Zoom In U.S. History Lessons
Browse by NAEP Historical Period:
- The Revolution and the new nation (1763 to 1815)
- Expansion and reform (1801 to 1861)
- Crisis of the Union: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850 to 1877)
- The development of modern America (1865 to 1920)
- Modern America and the World Wars (1914 to 1945)
- Contemporary America (1945 to present)
The Revolution and the new nation (1763 to 1815)
STAMP ACT
Protesting the Stamp Act: Mobs or Crowds?
Lesson Question: Why was crowd action a common form of protest in colonial America? What were the differences between the British and colonial views of Stamp Act protests?
Skill Focus: Identify main ideas and details
Key Documents: Newspaper Article, Letter, Diary Entry (3 total)
Writing Assignment: A three-paragraph explanatory essay
Days to Complete: 4–5 sessions
Common Core Standards: RH.6-8.2 / WHST.6-8.2
View Teacher GuideBOSTON MASSACRE
"The Bloody Massacre” and Patriot Propaganda
Lesson Question: In what way was Paul Revere's engraving a piece of propaganda for the Patriot cause?
Skill Focus: Identify author's point of view and purpose
Key Documents: Colorized Engraving, Historical Essay (2 total)
Writing Assignment: A three-paragraph explanatory essay
Days to Complete: 4–5 sessions
Common Core Standards: RH.6-8.6 / RH.6-8.9 / WHST.6-8.2
View Teacher GuideCONSTITUTION
Ratifying the U.S. Constitution
Lesson Question: Should we ratify the Constitution?
Skill Focus: Write arguments
Key Documents: Historical Essay , Speech, Speech, Historical Essay, Speech, Newspaper Article, Historical Essay, Letter, Pamphlet (9 total)
Writing Assignment: A five-paragraph argumentative essay
Days to Complete: 8–14 sessions
Common Core Standards: RH.6-8.1 / RH.6-8.9 / WHST.6-8.1
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Expansion and reform (1801 to 1861)
EARLY INDUSTRIALIZATION
The Lowell Mill Girls and America's First Factories
Lesson Question: Did the opportunities that America's first factories provided for young women outweigh the hardships they experienced there?
Skill Focus: Write arguments
Key Documents: Historical Essay , Letters, Historical Essay , Legal Testimony (4 total)
Writing Assignment: A five-paragraph argumentative essay
Days to Complete: 5–6 sessions
Common Core Standards: RH.6-8.1 / RH.6-8.2 / WHST.6-8.1
View Teacher GuideWestward Expansion
A Conflict Between Nations: The U.S. Indian Removal Act and the Cherokee Nation
Lesson Question: How did the Cherokee Nation argue against U.S. Indian removal policies?
Skill Focus: Identify author's point of view and purpose
Key Documents: Newspaper Article , Letter (2 total)
Writing Assignment: A three-paragraph explanatory essay
Days to Complete: 4–5 Sessions
Common Core Standards: RH.6-8.6 / WHST.6-8.2
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Crisis of the Union: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850 to 1877)
SLAVERY
Running Against the Odds
Lesson Question: Why didn’t more slaves escape North? How did some manage to escape despite the odds?
Skill Focus: Identify main ideas and details, Identify claims and evidence
Key Documents: Laws, Oral History, Autobiography (3 total)
Writing Assignment: A four-paragraph explanatory essay
Days to Complete: 4–5 sessions
Common Core Standards: RH.6-8.1 / RH.6-8.2 / WHST.6-8.2
View Teacher GuideCIVIL WAR
African-American Military Service During the Civil War
Lesson Question: How did the North and South view African Americans’ military service in the Civil War?
Skill Focus: Identify author's point of view and purpose
Key Documents: Poster, Poster (2 total)
Writing Assignment: A four-paragraph explanatory essay
Days to Complete: 4-5 sessions
Common Core Standards: RH.6-8.6 / RH.6-8.2 / WHST.6-8.2
View Teacher GuideEMANCIPATION
Freeing the Slaves: Why did Abraham Lincoln Issue the Emancipation Proclamation?
Lesson Question: Did Abraham Lincoln decide to issue the Emancipation Proclamation mostly for military reasons or mostly because of his moral principles?
Skill Focus: Write arguments
Key Documents: Government Document, Letter, Autobiography , Speech (4 total)
Writing Assignment: A four-paragraph argumentative essay
Days to Complete: 5–7 sessions
Common Core Standards: RH.6-8.1 / RH.6-8.2 / WHST.6-8.1
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The development of modern America (1865 to 1920)
INDUSTRIALIZATION
The Costs and Benefits of Change: Railroads and the American West
Lesson Question: How were railroads both productive and destructive as they changed the American West?
