Presents a lesson plan which shows how to integrate primary source material gathered during a field trip to a local historical society into a history or social studies class. Includes primary source material from an 1825 diary and a list of discussion questions. (JDH)

This article describes the modern-day equivalent prices of items Captain John Smith required for colonists traveling from England to Virginia in 1624. Includes information on wages and cost of living in 1624 and today in the United States. Concludes that the colonists paid a high price for traveling to the New World. (JDH)

In this lesson, high school students read quotes and relate them to events that took place in the 1960s. Provided are the quotes, discussion questions, and suggestions for class activities. (RM)

Summarizes the events leading up to and the investigation that followed the Watergate break-in. Presents a lesson plan using primary documents that allows students to explore the workings of congressional investigations, the key figures in the scandal, and the arguments of the different participants. Includes copies of the documents. (DSK)

Describes a living history museum called Old Sturbridge Village, located in Sturbridge, Massachusetts. Includes samples of student's work, a description of the three-week teacher inservice program on social history, and original source material on the day-to-day lives of the Pliny Freeman family during the late 1700s and early 1800s. (JDH)

Outlines a lesson plan designed for an eleventh-grade U.S. history class in which the students learn about the Progressive Era by reading Stephen Crane's "Maggie: A Girl of the Streets." Explains that students analyze point of view, role play a talk show, write an essay, and complete a long-term research project. (CMK)

Focuses on the National Park Service's Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) program that has more than one hundred classroom-ready lesson plans. Describes the standard format of the lesson, the flexibility inherent in the TwHP lesson plans, and the role of the Internet. (CMK)

Illustrates the strengths and weaknesses of oral histories through an oral history assignment that helps students understand the impact of the Vietnam War on the "Vietnam generation." Suggests introductory materials and lists exemplar interview questions for students to use in interviewing soldiers who were on active duty and those who…

Discusses rules used in the House of Representatives from 1836 to 1844 to suppress discussions of slavery. Presents a lesson using primary documents that allows students to assess the role of the "gag rule" in creating sectional tension and to follow the transformation of an individual in the growing dispute. Includes documents. (DSK)

Offers ideas for using comparative history in the classroom. Includes suggestions for using guided design, role playing, and an approach for a series of sequenced writing exercises. Uses the 1920s and 1970s for comparison, focusing on Teapot Dome and Watergate. (LS)

Offers a lesson plan for comparing the ideas and context of the Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Abraham Lincoln on September 22, 1862, and the Emancipation Manifesto issued on March 3, 1861, by Alexander II of Russia. Gives background information on the Emancipation Manifesto, discusses preparation and lesson procedures, and suggests…

Presents a lesson plan that highlights the role of the Supreme Court in determining the applicability of the first eight constitutional amendments to the rights of students. Allows students to study actual Supreme Court cases involving schools. Includes lesson objectives, procedural outline, numerous case-related primary documents, and a brief…

Observes that there is a paradox between public interest in history and the lack of interest expressed by many college students. Discusses problems related to teaching the history of the American Civil War and proposes four approaches that teachers can use to make the Civil War relevant to contemporary events. (DSK)

Presents an annotated list of Web sites that focus on the Great Depression. Includes the American Experience, American Memory, the National Archives and Records Administration, and the New Deal Network Web sites. Offers additional sites covering topics such as the Jersey homesteads and labor history. (CMK)

This lesson plan for use with high school students presents excerpts from a press conference that President Eisenhower held in 1954 dealing with his domino theory and U.S. foreign policy concerning Indochina. In addition to the excerpts, discussion questions and ideas for student research projects are provided. (RM)