Developed through a broad-based national consensus building process, the National History Standards project has involved working toward agreement both on the larger purposes of history in the school curriculum and on the more specific history understandings and thinking processes that all students should have equal opportunity to acquire over 12…

Based on the idea that the study of history should include the perspectives of all the people who lived during a certain time period, this unit offers as many different points of view as possible. Students are introduced to primary source materials and exposed to literature (especially historical fiction), poetry, and drama that reflects the…

Two teachers describe their junior high school's involvement in National History Day. Participation in History Day provides students with the thrill of competition and the satisfaction that comes from really getting into a topic of their choice. (RM)

Using colored construction paper, students trace around their shoes and cut out two forms. Students then pick and research an event from the time period in history under study and write a report on the representations of shoe soles. The reports are taped, in order of occurrence, around the classroom. (RM)

This user guide helps students understand the story of the U.S. flag and the meaning of the stars, stripes, and colors. The focus is on students learning about flags, drawing individual state flags, and researching the meaning behind them; studying other countries flags; discussing the United Nations flag; researching and discussing the history of…

Developed for fifth graders studying United States history, this lesson addresses the following National Council for the Social Studies thematic strands: Time, Continuity, and Change; People, Places, and Environments; Individual Development and Identity; Individuals, Groups, and Institutions; Power, Authority, and Governance; Production,…

Provides classroom procedures for adapting the nineteenth-century-style song slide show to middle school history instruction. Suggests student production of song slide shows as individual or group projects. Argues that the activity can capture the drama of history and stimulate student curiosity about the past. (SG)

This document describes a series of activities to teach 30 fifth grade students about history through fiction. Activities began with a prereading brainstorming session in which students came up with topics that they studied during the school year. Next, the school librarian introduced the children to the genre of historical fiction and instructed…

"To the Ends of the Earth and Beyond" is a curriculum-based program focusing on the role of the U.S. Navy in exploration and diplomacy throughout U.S. history. For students to have a successful experience teachers are encouraged to use as many of the activities in this packet as possible. The packet is divided into four sections: (1)…

Designed for small group instruction, this fifth-grade classroom activity deals with the creation of a special edition newspaper commemorating the 200th anniversary of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The activity contains five roles for students (historian, journalist, cartographer/illustrator, biographer, scientist), and each group is to produce…

In this activity students (in pairs) become explorers and map readers tracing the best land routes to travel between select U.S. cities. They learn who were the first known explorers who broke the trails and who were the first groups of people to follow the trails. The activity tasks each pair of students with instructions to determine the…

This manual is intended to help teachers promote the study and understanding of World War II and the future National World War II Memorial. The manual contains activities in history, science, mathematics, language arts, and art. For each grade level, the manual includes readings, discussion questions, activities, and portfolio projects that are…

Noting that Alice in Wonderland's journey is not unlike the experience of an immigrant who relocates to a new country, this lesson plan uses passages from "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," along with various history texts, class discussions of students' experiences, and primary source documents and images from the American Memory collections, to…

Describes learning activities based on the U.S. Constitution that enhance higher level thinking skills in elementary students. One activity proposes a hypothetical constitutional amendment banning Saturday cartoons; a second taxes children's earnings; and other activities focus on dramatizing events surrounding the Constitutional Convention. (LS)

Suggesting that reading plays aloud is an effective way to promote literacy and history in the grade 4-8 classroom, this book presents 22 short, readers' theater plays about extraordinary American men and women. The plays in the book are designed to enrich classroom learning by building oral literacy, fostering a knowledge of American heritage,…