interviews of WW II veterans and then interview family or community members who participated in the war. For oral history resources, see Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive and What Did You Do in the War Grandma?   

Eleanor's Story: An American Girl in Hitler's Germany
Ideas for grades using Eleanor Garner's book in the classroom.  

Powers of Persuasion--Poster Art of World War II
A lesson plan from the National Archives.  

The Normandy Invasion
A lesson plan for grades 9-12.

Message Drafted by General Eisenhower in Case the D-Day Invasion Failed
A secondary lesson plan using primary sources. See also D-Day Message from General Eisenhower to General Marshall.

A Blitz through the Ardennes: Using the Battle of the Bulge to Practice Reading and Analytical Skills
A lesson plan for grades 9-12 using primary and secondary sources.

The Homefront: America and WWII
A lesson plan from The History Teaching Institute at Ohio State. See also On the Home Front for an additional lesson plan.

World War II
A high school lesson plan in which students research daily life for women in Britain, the U.S., or Germany during the war. See also Women During World War II.

Documents and Photographs Related to Japanese Relocation During World War II
One more lesson plan regarding Japanese internment. This one uses historical documents and photographs.

General Patton’s Forgotten Troops: African American Soldiers in World War II in their Own Words
An excellent lesson plan from History.com. See also Pictures of African Americans During World War II.

WW II: The Other Americans
A multicultural World War II lesson plan I developed as an example for my students.

Memorandum Regarding the Enlistment of Navajo Indians.
A lesson plan using documents from the National Archives about the Code Talkers.

Breaking the Code
A lesson plan for grades 6-12 in which students learn about cryptology during WW II.

World War II: The Pacific
A high school lesson plan.  

Analyzing the Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb
Two secondary lesson plans from the Truman Library. See also Atomic Bomb and The Manhattan Project for other lesson plans, as well as Atomic -Bomb Museum for information and personal perspectives.

American Diplomacy in World War II
A 4-lesson unit unit.

Nuremberg Trials Lesson Plan
A high school lesson plan from the Truman Library.

Adolf Hitler: Biography
A concise biography.  See also Claiming Responsibility: Understanding the Rise and Popularity of Hitler.

Holocaust Lesson Plans and Resources
A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust
Student activities and teacher resources for teaching about the Holocaust .

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
The link above goes to their many lesson plans, but their site offers many other resources.

Holocaust Lesson Plans and Curricula
Many lesson plans from the Holocaust Teacher Resource Center. Click here for a Holocaust timeline.

Holocaust Center of Florida
Six units in chronological order.

Remembering the Holocaust
A middle school unit from Scholastic.

The Holocaust's Legacy
A lesson plan for grades 9-12 from Discovery Education.

The Beast Within
An interdisciplinary 9th-grade unit from George Cassutto.

Holocaust and Resistance
A high school lesson plan from EDSITEment.  

Holocaust WebQuest
For grade 8.

Diary of Anne Frank (Anne Frank in the World, 1929-1945: Teacher Workbook)
Lesson plans for grades 5-8 for teaching about Anne Frank and Holocaust-related subjects. See also  Anne Frank: One of Hundreds of Thousands, a lesson plan for grades 6-8; Ann Frank: Writer, another middle-grade lesson plan; Anne Frank WebQuest, an excellent Internet activity for grades 7-9;  The Truth About Anne Frank, A 12-lesson unit; Anne Frank Center U.S.A., photographs and information about Anne's journal and how it survived World War II; and Remember.org, a comprehensive site with images and recollections of survivors, a teacher's guide, and links.

Late 40s/U.N./Harry Truman Lesson Plans
Marshall Plan: Teaching with Primary Sources
A PBS lesson plan. See also Marshall Plan Promotions and Marshall Plan: Convince the American People from the Truman Library.

Introduction to the United Nations
A lesson plan from the Global Classroom. See also The United Nations; who they are and why they have your back; or do they?

