These classroom activities were developed in collaboration between primary and secondary teachers, Ohio State University faculty and Ohio History Connection public historians. They were created during a professional development program called Connecting to the Past which was funded by the U.S. Department of Education Teaching American History grant. 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.
Lesson Plans:
Grade 2
- John Rankin and the Underground Railroad - Grade 2
The Constitution: A Second Grade Lesson - Grade 2
The Lewis and Clark Expedition:
- Prairie Animals - Grade 2
Grade 4
- African American Slavery - Grade 4
- Slavery as Scene by Austin Steward - Grade 4
- The Molasses Act and the Coming of the American Revolution - Grade 4
- The Boston Massacre - Grade 4
- American Revolution in the Ohio Country - Grade 4
- Fort Laurens, Ohio, and the American Revolution - Grade 4
- Articles of the Confederation Vs. The U.S. Constitution - Grade 4
- Comparison of King George III and George Washington - Grade 4
- Impact of European Settlers on Ohio - Grade 4
- Early Ohio Settlement - Grade 4
- Homestead Act of 1862 - Grade 4
Grade 5
- The Daily Life of Slaves - Grade 5
- Spies and Espionage - Grade 5
- Daily Life of Revolutionary War Soldiers: An Artifact Analysis - Grade 5
- Ohio during the Pre-Revolutionary Era - Grade 5
- Revolutionary Songs - Grade 5
Cahokia & Mississippian Native Culture - Grade 5
Diarists on the Ohio Frontier - Grade 5
The Progression of Transportation in Ohio and the West - Grade 5
The Underground Railroad and the Fugitive Slave Act - Grade 5
- Hunting of Bison - Grade 5
Grade 6
- Lewis and Clark Etching - Grade 6
Grade 7
- "My Furthest Black Person" by Alex Haley - Grade 7
- Jefferson Peace Medals - Grade 7
Grade 8
- The Passage - Grade 8
- The Boston Massacre: Analyzing the Evidence - Grade 8
- The Boston Massacre: Paul Revere's Engraving - Grade 8
- Common Sense. Guided reading of Thomas Paine's revolutionary pamphlet - Grade 8
- The Declaration of Independence - Grade 8
- Revolutionary War Maps - Grade 8
- Tarring and Feathering: Political Activism - Grade 8
- American Revolution - Image Analysis - Grade 8
- Common Sense and the Declaration of Independence - Grade 8
- George Washington - Grade 8
- The Battle of Trenton - Grade 8
Canal Versus National Road - Grade 8
Cold Case: The Lost Colony - Grade 8
John Winthrop and the Puritans - Grade 8
Native American Cultures - Grade 8
Shay's Rebellion - Grade 8
- Petition to Ohio Governor Huntington from Chief Tarhe - Grade 8
- Don't Leave the Farm Boys - Grade 8
- Getting There: Settling the West - Grade 8
Multiple Grade Levels:
The Ohio and Erie Canal - Grades 4-6
Immigration to America in the 1800s - Grades 4-8
From Seed to Shirt and Beyond: The Linen Industry from Colonial Times to the Industrial Revolution - Grades 5-8
Canals: Getting Goods to Market - Grades 6-8
Child Labor: Through their Eyes - Grades 7-8
Irish Immigration to the United States - Grades 7-8
- Slave Ships - Grade 7/8
Christopher Columbus: Friend or Foe? - Grade undesignated
Debating the Constitution - Grade undesignated
Students and the Supreme Court - Grade undesignated
Worksheets that can be used to analyze primary sources:
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