In this lesson, students explore how Abraham Lincoln used the power of words in speeches, letters and other documents. In the Introductory Activity, students watch a segment from the PBS film Looking for Lincoln featuring Lincoln quotes and try to identify the origin of each quotation. In the first Learning Activity, students closely examine Lincoln’s use of words in the Gettysburg Address and learn that a short speech can be powerful. In the second Learning Activity, students discuss different reasons for writing letters and review some of Abraham Lincoln’s letters. In the Culminating Activity, students write their own speeches or letters and then present them to the class.

The MUSEUM OF THE AFRICAN DIASPORA ( MoAD ), a contemporary art museum, celebrates Black cultures, ignites challenging conversations, and inspires learning through the global lens of the African Diaspora. MoAD is a part of the Smithsonian consortium of museums.

While MoAD caters directly to third graders in the San Francisco area, there are a plethora of educational resources available to all educators at: https://www.moadsf.org/education.

In this lesson, students will watch a video about Dr. King that emphasizes his commitment to nonviolence. They will then examine and analyze a 1956 flyer and a 1966 photograph that illustrate King’s approach to maintaining nonviolence. The lesson culminates with a comparison to other leaders who have been consistently nonviolent in spite of great personal risk.

  Programs | National Civil Rights Museum Virtual programs serve 50-1000 students & teachers and are geared for PreK-12 audiences. Programs are interactive and engaging but require minimal materials to participate. Program titles include:Young Activists Changing the WorldCivil Rights She-roesUnsung Heroes Who Led the WayMusic of the MovementInstruments of Change: The Power of Media & ArtThe Legacy of Dr. King: Where Do We Go from Here?Small But Mighty Storytime 

The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center (NURFC) is a beacon of hope that sits in downtown Cincinnati just a few steps from the banks of the Ohio River, the great natural barrier that separated the slave states of the South from the free states of the North. Since opening in 2004, the NURFC has filled a substantial void in our nation’s cultural heritage. Rooted in the stories of the Underground Railroad, the NURFC illuminates the true meaning of inclusive freedom by presenting permanent and special exhibits that inspire, public programming that provoke dialogue and action, and educational resources that equip modern abolitionists. It's vision is to be the preeminent cultural learning center for inclusive freedom — locally, nationally and globally.

Students read and listen to biographies. Students will conduct a research project on a biography of their choosing, make a timeline, write a report and use it to create a seven slide presentation in Google Slides about the Native American person of their choosing.

This unit focuses on the southern tribes of Wisconsin. Students will learn about the location of each tribe. They will also learn about a brief history of the tribes. Students will be asked to do some of the research on their own . This unit contains links to two individual lessons focusing on the Brothertown and Potawatomi band of Native Americans. Each lesson contains links to necessary material.

This lesson on the Bill of Rights is part of Gilder Lehrman’s series of Common Core-based units. These units were written to enable students to understand, summarize, and analyze original texts of historical significance. Students will demonstrate this knowledge by writing summaries of selections from the original document and, by the end of the unit, demonstrating their understanding through visual and oral presentations. Through this step-by-step process, students will acquire the skills to analyze any primary or secondary source material.
Lesson #1
Students will understand the rights and restrictions that are defined by the first five amendments of the Bill of Rights in the United States Constitution. They will demonstrate that understanding by restating those ideals in their own words.

Lesson #2
Students will understand the rights and restrictions that are defined by amendments 6–10 of the Bill of Rights in the United States Constitution. They will demonstrate that understanding by restating those ideals in their own words.

Lesson #3
Students will demonstrate their understanding of the Bill of Rights by drawing an illustration depicting one of the amendments and citing a direct quote from the amendment as a caption. This caption will serve as direct evidence for the accurate interpretation of the text. The students will then present their drawing in the form of a short oral presentation to the class. The teacher may allow students to substitute a computer-based drawing or graphics alternative to an actual hand-drawn illustration.

A collection of educational media resources that features the stories of people who have shaped Wisconsin's history. Stories span a range of eras, areas of impact, and identities of individuals featured. Themes in the collection focus on community builders, innovators of industry, justice seekers, land protectors and leaders in government.

