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In this video from PBSLearningMedia, John Green teaches students about the Progressive Era in the United States. In the late 19th and early 20th century in America, there was a sense that things could be improved upon. A sense that reforms should be enacted. A sense that progress should be made. As a result, we got the Progressive Era, which has very little to do with automobile insurance, but a little to do with automobiles. All this overlapped with the Gilded Age and is a little confusing, but people were trying to solve some of the social problems that came with the benefits of industrial capitalism. While progress was being made and people were becoming freer, these gains were not equally distributed. Jim Crow laws were put in place in the south, and immigrant rights were restricted as well. So once again on Crash Course, things aren't so simple.

Join host John Green to learn about the reasons World War I started and why the situation is so complicated. We'll try to get to the bottom of the confusion. However, it's very hard to assign blame to any one of the nations involved. Did the fault lie with Austria-Hungary? Germany? Russia? Julius Caesar? Join us for an interesting discussion in this episode of Crash Course.

**Sensitive: This resource contains material that may be sensitive for some students. Teachers should exercise discretion in evaluating whether this resource is suitable for their class.

In this reading passage, students learn about John F. Kennedy's reasons behind the "Space Race".  "We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too." (from John F. Kennedy's Rice Stadium Moon Speech - September 12, 1962).

In this unit, students explore a variety of resources—texts, images, sounds, photos, and other artifacts—to learn more about the Holocaust. Beginning with journal writings and a picture book to introduce the central issues, the unit focuses on student-centered inquiry. Students explore a range of print and non-print resources through extensive online inquiry activities. Progressing from individual work to a group learning project, the unit culminates in publishing the group's findings in topic-based newspapers. 

The lesson includes complete lists of picture books, read-aloud books, reference texts, and online sites and collections that allow teachers to customize the activities to fit the available resources and students' specific research interests.

In this video from PBSLearningMedia, John Green teaches students about what is often called the Reagan Era. John will teach you about Reagan's election victory over the hapless Jimmy Carter, tax cuts, Reagan's Economic Bill of Rights, union-busting, and the Iran-Contra scandal among other things. Learn about Reagan's domestic and foreign policy initiatives, and even a little about Bonzo the Chimp.

World War I drastically altered the global map and changed the course of history. Help students explore and analyze the war with this PBS NewsHour video and educational materials.

In this lesson, students will examine sources from a period known as Prohibition when the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages was outlawed nationwide to answer the question: What were arguments for prohibition? Students will read sections of the 18th Amendment, then analyze four other primary documents about Prohibition to answer the essential question. Students will then write a structured paragraph that answers the Central Historical Question.

The website includes lesson plans, PowerPoint presentations, primary source documents, and student graphic organizers. Teachers will need to create a free account to access the materials. 

This interactive game from iCivics is a challenging game designed to sharpen students' news literacy skills. Students join a fictional social media site focused on news and information, learn elements of high-quality journalism and markers of deceptive posts, and spot dubious posts that sneak in through hidden ads, viral deception, and false reporting. This game can be played during a lesson on false reporting for reinforcement or after as an assessment. It can be played as a whole group or individually.

You will need to create a free account in order to access some of the content on this site.

In this video from PBSLearningMedia, students learn the constitution’s Second Amendment says that individuals do have the right to keep and bear arms, for the purpose of personal defense in the home. "A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."

The Second Amendment was part of the Bill of Rights that was added to the Constitution on December 15, 1791.

John Green relates a condensed history of India, post-Indus Valley Civilization. John explores Hinduism and the origins of Buddhism. He also gets into the reign of Ashoka, the Buddhist emperor who, in spite of Buddhism's structural disapproval of violence, managed to win a bunch of battles.

This is a video from Khan Academy on the Fourth Amendment which protects citizens from unreasonable searches and seizures.  This video can be used to introduce a lesson on the Bill of Rights.  The video is 14 minutes and 12 seconds in length.

In this video from PBSLearningMedia, students learn that the earliest forms of transportation in Alabama involved trails followed by animals and Native Americans. These trails lead to water, and Alabama rivers served as a gathering place for many early Indian settlements. It is along the paths of Native American trails that the first highway systems were developed.

