National History Education Clearinghouse

Using short documents, this lesson from the New Deal Network engages students in analyzing textual evidence about children’s lives in the 1930s.

This lesson asks students to critically analyze letters written by America's presidents to learn more about these men.

Using historic posters, this lesson engages students in analyzing primary sources by identifying their author, intended audience, date, and message.

Students analyze short excerpts from primary sources and secondary information that describe an encounter between the Lewis and Clark expedition and a Native American tribe. They consider how varied locations influenced the ways in which the explorers and the various Native tribes interacted.

This lesson allows teachers to introduce the textbook as one source among many, rather than the final work on historical events.

Students analyze differences between Jefferson’s original rough draft of the Declaration of Independence and the final version.

This lesson leads students to see how Lincoln’s home and life in Springfield influenced the way he thought about the important issues of the time.