Smithsonian. This resource includes a 26 minute video interview with the photographer, and a collection of photographs of the Civil Rights Movement. Students are encouraged to analyze primary sources and discuss the impact of the photographs on the Civil Rights Movement.

This is the plan for a printing press simulation. This simulation requires a customizable stamp. Students will need lots of small pieces of paper. This is a race and the teach also participates: Have each student write positive affirmations to each of the other 30 kids in the class and write their name on each piece of paper because they are writing the same thing 30 times this should take a while. Teacher enters the competition a few minutes into the simulation with the customized stamp and then stamps the same message to each of the 30 students. The stamp is much faster than writing and shows why the printing press was such an marvelous invention.

Mission US is a role-playing game (RPG). In each mission you’ll step into the shoes of a young person during an important time period in US history. While your character and many of the characters in the game are fictional, they are based on the experiences of real people. (You will also encounter some actual historical figures and witness historical events in the game!) In this simularion, the year is 1941. You are 16-year-old Henry Tanaka. When the government forces you and 120,000 other innocent Japanese Americans into camps, how will you react?

This is a thought expierement that I do with the kids. I ask them what would happend if there was no government. I then walk with them and Thomas Hobbes to answer the questions and teach about the natural state of man and the social contract theory.

This the graphic organizer that goes along with the Pupose of Government lesson. Students answer the questions and then we get thomas hobbes' answer on the slide show.

Students will use primary resources to explore the reasons for Western Expansion. They learn why Americans living in the East decided to migrate West and how/why those motivations changed over time. This is an activity for students to analyze documents and put them in chronological order. They then compile a list of reasons for the Western Expansion. Online resource.

The lesson summarizes the role of religion in the Enlightenment and the establishment of the United States government.

Through the examination of sources about the practices and geographic distribution of world religions, students develop a comparative understanding of major religions. They extend their emerging understanding by investigating how the concept of religious freedom has emerged over time and examining the current status of religious freedom around the world.

This lesson plan and case study can be used to follow the previous one, or can stand alone. They allow students to explore the effects of the Boston busing crisis that occurred during the Civil Rights Movement. Full lesson plan with primary resources included. Encourages critical thinking.

This is a great resource on what Roman Republic was like. I would probably use this as a place for primary sources. Using directly as written would be a little above 6th Grade.

In this lesson, students learn the causes of the Russian Revolution and its effects in Russia and the world at large.

This lesson plan and case study allow students to analyze the fight to desegregate schools. Full lesson plans can be modified for elementary school and include reading, discussion, a project and exit ticket.

Smithsonian collection. This collection of photographs and primary resources allows students to explore how sports played a key role in the Civil Rights Movement. They learn about famous African-American athletes and their historical contributions. At the end of the collection, there is a timeline that students can fill in. Excellent introduction to the Civil Rights Movement.

This is a simulation style lesson that I created to teach economic systems using the board game monopoly. The students learn how to play monoply and then we change the rules on them to match each economic system.

This slide show goes along with my Economic Systems simulations. Use it with the Teaching Economic Systems Using Monopoly resource.

Smithsonian resource. Students learn about the experiences of incarcerated Japanese Americans during WW2 through reading a series of comics developed for this purpose. Can be used as an introduction to this topic. Blank comic template is also included for assessment opportunities.

This is a simulation style lesson that I created to teach types of governments. It requires 5 small tarps. Students are given a challenge. They must complete the challenge but each group is given a different government that they have to work under. I refer back to this expierence through out the government unit.

This is student graphic organizer. They will learn from the student groups about what their government was and how it worked.

This is the lesson plan associated with the Types of Government Challenge resource.