Skill Focus: Identify main ideas and details
Key Documents: Historical Essay, Chart, Chart , Historical Essay, Map (5 total)
Writing Assignment: 4-paragraph explanatory essay
Days to Complete: 5-8 sessions
Common Core Standards: RH 6-8.1 / RH 6-8.7 / RH 6-8.9 / WH 6-8.2
View Teacher GuideU.S. AS A WORLD POWER
Should the United States Have Annexed the Philippines?
Lesson Question: Should the United States have annexed the Philippines?
Skill Focus: Write arguments
Key Documents: Newspaper Cartoon, Speech, Letter , Pamphlet (4 total)
Writing Assignment: A four-paragraph argumentative essay
Days to Complete: 5–7 sessions
Common Core Standards: RH.6-8.1 / RH.6-8.6 / WHST.6-8.1
View Teacher GuideImmigration
Clashing Views on Early 20th Century Immigration
Lesson Question: What hopes and fears did Americans have about the arrival of new immigrants in the 1900s?
Skill Focus: Identify claims and evidence
Key Documents: Political Cartoon (1 total)
Writing Assignment: A three-paragraph explanatory essay
Days to Complete: 2–4 sessions
Common Core Standards: RH.6-8.5 / RH.6-8.7 / WHST.6-8.2
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Modern America and the World Wars (1914 to 1945)
PROHIBITION
Bullet Proof: Organized Crime and Prohibition
Lesson Question: Why did the government have a hard time enforcing Prohibition?
Skill Focus: Identify main ideas and details
Key Documents: Political Cartoon (1 total)
Writing Assignment: A three-paragraph explanatory essay
Days to Complete: 3–4 sessions
Common Core Standards: RH.6-8.2 / WHST.6-8.2
View Teacher GuideGREAT DEPRESSION
Farmers Take Action and Respond to the Great Depression
Lesson Question: How did farmers join together and use direct action to try to improve their conditions during the Great Depression?
Skill Focus: Identify main ideas and details, Identify claims and evidence
Key Documents: Historical Essay , Oral History (2 total)
Writing Assignment: A four-paragraph explanatory essay
Days to Complete: 4–6 sessions
Common Core Standards: RH.6-8.2 / WHST.6-8.2
View Teacher GuideWORLD WAR II
United We Win: Labor on the World War II Homefront
Lesson Question: Why did the U.S. government create this poster in 1943?
Skill Focus: Identify author's point of view and purpose
Key Documents: Essay, Poster (2 total)
Writing Assignment: A three-paragraph explanatory essay
Days to Complete: 4–5 sessions
Common Core Standards: RH.6-8.6 / WHST.6-8.2
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Contemporary America (1945 to present)
CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT
“I Didn’t Know Anything About Voting”: Civil Rights in Mississippi
Lesson Question: Why were so few African Americans registered to vote in Mississippi during the 1950s and early 1960s?
Skill Focus: Identify main ideas and details, Compare sources
Key Documents: Oral History, Government report , Pamphlet (Adapted) , Article (Adapted) (4 total)
Writing Assignment: 5-paragraph explanatory essay
Days to Complete: 6-8 sessions
Common Core Standards: RH 6-8.2 / WH 6-8.2
View Teacher GuideVIETNAM WAR
Popular Music Goes to War over Vietnam
Lesson Question: How was America divided over the Vietnam War?
Skill Focus: Identify author's point of view and purpose
Key Documents: Song, Song (2 total)
Writing Assignment: A three-paragraph explanatory essay
Days to Complete: 3–4 sessions
Common Core Standards: RH.6-8.6 / RH.6-8.2 / WHST.6-8.2
View Teacher GuideCHICANO RIGHTS MOVEMENT
Building a Social Movement: César Chávez and the United Farm Workers
Lesson Question: How did the tactics of César Chávez and the United Farm Workers union involve the public in the fight for fair working conditions for farmworkers?
Skill Focus: Identify main ideas and details
Key Documents: Newspaper Article, Flyer, Essay (3 total)
Writing Assignment: A five-paragraph explanatory essay
Days to Complete: 5-7 sessions
Common Core Standards: RH.6-8.2 / WHST.6-8.2
View Teacher GuideAIDS CRISIS
Silence = Death: Confronting the AIDS Epidemic
Lesson Question: What was the message of the "Silence = Death" poster? How was it part of the larger AIDS activist movement?
Skill Focus: Identify author's point of view and purpose
Key Documents: Image (Poster), Article (secondary source) (2 total)
Writing Assignment: A three-paragraph explanatory essay
Days to Complete: 4–6 sessions
Common Core Standards: RH.6-8.2 / RH 6-8.6 / WHST 6-8.2
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