This primary source activity can be used after teaching students about the different groups during the Revolutionary Period such as patriots, loyalists, and neutrals.  The activity is on a Google Worksheet and includes links to primary sources online and questions about those sources. The primary sources include writings by Cato, an American farmer, and Reverand Inglis.   You can add or change questions if you so wish.  The settings can be changed as well by clicking on the settings icon at the top right corner of the screen.

The stock market crash on October 29, 1929 -- known as Black Tuesday -- was the "worst economic collapse in the history of the modern industrial world." It spread from the United States to national economies across the globe. It ended a decade known for its high-spirited free-spending, called the Roaring 20s, and began almost 10 years of financial desperation that would touch nearly every citizen of the United States. The Great Depression caused bank closures and business failures and by its end, saw "more than 15 million Americans (one-quarter of the workforce)" unemployed. Herbert Hoover, president at the time, did not acknowledge the depth of the crisis and assumed that the American characteristics of individualism and self reliance would quickly bring the nation out of the disaster without a need for federal intervention. But, layoffs and financial desperation at the personal level were growing: "an empty pocket turned inside out was called a 'Hoover flag' [and] the decrepit shanty towns springing up around the country were called 'Hoovervilles'." Three years into the financial crisis, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, running on a platform of federal recovery programs called the "New Deal," easily took the presidential election of 1932.

Students will analyze multiple sources to determine which of the causes of the Civil War each source best supports. Students will support their choices with evidence from the source and their own understanding of the causes of the Civil War.

Take a sneak peek at some interesting items from World War II! These artifacts were on display as part of the Secrets of WWII exhibit at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in 2022. The HERstory Spotlight Series takes a look at stories from both our Register, an interactive online database of military women, and our world class collection.The Military Women’s Memorial, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is the only historical repository documenting all military women’s service. It is located at the ceremonial entrance to Arlington National Cemetery and features an education center, interactive exhibitions, a world-class collection of military women’s stories, and engaging programs and events for all generations. Find out more about us at www.womensmemorial.org.

Take a sneak peek at some interesting items from World War II! These artifacts were on display as part of the Secrets of WWII exhibit at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in 2022. The HERstory Spotlight Series takes a look at stories from both our Register, an interactive online database of military women, and our world-class collection.The Military Women’s Memorial, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is the only historical repository documenting all military women’s service. It is located at the ceremonial entrance to Arlington National Cemetery and features an education center, interactive exhibitions, a world-class collection of military women’s stories, and engaging programs and events for all generations. Find out more about us at www.womensmemorial.org.

Take a sneak peek at some interesting items from World War II! These artifacts were on display as part of the Secrets of WWII exhibit at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in 2022. The HERstory Spotlight Series takes a look at stories from both our Register, an interactive online database of military women, and our world-class collection.The Military Women’s Memorial, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is the only historical repository documenting all military women’s service. It is located at the ceremonial entrance to Arlington National Cemetery and features an education center, interactive exhibitions, a world-class collection of military women’s stories, and engaging programs and events for all generations. Find out more about us at www.womensmemorial.org.

A link to a primary source set followed by a project focused on modern-day types of hysteria that will provide students with a greater understanding of the sociopolitical contexts of the play

The Digital Public Library of America is a free digital collection of artifacts gathered from libraries, archives and museums.  This great collection of primary source materials will continue to grow as new items are made digital.

Students will analyze primary sources from the Reconstruction Era to determine if Reconstruction was a success or a failure. They will place evidence on a scale for a visual representation of their evaluation.Teachers can modify and assign this Google Doc. You will need to make a copy of the document to access it.

This lesson reimagines an existing instructional resource, "The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck" created by Franky Abbott, Digital Public Library of America.

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In this remix, "The Grapes of Wrath" and the related primary source documents are exchanged for "Farewell to Manzanar" and related primary sources accessed through secondary open-source databases.

Discussion questions ask students to consider the memoir in light of its historical context and students gain experience reading and evaluating visual sources including political cartoons and propaganda posters to understand how elements of rhetorical can shape and/or reflect cultural values.

Lesson Plan for a Constitution Scavenger Hunt.Students will engage in discussion about the organization and importance of the Constitution. After, students will be given the Scavenger Hunt and, using a copy of the Constitution, answer all questions going through each Article. The Scavenger Hunt goes over basic information within the Cconstitution. Follow-up lessons could go into deeper, higher level inquiry.Includes Lesson Plan outline as well as Google Doc/PDF attachments of the Scavenger Hunt.

This lesson leads students through analyzing primary source documents from the Civil War to determine if the Freedman's Bureaus was effective in assisting formerly enslaved persons.

 This collection uses primary sources to explore the impact of television on news media. Digital Public Library of America Primary Source Sets are designed to help students develop their critical thinking skills and draw diverse material from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States. Each set includes an overview, ten to fifteen primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide. These sets were created and reviewed by the teachers on the DPLA's Education Advisory Committee.The remix includes a graphic organizer recording sheet to use with the videos. 

This lesson remixes an original lesson plan entitled "The Poetry of Emily Dickinson" by Melissa Strong: Melissa Strong. Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America .

In this lesson, activities 1 and 2 from the original source are combined so that students emulate the writing style of Dickinson to write their own original poetry based on modern issues concerning women. An extension activity asks students to transfer their understanding of how literary elements shape meaning to different poets who each have a distinct style.

This activity is intended as practice for students learning about primary and secondary sources. Students should receive instruction on the differences between primary sources and secondary sources prior to completing this activity. Students will be given a random selection of artifacts. They will be asked to go through the primary source analysis process (adapted from the National Archives) to analyze and make sense of the artifacts. They will create a secondary source about the person represented by the artifacts. 

Why look at art? Art is one way humans communicate ideas to one another. Sifting through the information art presents takes careful and purposeful looking. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts has a resource that can foster close-looking and thoughtful analysis of artworks from any period or culture. Use this resource (see link) to practice looking at art before a visit to the art museum or to document thinking about art as a primary source of insight into a culture or time period. Included in this resource are: a) Works of art from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and a link to find more.b) Simple framework and prompts to help students document their analysis and thinking. c) Discussion prompts.  

Print a copy of "A Discourse concerning a New World and another Planet" by John Wilkins (1640) after learning about the Scientific Revolution.
*Remixed to direct students to circle objects on the print and then identify who that idea is associated with. For example, circle the telescope and label it Galileo.

This teaching guide and activity seeks to introduce primary sources to students so that theyT can understand how to analyze and interpret them to make conclusions about the past. The primary sources the students will analyze are from the John Marshall House’s collection. All of the sources presented, both objects and written, focus on the theme of clothing during the Early Republic (1780-1820), the period in which John Marshall lived. This teaching guide and activity follow the Virginia Standards of Learning from 4th-6th grade, but may be applicable for other grades/ages.

Students learn about archives and primary sources as they research original historical documents. While preparing an imaginative first-person account as if witnessing an historical event, they learn to appreciate the value of the first-person, eye-witness account and understand its limitations. Note: The literacy activities for the Mechanics unit are based on physical themes that have broad application to our experience in the world — concepts of rhythm, balance, spin, gravity, levity, inertia, momentum, friction, stress and tension.