U.S. Recognition of the State of Israel
A lesson plan using documents available primary sources online from the National Archives and Records Administration.

The Origins of the Cold War, 1945-1949
Three lesson plans from Edsitement including the Formation of the Western Alliance, 1948-1949.

The Rise and Fall of Joseph McCarthy
An high school lesson plan. A lesson plan from a unit titled Anticommunism in Postwar America, 1945-1954: Witch Hunt or Red Menace?

Truman Presidential Museum and Library
See their featured lesson plans.

Tales of Truman's Travels Fifty Years Ago
A 3rd-grade unit from the above site.

Harry Truman and the Truman Doctrine
A secondary-level activity from the Truman Presidential Museum and Library.  

Telegram from Senator Joseph McCarthy to President Harry S. Truman
A lesson plan using primary sources.

The Foreign Policies of Harry S. Truman
A high school unit from the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute.  

Harry Truman and Independence, Missouri: "This is Where I Belong"
A lesson plan from The National Park Service.

1948 - Berlin Airlift
Lesson plans from the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum.

60th Anniversary of the Berlin Airlift 2008/2009: "Friends Always" Teacher Kit
From the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany.

The 1950s Lesson Plans and Eisenhower Lesson Plans
Baby Boom and the  Culture of the 1950's
A high school lesson plan. See also High School Conformity in the 1950's.

1950s and 1960s Suburban America
A Classroom Activity Guide for grades 5-12 complete with lessons, worksheets, and primary source material.

Levittown, automobiles, and Cultures of the 1950s
A high school lesson plan.

Women in the 1950s
A lesson plan from the Stanford History Education Group.

Advertising in the 1950s
A WebQuest. See also 1950s WebQuest.

The Polio History Pages
No unit on the 1950s would be complete without some mention of polio, the near hysteria caused by the epidemics of the early 1950s, and the euphoria that greeted the development of the Salk vaccine. Drawing from my book, Polio's Legacy: An Oral History, this site provides excerpts from polio narratives, a polio timeline, a WebQuest, and information about the disease, its history, and late effects.

Dr. Janus Salk, who developed the polio vaccine, was born in 1914
A "Calendar Activity" from Read-Write-Think. 

The Rise and Fall of Joseph McCarthy
A high school lesson plan from a unit titled, Anticommunism in Postwar America, 1945-1954: Witch Hunt or Red Menace?

Telegram from Senator Joseph McCarthy to President Harry S. Truman
A lesson plan using primary sources.

Photographs and Pamphlet about Nuclear Fallout
Another lesson plan using historic documents.

Memorandum of a Conference with President Eisenhower after Sputnik
One more lesson plan using primary sources. See also Space Milestones for a middle school lesson plan, Sputnik Lesson Plan for a 10th-grade activity.  If you want to show a couple of brief video clips in class, take a look at these from YouTube: Launch of Sputnik and Vanguard (Flopnik).

NASA: Challenging the Space Frontier
A teacher's guide from Scholastic.

Eisenhower: The Contentious 1950s
A lesson plan for grades 9-12. See also Eisenhower: The Cold War for another high school lesson plan.

Advertising in the 1950s
A WebQuest. See also 1950s WebQuest.

Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum
Excellent source for information about Eisenhower.

Korean War Lesson Plans
Korean War Project
An excellent site for information regarding the Korean War.

The United States Enters the Korean Conflict
A lesson plan using primary sources. See also America's Entry into the Korean War.

Korean War Propoganda
A lesson plan from the Korea Society. See also The Outbreak of the Korean War and Korean War: A Three Week Unit for additional lessons from this source.

Remembering the Forgotten War
A high school lesson plan.

The Korean War: "Police Action," 1950-1953
A high school lesson plan from EDSITEment.

The Korean War
A lesson plan for grades 9-12 from Discovery Education. See also The Korean War for a lesson plan from the Truman Library..

Cold War Conflict in Korea: 'The Powerful and Powerless United Nations'
A secondary-level lesson plan from The History Teaching Institute at The Ohio State University.

