Zoom In U.S. History Lessons

Browse by NAEP Historical Period:


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

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  • BOSTON 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

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  • CONSTITUTION

    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

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  • Westward 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

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  • CIVIL 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

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  • EMANCIPATION

    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

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  • U.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

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  • Immigration

    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

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  • GREAT 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

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  • WORLD 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

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  • VIETNAM 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

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  • CHICANO 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

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  • AIDS 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

    View Teacher Guide