Practical suggestions from the National Archives and Records Administrationon establishing and maintaining a school archives or historical collection. An excellent school or district-wide project.More »
Classroom activities from History in the Heartland, a project of Ohio State University and the Ohio Historical Society, offers dozens of lesson plans and primary source document activities based on Ohio Social Studies Academic Content Standards. Several are related to genealogy and immigration.More »
This free lesson plan, just one of many created by FirstLadies.org, focuses on Ida McKinley's great grandparents who emigrated from England, Scotland and Germany prior to the opening of Ellis Island. In this lesson, students will learn about the history of their family as it relates to the history of the United States and the world.More »
This suggested project by Michael John Neill uses a family group chart toexplore the census and to interpret old handwriting. The exercise leads to map reading and ends with more genealogy exercises for children.More »
The Valley of the Shadow: Two Communities in the American Civil War by historian Edward L. Ayers of the University of Virginia allows students to compare and contrast a Northern town with a Southern one before, during, and after the Civil War.More »
To understand that history is made up of many people’s stories of the past, students interview family members about the same event and compare the different versions, construct a personal history timeline and connect it to larger historical events, and synthesize eyewitness testimony from different sources to create their own “official” account. Grades K-2.More »
Students take research into their heritage a step beyond the construction of a family tree in this Edsitement lesson, traveling through cyberspace to find our what's happening in their ancestral homelands today. Grades 3-5.More »
USCIS offers lesson plans with instructions and teaching strategies for novice and seasoned ESL instructors preparing students for U.S. citizenship, including interactive games and activities.More »
This assignment is designed to teach students the concept of immigration and how to connect events in history with the movement of their ancestors, as well as develop a better understanding of the United States as a melting pot. Appropriate for grades 5-11.More »