The Korean War through the Perspectives of Political Cartoons and Political Posters
Another secondary lesson plan, this one from the Harry S. Truman Library & Museum.

Cold War Lesson Plans and Resources
Origins of the Cold War
A high school unit.

Cold War
Sis lesson plans from the Stanford History Education Group.

Photographs and Pamphlet about Nuclear Fallout
A lesson plan from the National Archives and Records Administration which uses primary sources.

The Cold War
An 8th-grade unit from Core Knowledge. See also Hitting the Cold War from All the Angles and The Cold War: Solving the Mystery of History with Voices on Vinyl for other units from unit from this same organization.

Cold War WebQuest
Fpr high school students.

Candy Bomber Activity: The Berlin Airlift
From the Truman Library and Museum. See also The Berlin Airlift, Pictures of the Berlin Airlift: Primary Sources (Photos and Cartoons) to Motivate Learning.

Ideological Foundations of the Cold War
Several more lesson plans from the Truman Library and Museum. See also Cold War in Asia.

The Cold War and Beyond
A  high school lesson plan from Discovery Education.

New Approaches to Old Cold War Lesson Plans
An interesting article.

Cold War International History Project
An excellent resource. See also the Cold War Museum.  


Black History Month Lesson Plans/Civil Rights Lesson Plans and Resources
For lesson plans on African history, slavery, or the Underground Railroad, scroll up or click on the topic titles. Scroll down the page for lesson plans for MLK, Jr.

African American History Month
Resources from the Library of Congress.

African American History and Heritage Site
Many resources for African-American history including a Teacher Toolkit for Grades K-12. See also Black History Pages.

Association for the Study of African American History and Life
From the founders of Black History Month, this link takes you to their home page and provides information for the 2018 Black History Month Theme and the 2019 Black History Month Theme.

African American History in the United States
Many resources and activities from NEH and EDSITEment.

Music of African American History
A high school lesson plan.

Teacher's Guide: Black History Month
Many links from the University of Illinois Extension

The Civil Rights Movement
A lesson plan for grades 6-8 from The Discovery Education. See also Learning to Respect Each Other for a K-5 lesson and Civil Rights: An Investigation for a high school lesson plan.  
     
Teaching with Documents: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
This excellent lesson plan from the NARA Digital Classroom uses historical documents available on this site.

American Educational History: A Hypertext Timeline
My favorite Web project, this annotated, clickable timeline of American educational history extends from 1607 to the 21st Century. See the accompanying activity, American Educational History: What's Most Important?

Teaching with Documents: The Amistad Case
From the National Archives.

Slavery in America
A teaching/ unit from Digital History.

After Reconstruction: Problems of African Americans in the South
A lesson plan using the Internet to access pamphlets and other materials, most of which were written by African American authors about pressing issues of the day. See also Slavery in the United States: Primary Sources and the Historical Record for another lesson plan from the same source.

The Life of George Washington Carver
A lesson plan from the National Park Service.  See the Curriculum Materials that accompany the lesson.

Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Dubois
A unit on the issues raised by the celebrated debate between two famous African American leaders: Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. DuBois.

Harlem Renaissance Retrospective
A lesson plan for 9th grade connecting art forms.

Sojourner Truth
A lesson plan from the Academy 4 Social Change.

Unforgiveable Blackness
Lessons from PBS about Jack Johnson, the first Black prizefighter.

Segregation: From Jim Crow To Linda Brown
An elaborate lesson involving a study of the famous court case, Plessy v. Ferguson (1897); a simulation of the Afro-American Council Meeting in 1898 using African American Perspectives: Pamphlets from the Daniel A. P. Murray Collection, 1818-1907; and the creation of a similar meeting of the Afro-American Council prior to the landmark Brown v. the Board of Education case in 1954.

Teaching with Documents: Documents Related to Brown versus the Board of Education  
From the National Archives, this lesson plan uses historical documents available online. See also Order of Argument in the Case Brown v. Board and Dorothy Davis, et al, versus County School Board of Prince Edward County, Virginia for two more lesson plans using historical documents.

