In this activity, students will analyze a historical map showing percentages of enslaved people by county following the 1860 Census. Students will form an understanding of the distribution of slavery in the southern United States prior to the Civil War.
Students match posters, photos, and documents with the ways in which Americans were asked to contribute to the war effort during WW1.
Students analyze a letter written by Jackie Robinson to the White House in 1972. Students are guided to understand that racial equality still had not been achieved during this time. Students analyze tone, audience and context and draw conclusions. Background about Jackie Robinson's role in the Civil Rights movement should be provided to students.
Students analyze a photograph of child laborers and make inferences about the impact of the photograph on the photographer based on the message he was trying to convey. Background information about child workers during the Progressive Era included.
This is an activity that involves analyzing a map of the Louisiana Purchase. Guiding questions are offered.
In this activity, students examine photographs from an Alaskan Native Tribe who converted to the Anglican faith; they look for evidence of cultural assimilation and provide an opinion as to whether or not this type of cultural assimilation is beneficial or harmful to the tribe.
Prerequisite: Students need to have studied the Dawes Act of 1887 and the breaking up of reservations. In this activity, students analyze primary resources to determine how the federal government tried to assimilate Native Americans. Online activity. Focus: Compare and contrast.
Students analyze two letters written by FDR in order to determine the significance that baseball played during WW1 and WW2 in uplifting morale.
In this activity students will identify and define seven key ideas contained in the U.S. Constitution by making matches from the grid. They will then analyze documents that demonstrate each big idea in action.
This activity is designed to prepare students for the Constitution-in-Action Learning Lab at the National Archives in Washington, DC. It is a part of a package of pre-visit activities associated with the lab experience.
The Constitution might never have been ratified if the framers hadn't promised to add a Bill of Rights. The first ten amendments to the Constitution gave citizens more confidence in the new government and contain many of today's Americans' most valued freedoms.
Students analyze a picture of the Boston Tea Party. This can be used as an introduction to the American Revolution. Students observe details of the image and develop questions for discussion.
Students match documents with types of civil disobedience and then describe how civil disobedience has been used throughtout American history to inspire political or societal change.
Particularly applicable when teaching first semester government classes, discuss with students Constitution Day and the importance of recognizing and celebrating it. Students can virtually sign a Constitution and the page also links to various resources, including a playlist of videos on different aspects of the Constitution and Constitution Day. Students and teachers can find a transcript of the Constitution, as well as a great overview of the document through "America's Founding Documents: Constitution." In addition, teachers will find a variety of teaching resources, all of which are free.
Prerequisite: Students need to know the function of each of the branches of government. In this activity, students examine documents from U.S. history to examples of specific "checks and balances."
In this activity students will analyze documents that span the course of American history to see examples of "checks and balances" between the legislative, executive, and judicial branches in action. Students will then match the documents they have examined with an appropriate description of the branches of government involved in the action.
Students compare military recruitment posters for African Americans used for both the Union and Confederate armies. They analyze how the language reflects differences is attitude and perspective.
Students analyze two photographs and make a T-chart to list characteristics of urban and rural life in the early 1900s in New York.
Using primary resources, students analyze WW1 era posters and infer the audience, purpose, and effectiveness of trying to get Americans to conserve food during this time. Online resource. Offers discussion questions.
In small groups, students analyze the Emancipation Proclamation, the 13th amendment, and General Order #3 in terms of tone, audience, and message, focusing on similarities and differences.
In this activity (which is appropriate for introducing the Constitution) students match primary source documents to clauses from Article 1 of the Constitution. Students find six pairs, which reveal the powers of Congress. Online resource.