John Green teaches you how Russia evolved from a loose amalgamation of medieval principalities known as the Kievan Rus into the thriving democracy we know today. As you can imagine, there were a few bumps along the road. It turns out, our old friends the Mongols had quite a lot to do with unifying Russia. In yet another example of how surprisingly organized nomadic raiders can be, the Mongols brought the Kievan Rus together under a single leadership and concentrated power in Moscow. This set the stage for the various Ivans (the Great and the Terrible) to throw off the yoke and form a pan-Russian nation ruled by an autocratic leader. More than 500 years later, we still have autocratic leadership in Russia. All this, plus a rundown of some of our favorite atrocities of Ivan the Terrible, and a visit from Putin!

This is a collection of photographs depicting images from the early Mormon culture and their influence on the westward expansion. Be sure to click "Read More" at the top of the collection to view an activity that can be used with this collection.

This video is from History.com and explains what happened in the 1803 United States court case between William Marbury and James Madison.  This video can be played before or during a lesson taught on key cases that helped shape the United States Supreme Court.  The video is 3 minutes and 23 seconds in length.

This is a lesson plan that uses the book Of Mice and Men when teaching about the Great Depression. The collection includes photos and articles detailing the causes and effects of the Great Depression.

This video from Khan Academy gives an overview of the early twentieth century which saw a huge number of Progressive reform movements.  The Progressive reform movements aimed to improve labor, sanitation, conservation, voting rights, and morality. This video compares the goals and effects of the Progressive reform movement.  This video can be played to introduce the Progressive Movement.  The video is 7 minutes and 33 seconds in length.

In this video from PBSLearningMedia, students learn about the celebration of Rosh Hashanah in this quick video. Help students understand the traditions and history behind The Jewish New Year.

What is the difference between sensing and perceiving? How does vision actually work? What does this have to do with a Corgi? In this episode of Crash Course Psychology, Hank takes us on a journey through the brain to better explain these and other concepts. Plus, you know, CORGI!

This lesson includes a video of Eugenia Phillips, a spy for the South, and object cards with different women's roles along with women's outfits from the Civil War era. Students research various women's roles from the Civil War era, research their clothing, and gather evidence regarding its importance to their role.

This article from Khan Academy provides an overview of Shays's Rebellion which was an armed rebellion in the newly-formed United States of America that led to the creation of a stronger central government. Students can read the article and answer the questions at the end as an assessment.  The article can be assigned through Google Classroom.

In this video from KnowItAll.org, students learn the story of the Tuskegee Airman is, even more, a story about America than about a group of determined young African American men and women in the late 30’s and early 40’s. In this edition of CONNECTIONS, you will discover more about this remarkable event.

This is an article on the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The article summarizes the events in easy-to-understand language to help students understand the meaning of the word boycott. The site includes photographs and links to additional resources and related materials. 

Cross Selma’s Edmund Pettus Bridge on Bloody Sunday, March 7, 1965, with John Lewis and his fellow voting rights activists in this episode of Yellowhammer History Hunt. Learn about the Selma to Montgomery March, Courageous Eight, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the fight for voting rights.

This learning activity is an exploration into government, beginning with the historical roots of democracy in the United States and focuses on New York State Government. The learning activity features a particular case study of legislation pioneered by a group of elementary students in New York State with the end result of yogurt becoming the official state snack of New York. The activity has students analyze the idea that we all have a voice in government. Click on the Download PDF or DOC button to access additional resources including videos, illustrations, articles, and charts.

This classroom resource is a book from Epic! which tells the story about the coolest pop star ever coming to town and a little girl (Sally) who is dying to go to the concert. How can she save enough money to buy a ticket?  The story guides students through a savings plan for Sally's chance to attend the concert. This book can be used to teach students to understand the primary role of money in everyday life and explain the purpose of saving on a kid-friendly level.

Note: You will need to create a free account to access this resource.

What is plague? How many people died from the Black Death and the other plague pandemics? Learn about the bacterium behind the plague disease, how factors like trade and urbanization caused it to spread to every continent except Antarctica, and how three devastating pandemics helped shape modern medicine

The Prouds learn all about Kwanzaa when they invite over a homeless family for the holidays.

This graphic organizer will guide students through the process of analyzing a historical document such as a newspaper article, a report, a magazine article, a congressional record, a press release, a census report, an internet article, a map, an official memorandum, or an announcement. This worksheet includes guiding questions that will support students as they closely read and analyze a selected historical document.