Brown v. Board: Where Are We Now?
Information and teaching activities from Tolerance.org.

Little Rock Nine: Activities
From Teaching Tolerance.

Tuskegee Tragedy
A WebQuest exploring this exploring this dark medical experiment and its victims.

Mosaic America: Patterns of Racism
A 7th-grade unit. For other similar units see Racism and Nativism in American Political Culture.

NAACP Homepage

Institute for Urban and Minority Education
Information about teaching urban and minority students.




Civil Rights Lesson Plans
Lesson Plans and Resources for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
A long list of lesson plans from my History Page.

Travel Places of the Civil Rights Movement
From the National Register of Historic Places, this page would  be an excellent resource for putting together a WebQuest on the civil rights movement.

The Civil Rights Movement
A lesson plan for grades 6-8 from The Discovery Channel School. See also Learning to Respect Each Other for a K-5 lesson and Civil Rights: An Investigation for a high school lesson plan.  
     
Teaching with Documents: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
This excellent lesson plan from the NARA Digital Classroom uses historical documents available on this site.

Little Rock 9, Integration 0?
A collaborative WebQuest on integration in schools. See also Little Rock Nine: Activities.

Tuskegee Tragedy
A WebQuest exploring this exploring this dark medical experiment and its victims.

Jackie Robinson, Civil Rights Advocate
Information, documents, and lesson plans about Jackie Robinson's role in the Civil Rights movement. Scroll down the page for the lesson plans.

Documents Related to Brown v. Board of Education
An excellent lesson plan using historic documents the National Archives that are available online. See Order of Argument in the Case, Brown v. Board, Brown v. Board: What It Means Today, and Frontiers in Civil Rights: Dorothy E. Davis et al versus County School Board. of Prince Edward County, VA.|

A Time for Justice
A teacher's guide with five lesson plans on the Civil Rights Movement.

An Act of Courage, The Arrest Records of Rosa Parks
A lesson plan about Rosa Parks using historic documents. See also Rosa Parks: How I Fought for Civil Rights.

Before Rosa Parks: Frances Watkins Harper
A high school lesson plan from Tolerance.org. See also Before Rosa Parks: Ida B. Wells.

The Story of Ruby Bridges
A lesson plan from Teach Peace Now. See also The Ruby Bridges Story and  Race, Racism, and Civil Rights.

National Civil Rights Museum
See their Educator Resources.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Lesson Plans and Resources
Martin Luther King 's "I Have a Dream Speech."
No lesson on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is complete without reference to this speech from August 28, 1963. The above site offers a transcription as well as an audio file. See also the Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute for other speeches, sermons, papers, and articles.

Dr King's Dream
A K-2 lesson plan from EDSITEment. For other lesson plans from EDSITEment, see also Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Power of Nonviolence for a middle school lesson plan and Martin Luther King, Jr. and Nonviolent Resistance for a high school lesson plan.

The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Legacy of Racial and Social Justice: A Curriculum for Empowerment
Lesson plans and teacher guides from the National Park Service.

Commemorate the Life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Articles and lesson plans from Scholastic.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Three lesson plans for middle school and high school from the Center for Civic Education.

Martin Luther King, Jr. and Me: Identifying with a Hero
A primary-grade lesson plan from Read-Write-Think.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
A list of lesson plans and links from Mrs. Donn's pages.

Martin Luther King Teaches Many Lessons
Lesson plans and links Education World.

Learning To Respect Each Other
A lesson plan from Discovery Education for grades K-5.

Court Documents Related to Martin Luther King, Jr. and Memphis Sanitation Workers
Original documents and suggested teaching activities from the National Archives and Records Administration's Digital Classroom. Though no suggested grade level is provided, the materials and activities seem appropriate for grades 7-12.

King & Civil Rights Lesson Plan Using the Web
A 10th-grade activity. Click here for the accompanying web resources.

