Browse lesson plans

What are the amendments?

Before the reading of "I Want to Vote" in the Scott Foresman basal reader, I assigned each member of my class to look up a Constitutional Amendment. This was done in order to give the students a background in Amendments and the history of America. Following the assigning of the Amendments the students interviewed 10 adults to find out how many people are familiar with their Constitutional Amendments. One math extension is to graph the results of the students' interviews.

Format: lesson plan (grade 5 Social Studies)

By Jeremy Luna.

Where have we been? Tracing family through a timeline of national history

In this lesson, students are introduced to examples of how wars and technological developments have impacted the movement of people throughout United States and world history. Using a timeline, students will begin to connect historical events with the people they impacted. They will then investigate where their families fit into history in both time and place.

Format: lesson plan (grade 4–5 Social Studies)

Who started the Civil War? Comparing perspectives on the causes of the war

This lesson plans presents the account of Rose O'Neal Greenhow, a confederate spy during the Civil War. Students are encouraged to find confirming and refuting evidence of her perspective on what caused the Civil War by browsing the Documenting the American South Collection of digitized primary sources.

Format: lesson plan (grade 11–12 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

By Meghan Mcglinn.

Whose monument? Whose revolution?

In Commemorative landscapes, page 2.6

This lesson was developed using the Commemorative Landscapes collection. This lesson explores the way North Carolinians have constructed their collective memory of the American Revolution and analyzes how that collective memory might influence their view of historical processes and events.

Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 Social Studies)

By Kate Allman.

Women in flight: Using music to study American women pioneers in flight

As North Carolina's 97-98 Christa McAuliffe Teaching Fellow, I designed this plan to musically enhance the 5th grade social studies of American heroes, focusing on women pioneers in flight. It is intended to utilize singing and rhythmic activities to compare and contrast the lives of Amelia Earhart and Christa McAuliffe. Amelia Earhart was the first woman to successfully complete a solo trans-Atlantic flight and tragically disappeared while attempting to fly around the world in 1937. Christa McAuliffe was selected for NASA's Teacher-in-Space program and tragically died in the 1986 Challenger space shuttle disaster. I traditionally use this plan close to the January 28 anniversary of the shuttle disaster.

Format: lesson plan (grade 5 Music Education and Social Studies)

By Robin Smathers.

Women in US history: Research lesson

Students will use the Mini Page and other sources to research important women in US history: Bessie Coleman and Sally Ride. They will make a poster comparing these two women. This is intended as an introductory lesson to research skills.

Format: lesson plan

By Summer Pennell.

Women, then and now

In this lesson, students will analyze images and a home demonstration pamphlet, a Cooperative Extension Work document from the Green 'N' Growing collection at Special Collections Research Center at North Carolina State University Libraries. The primary sources will help students assess the roles, opportunities, and achievements of women beginning in 1950.

Format: lesson plan (grade 11–12 Social Studies)

By Lisa Stamey.

World War I - The impact of WWI on Mecklenburg County

This is a fun and engaging computer activity designed to help students understand how a war in Europe can effect a town in North Carolina. This lesson is part of a unit on World War I. This lesson may be used in a World History class or United States History class. It will deals with the creation of Camp Greene in Mecklenburg County and the impact the camp had on the inhabitants of Charlotte. The lesson will also focus on changes that occurred in Charlotte during WWI.

Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 Social Studies)

By Billie Clemens.

World War II at home: Victory Gardens

Students will learn about home front activities during World War II. Using primary source documents and photographs, students will discover how children their own age participated by growing Victory Gardens. They will design their own gardens and propaganda posters.

Format: lesson plan (grade 5 Social Studies)

By Linda Mazzei.

Resources on the web

African American World

A multifaceted resource providing information from PBS, NPR, and the Encylopaedia Britannica about African Americans. This website targets many audiences and age groups and encourages discussion of their materials via online forums. (Learn more)

Format: website/lesson plan

Provided by: PBS

Africans in America

Chronicles the history of racial slavery in the United States using historical documents and interactive maps to accompany in-depth articles (Learn more)

Format: website/lesson plan

Provided by: PBS

American Centuries: View from New England

A large American history library of full of primary resources, curricula, and interactive activities that will inspire students to learn about the 1700's, 1800's, and 1900's. (Learn more)

Format: website/lesson plan

Provided by: Memorial Hall Museum

American Experience

Over 75 features that accompany the PBS series The American Experience, that document people and events that shaped United States history. Find video, audio, maps, images, and other resources that explore Presidents, Biographies, War and Politics,... (Learn more)

Format: website/lesson plan

Provided by: PBS

American Journeys

More than 18,000 pages of eyewitness accounts of North American exploration from rare books, original manuscripts, images, and classic travel narratives. (Learn more)

Format: website/lesson plan

Provided by: Wisconsin Historical Society

American Masters

From children's book authors to jazz greats, this series presents the biographies of America's great creative talent. (Learn more)

Format: website/lesson plan

Provided by: PBS

American Memory Project Learning Page

Use the American Memory web site to teach about United States history and culture with these tips and tricks, frameworks, activities, and lessons that provide context for their use. (Learn more)

Format: website/lesson plan

Provided by: Library of Congress

American prehistory: 8000 years of forest management

In this lesson from the Forest History Society in Durham, North Carolina, students study the evidence of 8000 years of Native American prehistoric land use practices. By analyzing images of Native American material culture, students will understand how... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 5–6 and 8 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

Provided by: Forest History Society

The American Presidency: A Glorious Burden

Incorporates presidential artifacts with informative articles that address many common and uncommon aspects of the ever-changing American presidency. (Learn more)

Format: website/lesson plan

Provided by: Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of American History

The American Revolution - Lighting Freedom's Flame

Students can explore the Revolutionary War period through stories, a timeline of events, biographies of the key players, and much more. (Learn more)

Format: website/lesson plan

Provided by: National Park Service

Attitudes toward emancipation

The Emancipation Proclamation carried Americans across an important frontier in the political growth of the nation. Through the Internet, students can return to this frontier and explore the many obstacles and alternatives we faced in making this passage... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 11 Social Studies)

Provided by: ESITEment