Browse lesson plans

And justice for all: The Trail of Tears, Mexican deportation, and Japanese internment

Many textbooks mention the Trail of Tears, but fail to mention that this early displacement of an ethnic minority is only the one of many legally-sanctioned forced relocations. This lesson will address the displacement of American Indians through the Trail of Tears, the forced deportation of Mexican Americans during the Great Depression, and the internment of Japanese American citizens during WWII.

Format: lesson plan (grade 8–12 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

By Patricia Camp.

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.

Live-at-Home in North Carolina

In this lesson students will examine pictures and documents relating to the Live at Home program started in North Carolina by Governor O. Max Gardner to help North Carolina farmers refocus on food crops rather than cash crops during the Depression. These photographs, from the Green 'N' Growing collection at the North Carolina State University, will help students draw conclusions about the culture of North Carolina in the early 1930s and understand how they overcame the hardships of the Depression.

Format: lesson plan (grade 8 Social Studies)

By Loretta Wilson.

Resources on the web

The Digital Classroom

Resources and guides to using the primary history materials of the United States in research and teaching. Links to the wealth of materials held in the National Archives and Records Administration collection. (Learn more)

Format: website/lesson plan

Provided by: The National Archives and Records Administration