Social Studies — Grade 8

Outfitting a World War I soldier: Teaching US history with primary sources

What do soldiers wear? Students will say a uniform and mention boots. However, many of the necessities of soldiers are often overlooked by civilians whether the items be standard issue or personal.This lesson gives students the opportunity to not only look at William B. Umstead's artifacts from World War I, but gain insight into how and why each item was used.

Format: lesson plan (grade 8 Social Studies)

By Paulette Scott.

Jim Crow and segregation

This is an integrated lesson plan that incorporates both eighth grade language arts and history. Using Internet research, literary analysis, and persuasive technique, students will practice reading and writing skills while analyzing the impact of Jim Crow Segregation on African Americans living in North Carolina and elsewhere.

Format: lesson plan (grade 8 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

By Burnetta Barton.

Children at Work: Exposing child labor in the cotton mills of the Carolinas

In this lesson, students will learn about the use of child labor in the cotton mills of the Carolinas during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They will learn what life was like for a child worker and then write an investigative news report exposing the practice of child labor in the mills, using quotations from oral histories with former child mill workers and photographs of child laborers taken by social reform photographer Lewis Hine.

Format: lesson plan

By Dayna Durbin Gleaves.

Resources on the web

Carnegie libraries: The future made bright

Using maps, images, and web texts, students explore the philanthropy of Andrew Carnegie and the impact of the libraries he endowed. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 5 and 8–12 Information Skills and Social Studies)

Provided by: Teaching With Historic Places: National Park Service