Lesson Plans

49 Result(s)
Grade Range
9-12
Place-Based Learning: Creating Clio Entries

Clio, partially funded by the NEH, is a free resource allowing users to learn about the history of the landscapes they inhabit, and to contribute to those historical narratives. This lesson plan walks through the steps involved in creating a Clio entry about an historic place or event.

Grade Range
9-12
The Mexican Revolution

This lesson, based on primary source analysis, introduces students to the Mexican Revolution and some of its lasting legacies.

Grade Range
9-12
American Utopia: The Architecture and History of the Suburb

In 1900, there were 16 million households in the United States; as of 2019, there are more than 126 million, an increase of nearly 700%. This inquiry-based lesson combines individual investigations of primary resources and visual media with group analysis to investigate the following inquiry: How is the architectural evolution of the American home related to broader themes of modern U.S. history, economics, and culture?

Grade Range
9-12
Oyez! Oyez! Oyez!: Simulating the Supreme Court

This lesson helps students learn about the judicial system through simulating a real court case involving student free speech rights. In addition to learning about how the Supreme Court operates, students will explore how the Supreme Court protects their rights, interprets the Constitution, and works with the other two branches of government.

Grade Range
9-12
Lesson 2: The Question of Representation at the 1787 Convention

When the delegates to the Philadelphia Convention convened in May of 1787 to recommend amendments to the Articles of Confederation, one of the first issues they addressed was the plan for representation in Congress. This lesson will focus on the various plans for representation debated during the Constitutional Convention of 1787.

Grade Range
6-8
The Preamble to the Constitution: A Close Reading Lesson

The Preamble is the introduction to the United States Constitution, and it serves two central purposes. First, it states the source from which the Constitution derives its authority: the sovereign people of the United States. Second, it sets forth the ends that the Constitution and the government that it establishes are meant to serve.

Grade Range
9-12
Lesson 4: Imperialism and the Open Door

In 1899 and 1900, Secretary of State John Hay issued what became known as the Open Door Notes to foreign powers involved in China. Secretary Hay called on those powers to respect the rights of each other, to agree to an open market and equal trading opportunities for merchants of all nationalities, and to respect the territorial and administrative integrity of China.

Grade Range
6-8
Lesson 7: Trekking to Timbuktu: Restoring the Past (Teacher Version)

For many people, Timbuktu is a metaphor for the mysterious, the remote, or the unobtainable. But the Malian city of Timbuktu was, in fact, once a thriving center of commerce and intellectual activity. In the lessons of this curriculum unit, students will learn about the geography of Mali and the early trade networks that flourished there. They will study how the spread of Islam influenced the cultures and economies along the Niger River. They will find out about the three kingdoms that evolved in ancient and medieval West Africa.