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1869: A report on schools in North Carolina
In this lesson, students look at a report on the status of education in North Carolina in 1869 and discuss the reasons given then for why the Governor and Legislature should support educating North Carolina's children. They are provided an opportunity to compare and contrast the 1869 document against their own ideas about the civic duty to attend school through age sixteen and its relative value to the state and the country.
Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 English Language Arts and Social Studies)
By Victoria Schaefer.
Molly's Pilgrim Activity
Using the book by Barbara Cohen, students will respond to the social and historical significance of this portrayal of the Thanksgiving holiday. Students will also participate in constructing a Venn diagram and completing a cloze activity.
Format: lesson plan (grade 3–4 English Language Arts and Social Studies)
By Susan Milholland, Kathy Vaden, and Rita Wilson.
African American English
In this activity, students learn about the history of African American English and the meaning of dialect and linguistic patterns. Students watch a video about African American English and analyze the dialect's linguistic patterns.
Format: lesson plan (grade 8 Social Studies)
By Hannah Askin.
The African American experience in NC after Reconstruction
The documents included in this lesson come from The North Carolina Experience collection of Documenting the American South and specifically focus on African Americans and race relations in the early 20th century. The lesson juxtaposes accounts that relate to both the positive improvements of black society and arguments against advancement. Combined, these primary sources and the accompanying lesson plan could be used as a Document Based Question (DBQ) in an AP US history course.
Format: lesson plan (grade 11–12 English Language Arts and Social Studies)
By Meghan Mcglinn.
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 historical maps of North Carolina
In this lesson students will analyze historical maps and will use their knowledge of history, observation skills, and inference to draw conclusions about the events that affected the geographic development of North Carolina over time.
Format: lesson plan (grade 8 Social Studies)
By Loretta Wilson.
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.
Anticipation guide: A royal colony
This activity presents students with a series of true/false statements about the early Carolina colony. Students respond to the statements before and after reading an article about the changes in the Carolina colony in its first fifty years, as it was divided into North and South Carolina and changed from a proprietary colony to a royal colony.
Format: /lesson plan (grade 8 Social Studies)
By Pauline S. Johnson.
Archaeobotany
In Intrigue of the Past, page 2.6
Students will use pictures of seeds, an activity sheet, and a graph to identify seven seeds and the conditions in which they grow. They will also infer ancient plant use by interpreting archaeobotanical samples and determine changing plant use by Native North Carolinians by interpreting a graph of seed frequency over time.
Format: lesson plan (grade 4–5 and 8 Science and Social Studies)
Artifact ethics
In Intrigue of the Past, page 5.5
In their study of archaeological issues students will use ethical dilemmas to examine their own values and beliefs about archaeological site protection. They will also evaluate possible actions they might take regarding site and artifact protection.
Format: lesson plan (grade K–5 Guidance and Social Studies)
Blackbeard: The most feared pirate of the Atlantic
Students will acquire information about Blackbeard and apply their knowledge to create a newspaper article concerning his life.
Format: lesson plan (grade 4 English Language Arts and Social Studies)
By Carol Holden and Tanya Klanert.
The Blue Ridge Parkway and North Carolina
In Driving through time: The digital Blue Ridge Parkway, page 2.3
This is the third lesson in the Competing Routes unit. In this lesson, students look more closely at the relationship between North Carolina and the Blue Ridge Parkway and determine areas of interest in this broad topic. The first two lessons were aimed at putting students on equal footing in terms of prior knowledge and primary source analysis skills to start their research. This lesson allows them to pursue areas of their own interest, locate resources independently, and create new knowledge with those resources. Students will continue to use primary sources and practice their historical analysis skills.
Format: lesson plan
By Katy Vance.
Blue Ridge Parkway communities today
In Driving through time: The digital Blue Ridge Parkway, page 2.7
This is the seventh lesson in the Competing Routes unit. This lesson allows students to look critically at the state of the communities which exist along the Blue Ridge Parkway today and contrast them against their historical counterparts, helping students to explore the effects of the Parkway on surrounding communities.
Format: lesson plan
By Katy Vance.
Blue Ridge Parkway communities: Before the Parkway
In Driving through time: The digital Blue Ridge Parkway, page 2.5
This is the fifth lesson in the Competing Routes unit. It is part of a series of three lessons intended to help students think critically about the effects of the Blue Ridge Parkway on the environment, economy, and lifestyle of its surrounding communities. This lesson focuses on Blue Ridge Parkway communities before the arrival of the Parkway.
Format: lesson plan
By Katy Vance.
Blue Ridge Parkway construction: Effect on communities
In Driving through time: The digital Blue Ridge Parkway, page 2.6
This is the sixth lesson in the Competing Routes unit. This lesson is designed to get students thinking critically about the reactions of members of communities affected by the routing of the Blue Ridge Parkway and the reasons behind those perspectives. Students will analyze a variety of viewpoints, photographs, and documents to gain an understanding of the impact of the Parkway routing for different members of these communities. Then they will select one community member (real or imagined) and write a newspaper editorial from their point of view about the Parkway's routing.
Format: lesson plan
By Katy Vance.
The Blue Ridge Parkway in your community: For or against?
In Driving through time: The digital Blue Ridge Parkway, page 2.8
This is the final lesson in the Competing Routes unit. In this lesson, students reflect on the unit as a whole, and synthesize their new knowledge into a sophisticated presentation debating the routing of the Blue Ridge Parkway. In this lesson, students will be grouped into presentation committees based on geographical similarity (the communities closest to one another will work together) to lobby for or against the Blue Ridge Parkway being routed through their communities.
Format: lesson plan
By Katy Vance.
Blue Ridge Parkway Travelogue
Students plan and develop a week-long trip along the Blue Ridge Parkway, from beginning to end. The virtual tour culminates in the creation of a travelogue that will outline the trip.
Format: lesson plan (grade 3–4 Social Studies)
By Rachel Elliott.
Brown versus Board of Education: Rhetoric and realities
In this lesson, students will listen to three oral histories that shed light on political and personal reactions toward the 1954 Supreme Court ruling Brown versus Board of Education. Includes a teacher's guide as well as the oral history audio excerpts and transcripts.
Format: lesson plan (multiple pages)
Building the Blue Ridge Parkway
In Driving through time: The digital Blue Ridge Parkway, page 4.2
In this lesson, students will learn about various ways in which the land was modified in order to build the Blue Ridge Parkway. They will analyze different types of resources for details and use those details to make generalizations about the work required to build the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Format: lesson plan (grade 4–5 Social Studies)
By Melissa Harden.
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.