SS.8.A.1.6

Virtually all students, at one point or another in their schooling, are exposed to Longfellow's ballad, "Paul Revere's Ride". How accurate is it? Is it responsible for Revere's ride achieving such iconic status? In this lesson from EDSITEment!, a project of the National Endowment for the Humanities, students will think about the answers to these and other questions as they read primary and secondhand accounts of events during the American Revolution.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this web resource from EDSITEment!, a project of the National Endowment for the Humanities, students will explore the characteristics of the Puritan community of Salem, Massachusetts, learn about the Salem Witchcraft Trials, and try to understand how and why this event occurred.

Type: Lesson Plan

Through this web resource, students will use a graphic organizer to analyze and interpret engravings representing the Battle of Lexington and Concord, considering context and bias. They will then decide how best to represent this battle, and create a representation of their own from either the American or British perspective. The resource features background information, an illustrated map of Lexington, engravings for analysis, and a graphic organizer for students as they work to develop their own interpretation of two key battles in the American Revolution.

Type: Teaching Idea

This teaching idea on the Battle of Gettysburg is part of Gilder Lehrman's series of standards–based teaching resources. These resources were written to enable students to understand, summarize, and analyze original texts of historical significance. Students will demonstrate this knowledge by writing summaries of excerpts from several key primary source documents and articulate their understanding of the various views of the Battle of Gettysburg. Through this step-by-step process, students will acquire the skills to analyze any primary or secondary source material.

Type: Teaching Idea

Ivonne Blank immigrated to the United States in 1961 as part of Operation Pedro Pan, the largest exodus on unaccompanied minors in the Western Hemisphere. Ms. Blank talks about how difficult it was waiting for her parents and living in an orphanage in Denver, CO. Her parents later left the island by boat, were rescued by the Coast Guard, and resettled in the United States. After the family was reunited, they were able to rebuild their lives with support from their community. Ms. Blank went on to become a lifelong educator and U.S. citizen.

Type: Video/Audio/Animation

View a 10-part video on the Battle of Yorktown, the culminating battle of the Revolutionary War. With French aid, George Washington led American troops to a victory that ensured American independence.

In addition to the video, you will find primary source documents and a graphic organizer to help you analyze the Battle of Yorktown in greater detail.

Type: Video/Audio/Animation