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Classroom Activities

These classroom activities were developed in collaboration between primary and secondary teachers, OSU faculty and Ohio Historical Society public historians. The lessons integrate a variety of primary sources that can be used in classrooms with various degrees of available technology.

There are a variety of activities here. Some will take an entire class period or more. Others are short exercises that can be easily integrated into existing lessons and provide teachers with the opportunity to illustrate history through the use of primary material.

All the activities promote historical inquiry and analysis and they are flexible so as to be helpful to a range of age and developmental groups. They can be used immediately by downloading or printing the material provided.

Click on the titles below to access various lesson plans.

Cahokia & Mississippian Native Culture

Native American Cultures

Christopher Columbus: Friend or Foe?

Cold Case: The Lost Colony

John Winthrop and the Puritans

From Seed to Shirt and Beyond: The Linen Industry from Colonial Times to the Industrial Revolution

The American Revolution  (Eleven lesson plans)

Shay's Rebellion

Debating the Constitution

The Constitution: A Second Grade Lesson

Students and the Supreme Court

Diarists on the Ohio Frontier

The Lews and Clark Expedition

Transportation: The Progression of Transportation in Ohio and the West

Western Expansion

American Immigration in the 1800s

Irish Immigration to the United States

The Ohio and Erie Canal

Canals: Getting Goods to Market

Transporting Goods to Market: The Old Port Washington Road

Canal Versus National Road

Latest News!

 

 
So much historical information is available on the internet that teaching with primary sources and finding answers to questions has never been easier. But how do you know what you find is accurate? Check-out some resources on the new Evaluating Internet Resources page 

 

National History Day

Interested in History Day? Check out a new resource for students from the Ohio Historical Society! The History Day Expert Blog is full of tips for topic selection, project creation, and research.

 

The National Atlas

 

The National Atlas (at nationalatlas.gov) was produced by the U.S. Department of the Interior. The site provides maps which seek to help users understand the United States and its place in the world. Map topics include agriculture, biology, boundaries, climate, environment, geology, government, history, cartography, people, transportation, and water.

The site offers several maps ready for printing which emphasize historical content. The available topics include Native American reservations, presidential elections between 1789 and 2000, territorial acquisition from 1783 through present day, and others. A selection of wall maps are presented for purchase, including the presidential election map.

Narratives of Slavery: Analyzing Primary Sources

In this 5 minute video teachinghistory.org  (you can also read a transcript), historian Richard Follett analyzes two narratives of slavery: an investigative report written by Frederick Law Olmsted in 1853 for the New York Times and Solomon Northrup's book Twelve Years A Slave. He discusses each document separately and then compares their very different perspectives on slavery in Louisiana's sugar growing parishes. Follett models several historical thinking skills, including: close reading;attention to key source information, including who wrote each account, when, and for what purpose; and exploring how to make sense of multiple perspectives and conflicting accounts. Note that the Primary Source Activity Assignment related to the The Slave Trade seminar is on organized on the theme, Point of View.
 

 

 
 

 

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logo: Origins

ORIGINS: Current Events in Historical Perspective