Herbert Hoover articulated and personified a vision of America with which every high school student should be familiar. Presented is a unit of study for high school students that presents the real Herbert Hoover by surveying his lifetime, not just his presidency. (RM)

The Omaha Platform tells us a great deal about the objectives and character of the Populists. In this unit, the platform is converted to a problem format that U.S. history teachers can use to promote critical thinking skills in finding relevant information and evaluating inferences. (RM)

U.S. history is an ideal subject in which to inculcate skepticism and to teach critical thinking skills. High school students who read and analyze rival interpretations of history come to expect that there is more than one viewpoint to most historical topics. Sample lessons are presented. (RM)

Discusses a teaching unit which enables high school students to see the connections between the specific grievances listed in the Declaration of Independence and the structural prohibitions in the U.S. Constitution. Predicts that 27 grievances will be identified as students become more familiar with these two documents. (GEA)

This teaching unit is based on primary sources taken from documents, artifacts, journals, diaries, newspapers, and literature from the U.S. historical period under study, the end of Reconstruction and the search for an overseas empire at the end of the 19th century. The unit is also intended to introduce students to the medium of the World's Fair,…

In this unit of study high school students read and discuss U.S. newspaper articles reporting the trial and execution of the French king Louis XVI. Students look for key words and phrases that might indicate a subtle favorable or unfavorable opinion. (RM)

This document consists of a 5-day high school level study unit on issues surrounding immigration into the United States. The lessons seek to engage students in the immigration debate while at the same time exploring the topic's historical background. At the core of the unit is a framework of four options for U.S. immigration policy: (1)…

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)

This paper uses classroom observations of two high school social studies teachers' units about the U.S. civil rights movement and interviews with students in each class to explore the relationship between teachers' practices and students' understandings of history. The paper's analysis suggests that, while there is not sufficient evidence to…

This 4-day supplementary curriculum unit is designed for use in social studies classes at the upper secondary (9-12) and community college levels. The curriculum unit seeks to explore the roots of contemporary relations between the United State and Soviet Union through an examination of how that relationship evolved from the 18th century to the…

This 12-day unit is designed for use in the social studies classroom for grades 9-12 and community college level. Students first learn about the ideological, political, and military rivalries of the United States and the Soviet Union that marked the Cold War. They are then introduced to the nuclear build-up, and they study its impact on matters of…

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)

Students may not be as familiar with the Asian American struggle for equal rights as they are with the black struggle for equal rights. But Asian Americans' civil rights have also been challenged and/or denied throughout their history in the United States. This curriculum module contains six lessons and can be used as a supplement to history…

This packet contains student materials and a teacher's guide. The materials are designed to make complex international issues understandable and meaningful for students. The unit probes the political, moral, and racial issues raised by the Spanish-American War and the acquisition of an overseas empire. Students compare the values and concerns at…

Describes a unit which offers high school students a broader perspective on African American history in general and African American writers in particular. Describes how students choose a book (from a list with synopses) to read and then choose at least one activity (again from a list) to complete. (SR)