Lessons from History
Grade Levels: 6 - 8
Objectives- Students will use vocabulary related to American history.
- Students will summarize the facts related to a historical event.
- Students will evaluate the importance of studying and learning from history.
Materials
- Lessons from History worksheet
- Today in History website (http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/today/archive.html)
Procedures
- Introduce key vocabulary: Bill of Rights, Great Depression, history, stock market, suffrage.
- Have students go to Today in History and complete the Lessons from History worksheet as directed.
- Invite each student to write a paragraph summarizing an event they read about at the website.
- Have students gather in groups to share their worksheet responses and paragraphs.
- Encourage them to discuss and evaluate the relevance of studying history.
Assessment
Use the rubric to assess students' understanding of the importance of studying historical events.
Extension Activities
- Have pairs of students go to Smithsonian: American History Timeline (http://www.si.edu/resource/faq/nmah/timeline.htm) to learn more about selected events in American history. Each pair can make a card that uses words and pictures to tell about an event. The class can then work together to organize the cards in sequential order.
- Choose from a large collection of cross-curricular activities for all grade levels.
Standards Correlations
Standards for the English Language Arts
Students:
- read a wide range of literature from many periods in many genres to build an understanding of the many dimensions of human experience.
- use a variety of technological and information resources to gather and synthesize information, and to create and communicate knowledge.
- participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical members of a variety of literacy communities.
National Educational Technology Standards
Students:
- are proficient in the use of technology.
- use and develop positive attitudes toward technology uses that support lifelong
learning, collaboration, personal pursuits, and productivity.
