Through the play Beautiful Agitators and accompanying curriculum, students will eplore the life of Vera Mae Pigee and the importance of coalition building to achieve civil rights.

Through the play Beautiful Agitators and accompanying curriculum, students will eplore the life of Vera Mae Pigee and reflect on the struggle and sacrifice that led to the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

StoryWorks Theater’s Teaching the Constitution Through Theater develops inclusive and transformative educational theater experiences that provides students with the opportunity to examine our history and to foster a deeper understanding of the U.S. Constitution. Through content consistent with school curriculum standards, the program engages students in experiential learning and inspires them to ask complex questions about the historical underpinnings behind contemporary issues. The process creates pathways to civic engagement, creates lasting memories and instills a tangible sense of social belonging. Now’s The Time opens at the dawn of Reconstruction, the Civil War has just ended but the nation is plunged again into crisis with the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. Andrew Johnson ascends to the Presidency determined to restore white supremacy in the South. Congressional radicals led by Thaddeus Stevens are fighting for a different vision. They intend to create a new society of full racial equality, where Black Americans will have real economic and political power, including ownership of land confiscated from the rebels, education, suffrage and election to public office. This titanic political battle between President and Congress culminates in the first impeachment and trial of a U.S. president, and to more than 150 years of continuing violence and discrimination against Black Americans.View the complete play Now’s The Time on the StoryWorks Theater site. Implementation1. Now’s The Time Performance Classroom watches a prerecorded, staged reading of the play Now’s The Time, written by Jean P. Bordewich and Produced by StoryWorks Theater.2. Lesson Plan Activities Following the six lesson plan structure, students will read aloud or act out scenes from the play. This participatory interaction with the text and the historical events promotes a high level of engagement from the students and encourages experiential learning. These activities directly correspond to scenes in the play and to specific content area standards. Throughout the curriculum, teachers will lead guided discussions and help to explain the historical context and theme of each scene. Students/actors will have the ability to share their experiences having portrayed these historical figures. Students/historians will have the unique opportunity to work with primary source materials to further their understanding of the complexities of the era and to gain insight into the critical legislative debates of the time.

Through the play Now's The Time and the accompanying curriculum, students will explore the Reconstruction Era through the life of Thaddeus Stevens and his colleagues as they sought to push for radical change in the making of a "new" America.  

In this lesson students will identify the three major sections of the United States Constitution and explain the purpose of each of those three sections.

Students will use both primary and secondary sources (links in lesson) to research one or a group of the 13 original colonies and create a report or presentation. They will also identify the colonies on a map quiz. Being able to identify geographical locations and use map skills is always beneficial, for both school and beyond. This lesson will also provide students with the ability to compare and contrast different colonies and explain their importance to the development of a nation based on geographical connetions to industry/agriculture and their origination and it's impact on history. (For example, the colonies that began with a king's charter were more likely to have citizens who remained loyal to Britian during the War for Independence.) 

Students will use both primary and secondary sources (links in lesson) to research one or a group of the 13 original colonies and create a report or presentation. They will also identify the colonies on a map quiz. Being able to identify geographical locations and use map skills is always beneficial, for both school and beyond. This lesson will also provide students with the ability to compare and contrast different colonies and explain their importance to the development of a nation based on geographical connetions to industry/agriculture and their origination and it's impact on history. (For example, the colonies that began with a king's charter were more likely to have citizens who remained loyal to Britian during the War for Independence.) 

Students gain a sense of the living history that surrounds the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Through studying primary source materials from American Memory and other online resources, students of all backgrounds may better grasp how historical events and human forces have shaped relationships between black and white, and rich and poor cultures of our country. This unit guides students on a journey through the Depression Era in the 1930s. Activities familiarize the students with Southern experiences through the study of the novel and African American experiences through the examination of primary sources.

The Tuskegee Airmen played a pivotal role in World War II while battling prejudice and segregation to African Americans.  This lesson will allow students to research and examine various primary source documents to learn what contributions the Tuskegee Airmen made to American society.  Students will listen and read about the Tuskegee Airmen through research and videos while providing evidence to various guided questions.  The students will then create journal entries as to what it might have been like to be a member of this famous group on their first day of training and on their first flight mission. 

All of these children are part of U.S. child labor history, where many children were exploited by companies, working long 10-12, sometimes 16 hours shifts for as little as pennies a day. These kids were exploited until unions and federal and state labor laws protected kids. From 1870 – 1890, child labor increased three fold. 1870 was the 1st U.S. census that reported child labor statistics, and 750,000 children worked. Child labor peaked in 1900 when 18.2% of all U.S. kids under the age of 16 WORKED, often at very dangerous jobs.

 U.S. History is designed to meet the scope and sequence requirements of most introductory courses. The text provides a balanced approach to U.S. history, considering the people, events, and ideas that have shaped the United States from both the top down (politics, economics, diplomacy) and bottom up (eyewitness accounts, lived experience). U.S. History covers key forces that form the American experience, with particular attention to issues of race, class, and gender.Senior Contributing AuthorsP. Scott Corbett, Ventura CollegeVolker Janssen, California State University, FullertonJohn M. Lund, Keene State CollegeTodd Pfannestiel, Clarion UniversityPaul Vickery, Oral Roberts UniversitySylvie Waskiewicz

U.S. History is designed for a two-semester American history sequence. It is traditional in coverage, following a roughly chronological outline, and using a balanced approach that includes political, economic, social, and cultural developments. At the same time, the book includes a number of innovative and interactive features designed to enhance student learning. Instructors can also customize the book, adapting it to the approach that works best in their classroom.

Allows students to move through the the different articles of the US Constitution as ratified in 1788 and provides interactive dialogue cards that allows them to test their knowledge and understanding of the text.

Students will complete research on the subject of United States Wars using the offline Wikipedia available on their classroom computers. They will create a short presentation in Open Office Impress and share with the class.

How did the Monroe Doctrine become the justification for American interventions in Latin America? Who is the legitimate president of Venezuela: Maduro or Guaido?

Created by NHPRC Teacher Participant/Creator Deirdre H. Tuite for US History; Adaptable to other grades. Throughout this year we study how the United States came to fruition. We evaluate the reasons behind the establishment of the United States and the key figures in our history. However, it is important to remember that students too are part of America’s history. The student's history is our nation’s history. As we progress through the year, these assignments have students documenting their own history, through various projects: an interview, a community snapshot, and family artifact, ending with a personal essay.

Students learn about the first shots of the American Revolution and the battles that occurred before the Declaration of Independence.