With each story you'll find:
- A short animated video (3-8 minutes)
- Questions to spark reflection, connection, and conversation
- A short digital biography book (accessible as a Google slide deck) with per-page audio, glossary terms, images, and maps
- A historical image gallery
- An educator guide with extension activity ideas and standards supported

Emigration is when someone leaves their home country and moves to live in a different country. During the Great Hunger, many Irish people left Ireland for good. People emigrated for many reasons. Some left because there was not enough food, and others because their landlord had evicted them. Many landlords evicted their tenants to avoid paying for their care. Some of these landlords also paid to put the Irish living on their land on a boat headed for the United States, Australia, England or Canada.
Included in this Lesson Plan:
 Background historical information
 Background primary source documents and activities related to Irish emigration in the 19th century
 A Pack Your Suitcase worksheet which can be used individually or for a group
activity, and requires some math and discussion, and recording with a pencil
 A comparison of 19th century and modern US immigration
 A model citizenship test

Portraiture of Resistance is an exhibit at America's Black Holocaust Museum, located at the intersection of North Avenue and 4th Street in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Through art and poetry, visitors come to understand those African-Americans who have fought against injustice in our country.

This unit is part of Gilder Lehrman’s series of Common Core State Standards–based teaching resources. These units were developed to enable students to understand, summarize, and analyze original texts of historical significance. Through a step-by-step process, students will acquire the skills to analyze any primary or secondary source material.

Over the course of three lessons the students will analyze text from three documents defining American democracy: the Preamble to the United States Constitution, the Pledge of Allegiance, and the second section of the Declaration of Independence. Understanding these three texts is an essential part of understanding American ideology and citizenship. Students will closely analyze these sources and use textual evidence to draw their conclusions and present their understanding as directed in each lesson.

Recollection Wisconsin brings together digital cultural heritage resources from Wisconsin libraries, archives, museums and historical societies and shares them with the world in partnership with the Digital Public Library of America. The webpage provides different 4-8ideas for teaching about Wisconsin history.

In this lesson, students will understand some of the struggles and prejudices Native Americans faced
in 19th-century Wisconsin. They will also be able to articulate the various concerns expressed in 19th-century
petitions as they relate to the Native American relationship with white Colonizers.

Note: Primary source materials such as petitions, letters, and diaries capture history as it happened, and
many customs, terms, social mores, and attitudes that are considered offensive now were
commonplace at the time. Please read through the primary source material before assigning it to
your class.

Jeff Kannel is the author of Make Way for Liberty: Wisconsin African Americans in the Civil War. He has been a volunteer and tour guide at the Civil War Museum in Kenosha, Wisconsin, since 2012 and speaks around the state about the role of Wisconsin African American soldiers and employees during the Civil War.

Susan B. Anthony was a teacher, a speaker and an American civil rights leader who fought for rights for African Americans and women. She spoke out against slavery and fought for suffrage, or the right to vote for African Americans and women. Susan cast her vote in the 1872 presidential election and was arrested for doing so. Women were finally given the right to vote in 1920 with the 19th amendment. Although Susan B. Anthony had passed away in 1906, it is sometimes called the Susan B. Anthony amendment in honor of her arduous work and steadfast beliefs regarding suffrage.

What examples can we draw from Susan B. Anthony? In this lesson, students will learn about Susan B. Anthony and her fight for what she believed in. Students will identify Susan B. Anthony’s actions that make her an agent for change.

TIME
Three 30-minute class periods

OBJECTIVE
Students will…
read and understand a historical biography about Susan B. Anthony.
make connections to Susan B. Anthony’s contributions to the Women’s Rights Movement and suffrage.
write in response to reading.
Identify actions of Susan B. Anthony that made her an agent of change.
Identify a personal agent for change and their qualifying characteristics
create a Susan B. Anthony coin mobile.

Picture book biographies can provide young readers with a great deal of information. Yet without a focus for reading, students often pay attention to interesting details and tidbits—what's been called the "terrific specifics"—rather than the big ideas in history. As they read and respond to picture book biographies, students will see fundamental differences between the past and the present and witness the impact some people had on the times in which they lived.

On Constitution Day, students will examine the role of the people in shaping the United States Constitution. First, students will respond to a provocative statement posted in the room. They will then watch a video that gives a brief explanation of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, or listen as the video transcript is read aloud. A Constitution poster is provided so students can examine Article VII and discuss it as a class.
The elementary and middle school educator will then
guide students through a read-aloud play depicting two Constitutional Convention delegates who disagreed about ratifying the Constitution.

Most students recognize the name Christopher Columbus. They may be aware that his voyages ushered in the first period of sustained contact between Europeans and the Americas and its people. They may not know, however, why Columbus traveled to the New World or what happened to the native people he encountered.

In this lesson, students read excerpts from Columbus's letters and journals, as well as recent considerations of his achievements. Students reflect on the motivations behind Columbus's explorations, his reactions to what he found and the consequences, intended and unintended, of his endeavor.