Sojourner Truth’s “Ain’t I a Woman” speech

Sojourner Truth was an amazing woman who lived an extraordinary life.

Her famous speech given in Ohio in 1851 is a simple yet eloquent argument on the equality of the sexes.

There is a bit of controversy, however, as two versions have been recorded, one during the convention, a second a few years later.

The second version is the widely known speech. It is notable though that the second version is in a southern-style dialect which is not how the native New Yorker who only spoke Dutch for her early years talked.

We have included both and encourage adding questions to the assignment we have included for your classroom use.

Cold War Comic Books

Every teacher strives to find new ways to pique and keep students’ interest throughout the school year.

We believe that comic books can be one of many resources in this quest.

In this case we are highlighting a few Esquire Comics from the Cold War era.

The imagery can be quite graphic at times, so prescreening is always essential before passing something out.

We have included an assignment that is classroom ready to be used during a Cold War unit.

For more Cold War resources check out our:

US History PowerPoints

• US Foreign Policy in the Cold War Era: Truman to Kennedy
• US Foreign Policy in the Cold War Era: Johnson to the Fall of the Berlin Wall
• The 1950s
• 1960s
• Vietnam
• The 1970s
• Late History Overview: 1970s, 1980s, 1990s
• The 1980s

World History PowerPoints

• The Modern Era: 1945-1970
• The Modern Era 2: 1971-2009

Classroom History Games

• Critical Decisions of Harry Truman
• Critical Decisions of John F. Kennedy
• Causes of the Cold War, Part 1: 1946-1960
• Causes of the Cold War, Part 2: 1961-1980
• Causes of the Cold War, Part 3: 1981-2008

Historic Film Collection

Historic Film Collection, Part 4

New year, new goals

We believe that an important part of Social Studies is teaching children real life skills, such as map reading and critical thinking skills, for example.

Today’s post emphasizes the need for setting and achieving realistic goals. This can be difficult for many people who often are too vague or too broad, leaving them overwhelmed and failing.

We designed this lesson many years ago for our 9th graders and have had much success over the years with all grade levels.

Our Five Goals assignment is ready for your classroom use today, let us know what you think!

The Great Society by LBJ

President Johnson and others in the 1960s hoped to end poverty and racial injustice through a series of programs known as “The Great Society”.

In one of LBJ’s first speeches about the program at the University of Michigan on May 22, 1964 he outlines some of the major goals.

We have included an excerpted copy of the speech along with questions and answers. It is an accessible speech for students of all reading levels, which makes it a great primary source document lesson.

For more resources on teaching this era check out our:

US History PowerPoints

• US Foreign Policy in the Cold War Era: Truman to Kennedy
• US Foreign Policy in the Cold War Era: Johnson to the Fall of the Berlin Wall
• The 1950s
• The Civil Rights Movement
• 1960s
• Vietnam

Classroom History Games

• Critical Decisions of Harry Truman
• Critical Decisions of John F. Kennedy
• Causes of the Cold War, Part 1: 1946-1960
• Causes of the Cold War, Part 2: 1961-1980
• Causes of the Cold War, Part 3: 1981-2008

Interview a Veteran

One of our favorite assignments is to interview people about their life experiences, especially if they lived through a significant event.

The best way to find a local veteran is to contact the VFW.

Over the years we have created our own questions, however the Library of Congress Veteran’s History Project has a wonderful resource that is available for your classroom use.  Click here to access the page with questions.

We appreciate all of the sacrifices that veterans have made for our nation and the world.

Appeasement cartoon by Dr. Seuss

Dr. Seuss was an American treasure for all of his amazing contributions throughout his prolific life.

His political cartoons during WWII provide a wonderful opportunity for students to analyze obvious images in order to decipher the messages.

We have included a copy of this cartoon along with questions and answers.

For more WWII resources check out our:

1940s Historic Film Collection

US History PowerPoints:

• Causes of World War II
• World War II

World History PowerPoints:

• Europe Between the Wars
• World War II

Classroom History Classroom Games

• Causes of World War II: Part 1
• Causes of World War II: Part 2
• Causes of World War II: Part 3

Peace Corps

President Kennedy created the Peace Corps with Executive Order 10924 in March 1961.

We have included a copy of the Order along with questions and answers.

For more on this era check out:

US History PowerPoints - 

1960s

US Foreign Policy in the Cold War Era: Truman to Kennedy

Classroom History games -

• Critical Decisions of John F. Kennedy
• Causes of the Cold War, Part 1: 1946-1960
• Causes of the Cold War, Part 2: 1961-1980
• Causes of the Cold War, Part 3: 1981-2008

Cuban Missile Crisis political cartoon

This cartoon, drawn by Edmund Valtman and published in The Hartford Times, October 30, 1962, is a fantastic cartoon for classroom use.

The symbols used are easily recognizable and that makes students feel much more confident going into a cartoon interpretative assignment.

We have included a copy of the cartoon as well as questions and answers ready to use in your classroom.

For more Cold War resources check out our PowerPoints:

US History

• US Foreign Policy in the Cold War Era: Truman to Kennedy
• US Foreign Policy in the Cold War Era: Johnson to the Fall of the Berlin Wall
• The 1950s
• 1960s
• Vietnam
• The 1970s
• Late History Overview: 1970s, 1980s, 1990s
• The 1980s
• America’s Smaller Wars: 1798-2001
  

World History

• The Modern Era: 1945-1970
• The Modern Era 2: 1971-2009

Classroom History Games:

• Critical Decisions of Harry Truman
• Critical Decisions of John F. Kennedy
• Causes of the Cold War, Part 1: 1946-1960
• Causes of the Cold War, Part 2: 1961-1980
• Causes of the Cold War, Part 3: 1981-2008

Lincoln’s message to the Senate, 1861

The Civil War is rich with primary source materials ranging from photographs to speeches to letters and much more. What a great opportunity for students to experience firsthand the depths of despair people felt at having a war within the nation.

President Lincoln hoped to end the conflict without bloodshed, but when it became obvious that was impossible he wanted to expedite the process as much as possible.

At the time of this speech, on July 5, 1861 several states had seceded and the attack on Fort Sumter had already occurred.

This speech is Lincoln appealing to the first session of the 37th Congress to take action in order to end the war quickly. We have included a page from the Journal of the Senate as well as questions and answers.

For more resources on teaching this era check out our PowerPoints:

• Causes of the Civil War
• The Civil War
• Reconstruction: 1863-1877

Classroom history games:

• Causes of the Civil War Game
• American Immigration Game
• Critical Decisions Lincoln, part one and part two

Child Labor Political Cartoon Lesson

In honor of Labor Day weekend, we thought we’d post a lesson on child labor.

When designing a unit, it is important to determine the final product. We love to give students the choice of a political cartoon since it forces them to analyze symbols and dig deeper in order to fully represent the concepts at hand.

The cartoon we’ve included for today’s lesson is a prime example of expressing several deep concepts within one picture.

For more resources on child labor throughout US history, check out some of our PowerPoints:

• Rise of Industrial America, 1865-1900
• Response to Industrialism: Protest Movements, Unions, and the Agrarian Revolt
• America Becomes a World Power: Imperialism
• Immigration & Urbanization
• The Progressive Era