1960s Lesson Plans (Including Kennedy and Johnson)
The Sixties Project
Great site for information on the 1960s. 

The Sixties : For Teachers
Two units from PBS.

Counterculture in the 1960s
A high school lesson plan.

Turbulent Times of the 60s
A unit for grades 7/8.

The Turbulent 60s: Youth Counterculture and Activism
A U.S. lesson plan intended to cover 6 class periods.

Kennedy Years Unit
Eighth-grade unit adapted for inclusion of special education students. See John F. Kennedy for an intermediate-grade lesson plan.

Life of John F. Kennedy
Information from the JFK Library and Museum. See their Curricular Resources which include Why Choose the Moon? and The President's Desk: A Resource Guide for Teachers: Grades 4-12.

Founding Documents of the Peace Corps
Background information and a lesson plan using original documents from the National Archives.

The Sixth Floor Museum
Lesson plans for all grade levels including The State of Texas v. Lee Harvey Oswald: A "What If?" Mock Trial.

Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962
A 6th-grade lesson plan.

Flash Points: Searching for Modern Lessons in the Cuban Missile Crisis
A lesson plan from the NY Times.

Race to the Moon!
A lesson plan for grades 2-5.

1969, the First Human Walked on the Moon
A high school activity from Read-Write-Think.

Who Shot President Kennedy?
A lesson plan from the University of Wisconsin. See also The State of Texas v. Lee Harvey Oswald: A "What If?" Mock Trial.

The John F. Kennedy Assassination Home Page

JFK, LBJ, and the Fight for Equal Opportunity in the 1960s
A high school lesson plan from EDSITEment.

The 1965 Immigration Act and the Myth of the Model Minority
A lesson plan about the Immigration Act of 1965 for grades 10-12. See also 50 Years On, The 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act Continues to Reshape America.

From Camelot to Kent
An 11th-grade lesson plan.

Lynden B. Johnson: The 36th President   
A high school lesson plan from the Discovery Education.

War on Poverty: How far Have We Come?
A lesson plan in which students research the nature of poverty during the 1960’s, as well as the current poverty and unemployment levels.

Vietnam War Lesson Plans
The National Vietnam War Museum

Vietnam Passage Teacher's Guide
From the PBS program which looked at the war from the Vietnamese perspective.

The Tet Offensive and the Vietnam War
A lesson plan from the The History Teaching Institute at The Ohio State University.

The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and Escalation of the Vietnam War
A high school lesson plan from EDSITEment.

Opposing Views on the Vietnam War
A high school lesson plan from the Discovery Education.

Against the War
Not a lesson plan, but a novel available as a free pdf document, Against the War follows the lives of four Minnesotans during the Vitnam war. "It is a thoroughly documented study of the Vietnam War generation with many accurate descriptions of historical events that took place in the years 1967-1971, and with many links to websites that provided this information." It could be an excellent supplement to your Vietnam War unit. The novel is also available on public domain websites including World Public Library, Gutenburg, and Internet Archive.

The Wall that Inspires Letters to Veterans
A lesson plan from Education World in which students learn about the Vietnam War by responding to the words, illustrations, and symbolism in Eve Bunting's The Wall.  

Vietnam War - Liberty - Theme Park
Links to information and activities to learn about the war.

Building Vietnam War Scavenger Hunts through Web-Based Inquiry
An Internet-based high school lesson plan.

Mapping Your States Role in the Vietnam War
A lesson plan from Education World.

The War in Vietnam - A Story in Photographs
A lesson plan using photos available online from the National Archives and Records Administration's Digital Classroom.

1968: Year of Social Change and Turning Point in Vietnam and the U.S.
An 11th-grade lesson plan.

Kent State and Vietnam War Protest
A 10th-grade lesson plan.

From Camelot to Kent
An 11th-grade lesson plan.

May 4th, 1970 - Kent State WebQuest
A secondary-level WebQuest about this Vietnam-era tragedy.

