In accordance with Genocide Awareness Month, Facing History offers nine classroom resources educators can utilize to help their students think critically about the specific historical and contemporary conditions under which genocides occurred to effectively unite head, heart, and conscience.

Geography is a major factor in the development of every civilization, including ancient Athens. Learn the ways in which the natural features of Athens helped...

This course asks students to consider the ways in which social theorists, institutional reformers, and political revolutionaries in the 17th through 19th centuries seized upon insights developed in the natural sciences and mathematics to change themselves and the society in which they lived. Students study trials, art, literature and music to understand developments in Europe and its colonies in these two centuries. Covers works by Newton, Locke, Voltaire, Rousseau, Marx, and Darwin.

This collection uses primary sources to compare American responses to Pearl Harbor and September 11. 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.

In 1914, during World War I, the German army passed through neutral Belgium to attack France. Afterward, many U.S. newspapers and magazines featured pro-war cartoons depicting alleged German atrocities in Belgium, particularly the killing of innocent women and children. This cartoon appeared in a 1915 edition of the weekly humor magazine Life. The slaughter in Belgium did not actually occur; but by 1915 tens of thousands of Africans had died in the Belgian Congo, victims of Belgium's ruthless exploitation of its colony's resources.

The lesson gives background to the WWI Battle of the Somme between the British and German armies through a powerpoint.  It then asks students to analyze three primary source documents from both sides of the battle to act as evidence in answering an historical question: Who won the first day (of the battle)?  Student then write a short argument based on their understanding of the texts.

This textbook introduces aspects of the history of Canada since Confederation. “Canada” in this context includes Newfoundland and all the other parts that come to be aggregated into the Dominion after 1867. Much of this text follows thematic lines. Each chapter moves chronologically but with alternative narratives in mind. What Aboriginal accounts must we place in the foreground? Which structures (economic or social) determine the range of choices available to human agents of history? What environmental questions need to be raised to gain a more complete understanding of choices made in the past and their ramifications? Each chapter is comprised of several sections and some of those are further divided. In many instances you will encounter original material that has been contributed by other university historians from across Canada who are leaders in their respective fields. They provide a diversity of voices on the subject of the nation’s history and, thus, an opportunity to experience some of the complexities of understanding and approaching the past. Canadian History: Post-Confederation includes Learning Objectives and Key Points in most chapter sections, intended to help identify issues of over-arching importance. Recent interviews with historians from across Canada have been captured in video clips that are embedded throughout the web version of the book. At the end of each chapter, the Summary section includes additional features: Key Terms, Short Answer Exercises, and Suggested Readings. The key terms are bolded in the text, and collected in a Glossary in the appendix.

The lesson helps students understand the background and impact of the Columbian Exchange both now and in the past.

To read a review of standards alignment, go to: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WFF3rHfOobKe3bBZ8o9_WDJ9FQbT6Wah/edit

A 2018 TIme Magazine Article that explores the evidence for early European Exploration throughout North America.

Website Description:
Magna Carta, Montesquieu, the Mayflower, and more! Follow this WebQuest through history to the events, people, and documents that inspired the writers of the Constitution.
This WebQuest serves as an introduction or review. Students will learn how documents from the Middle Ages and thinkers from the Enlightenment had an impact on the system of government that was formed in the Constitution, and how that has an impact on them today.

Student Learning Objectives:
Students will be able to...
*Identify documents and ideas that shaped the U.S. Constitution
*Compare American and British governing documents
*Explain key constitutional principles and their impacts

Website Description:
When the Founders wrote the Constitution, they didn’t pull their ideas out of thin air. They created a government based on a set of fundamental principles carefully designed to guarantee liberty. This lesson lets students look at the Constitution from the perspective of its foundational principles. Students make direct connections between these principles, the Founders’ intentions, and the Constitution itself, and they learn why the constitutional principles are critical to a free society.

Student Learning Objectives:
Students will be able to:
*Analyze the basic principles of the U.S. Constitution
*Identify relationships among popular sovereignty, consent of the governed, limited government, rule of law, federalism, separation of powers, and checks and balances
*Describe how these principles are incorporated into the Constitution
*Explain the concerns that led the Founders to value these principles

Why are the founding principles essential for a free society? This civics and government lesson plan was developed to facilitate instruction and discussion concerning the United States’ founding principles versus totalitarian systems of government. Students will contrast a totalitarian system of government with the founding principles of the United States as established in the Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.

Students will research how the development of the atomic bomb affected people in World War II, participate in a debate about the bomb's use, and investigate how it has affected people's lives since 1945.

This collection uses primary sources to explore the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. 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.

Website Description:
Take a close look at the structure of Athenian democracy and how it influenced the U.S. government. In this lesson, students explore the democratic ideals and practices of the ancient Greeks and search for evidence of them in the U.S. Constitution.

Student Learning Objectives:
* Identify political institutions and principles in ancient Athenian democracy
* Explain the organization of Athenian democracy and the importance of citizenship
* Analyze the purpose, strengths, and shortcomings in the rules and structure of Athenian democracy
* Discover aspects of Athenian democracy found in the U.S. Constitution

This course covers the role of physics and physicists during the 20th century, focusing on Einstein, Oppenheimer, and Feynman. Beyond just covering the scientific developments, institutional, cultural, and political contexts will also be examined.

In this lesson, students will explore the travels and discoveries of the Vikings. After viewing a short video about the Eric the Red and Leif Ericson, students will analyze a painting that depicts a Viking ship at sea and then read an Icelandic saga written about the early Norse people. The lesson will conclude with students researching the impact the Vikings had on the region of their choice and completing a report or presentation.

This collection uses primary sources to explore early exploration of the Americas. 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.

"This lesson plan focuses on the genocide in Rwanda that occurred in 1994 when the Hutu government targeted the Tutsi population and Hutu moderates who were against the government. Students will complete a document-based question activity in small groups. Collaboratively, they will read two primary source documents while answering corresponding questions. Following this activity, the teacher will assess their learning with a check for understanding. Once completed with the assessment, the students will continue with the document-based question activity by analyzing the two remaining primary source documents which also correspond with several questions. After students have finished the analysis activity, they will participate in a synthesis discussion. This will give students an opportunity to explain misunderstandings and share thoughts pertaining to the topic of the lesson. Further, the students will be able to explain their reasoning to invoke discussion and all responses must be supported by content, evidence from the primary source documents, and prior knowledge from the Origins article. After the class discussion, the students will work individually to write a thesis statement based on the material learned from the sources. The Exit Ticket for this lesson allows students to submit their Graphic Organizers to the teacher."

This course covers French politics, culture, and society from Louis XIV to Napoleon Bonaparte. Attention is given to the growth of the central state, the beginnings of a modern consumer society, the Enlightenment, the French Revolution, including its origins, and the rise and fall of Napoleon.