Middle Level
National Day of Listening Comes to Midland, Michigan: A StoryCorps Project
Submitted by Steven Lapham on Tue, 03/13/2012 - 12:22pm--Ann Burke
NPR's StoryCorps can be a opportunity for students to conduct an oral history project, or interview people about their daily experiences, or survey opinions regarding a current event. This project involved team teaching.
Dear César Chávez: Writing Persuasive Letters in the Sixth Grade
Submitted by Steven Lapham on Tue, 03/13/2012 - 12:11pm--Maggie Beddow
Students learn about a farm workers' union, its current struggles, and then write letters to Mr. Chavez.
Years later, their hand-written letters appear in lesson plans at the website of the Cesar E. Chavez Foundation.
Raise Up Your Cloth! The Woman Suffrage Movement's Second Generation
Submitted by Steven Lapham on Tue, 03/13/2012 - 11:44am--Catherine M. Carter
This lesson plan with handouts focuses on Alice Paul's nonviolent protests. More classroom handouts follow in "Winning the Vote for Women: OBJECTION and ANSWER" by Jenny Wei (NMAH) and "Game Changer: Women's Basketball and Equal Opportunity" by Tedd Levy. Download the 16-page PDF (which is about 3 megabytes) at this URL: --> read more »
The Lower East Side Tenement Museum: A Window on Immigrant Life
Submitted by Steven Lapham on Tue, 03/13/2012 - 11:34am--Adam Steinberg and Michael J. Berson
Students can learn about immigrant life ca. 1900 from the words and photographs at this museum's online collection.
This PDF downloads a 16-page issue of MLL, about 3 megabytes.
Lights, Camera, . . . Reenaction! Creating Video as We Study the Civil War
Submitted by Steven Lapham on Tue, 03/13/2012 - 11:25am--Angela Stokes
A video project challenges students to read, research, and interpret historical sources, then create a short drama that reflects their understanding of events. Journey through Hallowed Ground sponsored this project, but you can do a low-budget version at your school.
Analyzing Historical Political Cartoons: Helping Students With Diverse Learning Needs Analyze Primary Sources
Submitted by Steven Lapham on Tue, 03/13/2012 - 11:15am--Grant R. Miller
Students analyze drawings available at one of three kid-friendly,online collections of political cartoons.
As they analyze, corroborate, and synthesize information, students are following the steps of UDL, Universal Design for Learning.
This PDF is the September 2011 issue of MLL, about 3 megabytes. See page 13.
Constitution Day Lesson Plans
Submitted by Jennifer Bauduy on Tue, 10/04/2011 - 3:35pmThe NCSS Publications archives and a number of educational websites offer excellent lesson plans that can help teachers prepare for Constitution Day.
* http://publications.socialstudies.org/se/7504/7504226.pdf
A Bus Ride Across the Mason-Dixon Line in the Era of Jim Crow
Submitted by Jennifer Bauduy on Tue, 10/19/2010 - 12:14pm--John A. Stokes with Steven S. Lapham
Students gain a deeper understanding of the segregation period through this classroom simulation, in which randomly-assigned cards determine whether volunteers sit or stand during a long, interstate bus trip.
* http://publications.socialstudies.org/se/7405/7405266.pdf
The Greensboro Sit-In: When Students Took Charge
Submitted by Steven Lapham on Mon, 09/20/2010 - 11:16am--Eric Groce, Tina Heafner, and Katie O’Connor
Three college students, who read about and discussed recent civil rights protests, decided to try a sit-in at a local lunch counter on February 1, 1960. The idea caught on with young people. Why did this nonviolent method work at this time and in this place? Five teaching activities are outlined; on-site photos included. --> read more »
Turn Out Those Lights! The Merchant Marine and U-Boat Lane, 1942
Submitted by Steven Lapham on Mon, 09/20/2010 - 11:04am--Caroline C. Sheffield and Andrew J. Nichols
As an editorial cartoonist, Dr. Seuss alerted his readers to German submarine attacks along the east coast of the United States in May 1942. Student handouts provide 3 cartoons, charts that tally lost ships, and lyrics to a folk song about the Merchant Marine.