1970s Lesson Plans
Kent State and Vietnam War Protest
A 10th-grade lesson plan.

From Camelot to Kent
An 11th-grade lesson plan.

White House Scandals
A high school lesson plan comparing the events of Watergate to other infamous White House scandals

Constitutional Issues: Watergate and the Constitution
A lesson plan utilizing documents available online from the National Archives and Records Administration's Digital Classroom.

Letter from House Minority Leader Gerald R. Ford to President Richard M. Nixon
A lesson plan using historical documents from the National Archives. For background information on Richard Nixon, see Richard M. Nixon.

Watergate
A secondary lesson plan.

Watergate.com
Links, news archive, discussion board, etc.

Roe v. Wade (1973)
A lesson plan from the Bill of Rights Institute. See also Revisiting Roe v. Wade.

Carter as President and Ex-President
A lesson plan for grades 6-8 from The Discovery Channel School.

The Anatomy of a Crisis

See also  Iran Hostage Crisis for another lesson plan about this event from the Carter years.

The Carter Center
Information about President Jimmy Carter and his recent activities

1980s Lesson Plans
Celebrate the Century: Search the Web for U.S. History of the 1980s
A lesson planning article from Education World.

The Early 1980s: A Tough Time for Home Builders and Mortgage Bankers
A Web-based lesson plan from EonEdLink.

Balancing Budgets: from Reagan to Today
A high school lesson plan from The Discovery Education.

Ronald Reagan on Reducing the Size of Government
A lesson plan from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. You will have to register to view the lesson.

Ronald Reagan and the Constitution
Three lesson plans for a variety of grade levels from The Center for Civic Eduction.

Decoding U.S. Foreign Policy: The Iran-Contra Affair
A high school lesson plan from the American Social History Project of the Center for Media and Learning.

Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum
Includes biographies of Ronald and Nancy Reagan as well as other information. See also the curriculum materials at Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Library.

Ronald Reagan Day Lesson for Lower Elementary Students
One lesson plan from the above site.

The Cold War and Beyond
A high school lesson plan exploring the end of the cold war.

The Berlin Wall - Lesson Plan 3
See also Art and the Berlin Wall, From Concrete to Memory: Scrapbooking the Berlin Wall, and The Fall of the Berlin Wall 1989.

Making the History of 1989: The Fall of Communism in Eastern Europe
Information and teaching modules from German Historical Institute.

1990s Lesson Plans and Gulf War
Celebrate the Century: Search the Web for U.S, History of the 1990s
From Education World

George H. W. Bush
From Lessons on American Presidents.

The Great Depression and the 1990s
A unit for grades 7-11.

Tax Reform in the 1990s and 2000s
A lesson plan from the IRS!

Tactics in the Persian Gulf: From Diplomacy to Force
A lesson plan from the NY Times.

Operation Desert Storm: Ten Years After
Good source for information.

Exploring the Middle East: Hands-On Approaches
A unit from the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute.

William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum
Good source for information on the Clinton presidency.

Commander in Chief: Bill Clinton: Teacher’s Guide
Lessons based on the video from Discovery Education.

Impeachment!
A lesson plan examining the impeachment proceedings against Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton. See also The Clinton Impeachment.

Bill Clinton
Activities from Lessons on American Presidents.


2000 and Counting
George W. Bush, Our 43rd President
An activity from "Like father Like Son: Presidential Families" For information about George W. Bush, see Biography of President George W. Bush.  

Bush v Gore and the 2000 Presidential Election
A lesson plan from the Bill of Rights Institute.

9/11 Lesson Plans
Lesson plans and teaching guides from 9/11 Memorial.  

Learning from the Challenges of Our Times: Global Security, Terrorism, and 9/11 in the Classroom  
A curriculum guide and lesson plans from The 4 Action Initiative.

9/11 Materials for Teachers
From the U.S. Department of Education.

9/11 Anniversary Teaching Guide (Updated)
Lesson plans and activities from Teachable Moment.

