Lesson Plans

Early Twentieth Century

D-Day

Students will be provided with a variety of primary documents in order to develop a stronger understanding of how Americans (and Europeans) reacted to the June 1944 Invasion of Normandy during World War...

Motivating the American Public in World War Two

Students will analyze various forms of propaganda from World War Two through cartoons, posters but will focus their attention on the introduction of advertisements with the war effort. Students are to view the cartoons and posters as background information and see how the government attempted to motivate American support for the war. More importantly, students will be looking to see the impact the war had on the marketing for consumers during WWII. Students will see that propaganda was not just used to generate support for the war effort by the government but was also used to encourage Americans to use their money to purchase certain products which in turn, would reflect American...

Propaganda on the Home Front

Students will be able to discuss the pros and cons of "Pro-War" propaganda for U.S. involvement in World War I. At the end the students will create a piece of World War I...

Reactions to Change in the 1920s

Students will describe and analyze how Americans in the 1920s responded to the breathtaking changes of the previous fifty years. As modernity accelerated in the “return to normalcy” after World War I, several movements emerged in an effort to reverse what were seen as dangerous trends away from American traditions. Thus while the 1920s are commonly remembered as a decade of breaking boundaries, this lesson sequence will draw out the discord that accompanied many of the...

Spanish American War

This lesson is designed to examine the U.S. justification in going to war with Spain over Cuba with the reality of the Treaty of Pairs and the Platt...

The New Deal

Students will begin by collecting content information on the New Deal Programs. They will then receive primary documents in the form of speeches made by FDR. Students will be divided into 2 groups, receiving various documents to analyze and answer questions about. The students will then come together to compare answers. The documents that are used are the same for all students, however were cut and pasted to lead the two groups of readers to different conclusions. One set of documents lead students to believe that FDR was promoting a command economy, while the other set portrays FDR promoting a market economy. The next day the students will be given information on DBQs. Using the prior resources and some additional primary resources, the students will begin the response to a DBQ. They will have a plentiful supply of resources which cover two possible means of looking at FDR’s New Deal and its...

The Political Machine of Tammany Hall

The lesson will allow students to uncover how political machines operated during the early 1900’s. They also will discover the impact of political cartoons on...

The Spanish Flu of 1918

This lesson is designed to take an in-depth look at the 1918 influenza pandemic, also known as the Spanish Flu of 1918. In particular, the goal of this lesson is to analyze the effect of World War I on the Spanish Flu. By the end of the lesson, students will understand that World War I facilitated the spread of the Spanish Flu, ultimately turning an epidemic into a...

The U.S. Involvement in the Paris Peace Conference: The Fate of Alsace-Lorraine

For this lesson, students will be looking at a variety of information about the Paris Peace Conference of 1919. This pivotal point in history sought to right the wrongs of Europe but instead created a tinderbox awaiting a match. Students should have some background knowledge of World War I and also the Paris Peace Conference. This lesson is designed to be taught over 2-4 classes, depending on class length or schedule. It is a process which will start with evaluating documents and finish with a compare and contrast exercise. One area this lesson could be expanded to another area affected by the redrawing of lines. I could easily have picked the Middle East or Eastern Europe as a main focus because there was a great deal of information in the archives. This could be a great expansion activity or extra credit assignment for students to...

Women's Suffrage as a Case Study of Progressive Reform

In this lesson, students will focus on the movement for women's suffrage as an example of the divided character of Progressive Reform. They will compare the Women's Suffrage Movement to other Progressive Reform movements, and see how other reform movements were evident in the efforts to gain women's suffrage. Students will also identify both conservative and progressive arguments for and against women's...