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- Along the Trail of Tears
- A part of history is often forgotten when teaching younger students. This is the relocation of the Cherokee Indians when the white settlers wanted their property. The US Government moved whole groups of Indians under harsh conditions. This trip became known as the Trail of Tears. Using this as a background students will explore and experiment with persuasive writing as they try to express the position of Cherokee leaders.
- Format: lesson plan (grade 4–5 English Language Arts and Social Studies)
- By Glenda Bullard.
- Analyzing children's letters to Mrs. Roosevelt
- Students will analyze letters that children wrote to Eleanor Roosevelt during the Great Depression.
- Format: lesson plan (grade 11–12 Social Studies)
- By Angie Panel Holthausen.
- The Bill of Rights and the U.S. Supreme Court
- In this lesson, students work in groups and individually to understand how the Constitution/Bill of Rights is a living document and how Supreme Court decisions protect the rights of all Americans.
- Format: lesson plan (grade 9–10 Social Studies)
- By Grace Wasserman.
- Canning for country and community
- In this lesson plan, students will use primary source documents to evaluate the technological challenges of food preservation in the 30s and 40s, compare food preservation in the first half of the twentieth century with today, and consider the political role of food in the community.
- Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 English Language Arts and Social Studies)
- By Melissa Thibault.
- Civil rights protests and dilemmas
- In this lesson students explore well-known civil rights protests then listen to two oral histories of individuals who protested in their own way to promote equality for African Americans. Students specifically will consider personal risks involved in protest.
- Format: lesson plan (multiple pages)
- Civil rights wax museum project
- In this lesson plan, students will choose African Americans prominent in the Civil Rights Movement and research aspects of their lives. They will create timelines of their subjects' lives and a speech about their subjects, emphasizing why they are remembered today.
- Format: lesson plan (grade 5 English Language Arts and Social Studies)
- By Sabrina Lewandowski.
- Civil War journals
- This lesson integrates creative writing with Social Studies and enhances knowledge of the effects of the Civil War on people.
- Format: lesson plan (grade 8 English Language Arts and Social Studies)
- By Gwen A. Jones.
- A comprehensive study of North Carolina Indian tribes
- Students will apply their research skills of gathering and validating information to study the eight state-recognized American Indian tribes of North Carolina in order to create an Honors U.S. History Project. Students then will create a comprehensive study of those tribes to be compiled into a notebook to be copied and shared with the eighth grade teachers of North Carolina History in our county.
- Format: lesson plan (grade 11–12 Social Studies)
- By Wanda Taylor.
- Confederate currency: An inflation simulation
- Using primary sources from the Documenting the American South collection, students will engage in a brief simulation of inflation during the Civil War while learning about issues faced on the home front in North Carolina.
- Format: lesson plan (grade 8 Social Studies)
- By Lewis Nelson.
- The Declaration of Independence
- In Where English and history meet: A collaboration guide, page 5
- In this interdisciplinary lesson, students will examine the role of the Declaration of Independence in the development of the American Revolution and as part of the American identity. They will also analyze the argumentative structure and write their own declaration.
- Format: lesson plan (grade 9–10 English Language Arts and Social Studies)
- By Karen Cobb Carroll, Ph.D., NBCT.
- Effects of civic action
- In this lesson, secondary students will analyze primary source materials to investigate how 4-H clubs made an impact on the home front in completing projects that supported the war effort during World War II. This lesson should be taught at the end of a World War II unit.
- Format: lesson plan (grade 8–12 Social Studies)
- By Pauline S. Johnson.
- Eroded land, eroded lives: Agriculture and The Grapes of Wrath
- This lesson plan, designed to be taught before students read The Grapes of Wrath, focuses on helping students put this novel in historical context. Students will learn about the (unintentional) abuse of soil that allowed the Dust Bowl to be so devastating and extensive. They will also see photographs by Dorothea Lange and others depicting the wasted land and subsequent wasted dreams of thousands.
- Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 English Language Arts and Social Studies)
- By Annie Henry.
- Exploring first-person female narratives related to Sherman's march to the sea
- This lesson plan uses first-person narratives from the Documenting the American South collection to demonstrate differences in perspective related to historical events, in this case, Sherman's march to the sea. It encourages students to compare the views of two southern ladies with that of a Union soldier.
- Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 English Language Arts and Social Studies)
- By Meghan Mcglinn.
- Feed a fighter
- In this lesson students will examine “Additional Helps for the 4-H Mobilization for Victory Program,” a Cooperative Extension Work document from the Green 'N' Growing collection at Special Collections Research Center at North Carolina State University Libraries. The document will help students understand the efforts civilians underwent to support military efforts in World War II.
- Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 English Language Arts and Social Studies)
- By Lisa Stamey.
- Freedom songs of the civil rights movement
- Students will listen to freedom songs recorded during the civil rights movement, 1960–1965. Students will write about personal reactions to the music and lyrics. Through reading and pictures, students will briefly explore historical events where these songs were sung. Listening again, students will analyze and describe — musically — particular song(s).
- Format: lesson plan (grade 5 Music Education and Social Studies)
- By Merritt Raum Flexman.
- Fugitive Slave Law simulation
- Students face the critical issue of the Fugitive Slave Law that gave Southerners the right to regain their runaway slaves and return them to bondage. It is also considered by many to have contributed to growing sectionalism in the U.S. and eventually the Civil War. In order to take on the roles of historical actors, students will examine primary source documents from the Documenting the American South collection and critique arguments in favor and opposed to the law.
- Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 English Language Arts and Social Studies)
- By Meghan Mcglinn.
- George Washington's obituary
- The following lesson will introduce students to the research process -- formulating questions, choosing resources, fact finding, and note-taking. After completing their research, they will write a short obituary for George Washington. Activities will integrate Reading, Language, Social Studies, Writing, and Computer Skills.
- Format: lesson plan (grade 5 English Language Arts, Information Skills, and Social Studies)
- By Kathy Blades.
- Letters back home: A soldier's perspective on World War I
- World War I traumatized many of the soldiers that participated in the war. It had a lasting effect on the political, economic, social, and cultural lives of Americans during the 1920's. By reading letters that one soldier wrote to his family back home. Students can gain insight into the reasons why the “Great War” had such a profound impact on the United States in years following the war.
- Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 English Language Arts and Social Studies)
- By George Gray Jr..
- Letters home
- Students will write letters home, taking on the role of one of the sons of the "Gold Star Mothers" from Union County, NC.
- Format: lesson plan (grade 5 and 7–8 Social Studies)
- By Meg Millard and Pamela Webb.
- A living timeline of civil rights
- This fifth grade lesson plan is one piece of a civil rights unit. This particular lesson is an opportunity for students to demonstrate knowledge of a specific person or event that occurred during the civil rights movement. The students will share their research with others as they take on the role of a museum artifact.
- Format: lesson plan (grade 5 Social Studies)
- By Laurie Lietz.