9/11 National Day of Service
The Official Site.

The Bush Doctrine
A lesson plan from the Constitutional Rights Foundation.

New Orleans & the Gulf Coast Six Months After Katrina
A lesson plan from Teachable Moment, but please be aware that they have a decidedly liberal political agenda.

Examining the Tax Cuts (2011)
One more lesson plan from Teachable Moment.org.

The Current Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (2011)
Unfortunately, these four lesson plans from Teachable Moment could be pertinent for almost any recent decade!

Center for Middle East Studies
This link takes you to their lesson plans, many of which are related to current events.

Cold War into Guerilla War
A high school lesson plan about the war on terrorism from The Discovery Education.

War and Terrorism
Many lesson plans from the National Council for the Social Studies.

Afghanistan:12 Years of Violence
A high school lesson plan from the Discovery Education. See also Postwar Afghanistan: Problems, Dangers, Costs.

Afghanistan Today: Civil War and Human Rights
A high school lesson plan from the above page.

The Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq: Teaching Resources and Essential Questions
From the NY Times. See also Lessons for War.

The ISIS Threat: Teaching about the Complex War Raging in Iraq and Syria
Teaching ideas from the NY Times.

The Election of Barack Obama 44th President of the United States
A high school lesson plan from EDSITEment. See also Teaching Resources for Barack Obama. and Barack Obama: People's President.

The Life of the (Tea) Party: Comparing Social Protest Movements
A lesson plan from the N.Y. Times Learning Network.

Who Are the 99%? Ways to Teach About Occupy Wall Street
Also from the N.Y. Times Learning Network. See also Occupy Wall Street: Background and International Context.

Teaching and Learning About the U.S. Debt Crisis and Credit Downgrade
A lesson plan from the NY Times. See also Understanding the Debt Ceiling Debate and Budget Control Act of 2011.

Wealth & Taxes: What's fair? (2012)
A lesson plan from Teachable Moment that examines what is sure to be one of the hottest issues in the 2012 election. See also Understanding Taxes for a lesson plan from the IRS!

The Effects of the Recession
A lesson plan from Econedlink.



Donald Trump
News and resources from PBS News Hour Extra.

President Trump's First 100 Days
A lesson plan for grades 7-12 from PBS News Hour Extra. See also The Inauguration of a New President: A Lesson Plan on Predicting and Evaluating the First 100 Days of a Trump White House.

Immigration and the U.S. Policy Debate
Readings and lesson plans from the Choices Program.

Analyzing Trump's Immigration Ban
A lesson plan from the NY Times.

Analyzing the Second House Impeachment Debate of President Trump
A lesson plan from C-Span Classroom.

Teaching about the January 6 Insurrection and Its Impact on U.S. Democracy
See also Ultimate Guide to Jan. 6 Hearings: Lesson Plan, Timeline, Key Terms.

The Power of Executive Action and What Trump Can Do After Taking Office
A lesson plan from KQED Learning.

You Be the Judge! Supreme Court Nominee Neil Gorsuch Acrivity
For grades 9-12.

Teacher's Guide to the Syria Lesson Toolkit
From I Am Syria.

A Brief History of North Korea
A lesson plan from KQED Learning. See also A Tale of Two Heavens: Escaping North Korea.

Black Lives Matter, the Killing of George Floyd, and the Long fight for Racial Justice
A lesson plan from Brown University. See also Teaching about the George Floyd Murder Trial.

Lesson of the Day: Teaching about 'Critical; Race theory: A Brief History'
A lesson plan from the NY Times. See also Teaching about the Critical Race Theory Debate.

The Challenge of Nuclear Weapons
Several lesson plans from the Choice Program.

The Nuclear Option Vocabulary
Flash cards from Quizlet.

President Biden's Plans for His Administration
A lesson plan from S-Span Classroom. See also Joe Biden.

2024 Election Night: What to Expect
A lesson plan from C-Span. See also The Electoral Process and Election Central.