Great lesson include or consider the following:
Instructional strategies with purpose
Include wait time
Students talk to each other
Students have opportunities to move
This is a list of resources I have found online from a variety of organizations. Some require an account but all are free. I have not culled through these to find the best of all of them...it's a work in progress. Lessons or activities with an * I have found to fit our needs.
Mr. President - Smithsonian History Explorer
8th Grade US History LRE Resources
LRE has some games to play but the links are not working right now. Hoping it is a glitch that will be fixed...
*Georgia - PBS
Colonial Geography and It's Impact on Settlements - Library of Congress
Colonial Religion - DPLA
Colonization: Motivations and Realities: Quakers - DPLA
*Colonial Boston - Interactive - PBS (used in extension)
*Columbus to the Colonies - iCivics (Good reading resource.)
People of Colonization - LRE
Mayflower - PBS
Pilgrims: Mayflower Compact - PBS
Understanding the Significance of the Mayflower Compact - LRE
*From Slavery to Freedom in Colonial Times - PBS (used for extension)
*Slavery in the Colonies - PBS (used for extension)
Transatlantic Slave Trade - DPLA
*Slavery and the Making of America - PBS (used for extension)
*Slavery in Virginia - PBS (used for extension)
Foundations of Government - iCivics
*Colonial Influences - iCivics
French and Indian War - DPLA
Road to Revolution - DPLA
Road to Revolution: Primary Source Set - PBS
Come to my party if you know what's good for you!: Patriot or Loyalists: Primary Sources - PBS
Liberty or Death: Patrick Henry - PBS
King George Covers His Ears and Closes His Eyes - Interactive - PBS
Prequel to Independence - DOCSTEACH
Protesting the Stamp Act: Mobs or Crowds - Zoomin
The 'Bloody Massacre' or Patriot Propaganda - Zoomin
Boston Massacre - Stanford History Education Group
Stamp Act - Stanford History Education Group
Stamp Act Cartoons - PBS
Treason or Patriotism - DOCSTEACH
Boston Tea Party: Primary Sources - PBS
Boston Tea Party - DPLA
Road to the Constitution - iCivics
Hey King!: Get off our Backs - iCivics
Cause and Effect Analysis the American Revolution - LRE
American Revolution - Smithsonian History Explorer
Battle of Lexington and Concord - Smithsonian History Explorer
Saratoga and Valley Forge - DPLA
Battle of Saratoga and Valley Forge - PBS
Yorktown: Now or Never - PBS
People of the American Revolution - LRE
Predicting the Meaning of the Declaration of Independence - LRE
Declaration of Independence - Stanford History Education Group
Declaration of Independence: Created Equal - Library of Congress
Writing the Declaration of Independence - Library of Congress
The Declaration of Independence: Then and Now - PBS
Declaration of Independence - USHISTORY.ORG
People of the Constitution - LRE
The Declaration, Constitution and Bill of Rights - Constitution Center
Constitutional Compromises - PBS
Questioning the Constitution - PBS
Who Needs the Constitution Anyway? - Interactive - PBS
The Constitution - iCivics
Creating a Constitution - Annenberg Classroom
Magna Carta's Influence on the Constitution - Annenberg Classroom
Great Compromise - Smithsonian History Explorer
Amending the Constitution - LRE
Looping the Way Through the Constitution - Constitution Review - LRE
The Constitution's Cover Letter - iCivics
Ratifying the US Constitution - Zoomin
Shay's Rebellion - Stanford History Education Group
Shay's Rebellion - DPLA
From Articles of Confederation to Ratification of the US Constitution - Library of Congress
Should we Rewrite our Constitution - PBS
Wanted: A Just Right Government - iCivics
Slavery in the Constitution - Stanford History Education Group
Slavery and the US Constitution - PBS
Slavery and the Constitution - Interactive - PBS
Business of Slavery - Smithsonian History Explorer
Federalists and Anti-Federalists - Stanford History Education Group
To Sign or Not to Sign: Federalists v. Anti-Federalists - Constitution Center
Hamilton!: Federalist Papers - PBS
Race to Ratify - Game - iCivics
Race to Ratify Extension Pack - iCivics
Bill of Rights - Constitution Center
Bill of Rights - PBS
Freedom of Speech Discussion - Constitution Center
First Amendment: Freedom of Expression - Constitution Center
4th Amendment: Search and Seizure - Constitution Center
8th Amendment: Excessive Punishment - Constitution Center
Bill of Rights - PBS
Comparing the Magna Carta, English Bill of Rights and US Bill of Rights - DOCSTEACH
Finding the Limits: Freedom of Speech - Annenberg Classroom
The Bill of Rights - Annenberg Classroom
Constitution USA: It's a Free Country - PBS
6th Amendment - Confrontation Clause - Annenberg Classroom
Right to Remain Silent - Annenberg Classroom
Jury Service - Annenberg Classroom
4th Amendment - Mapp v. Ohio - Annenberg Classroom
National Security Trumps Individual Rights - Annenberg Classroom
Why the Bill of Rights Matters - Annenberg Classroom
Mastering the Bill of Rights - LRE
Separation of Powers - Constitution Center
Separation of Powers - PBS
A More Perfect Union: Federalism - PBS
A Case for Separation of Powers - PBS
Federalism - Smithsonian History Explorer
Separation of Powers - LRE
Check Point Powers - LRE
America's Founding Principles - iCivics
Principles of the US Constitution - LRE
Principles of the US Constitution Videos - LRE
Powers of the Government - Interactive - PBS
The Legislative Branch - iCivics
The Executive Branch - iCivics
The Judicial Branch - iCivics
The Making of a Law - Annenberg Classroom
Presidential Power - Annenberg Classroom
People of the Early Republic - LRE
Hamilton v. Jefferson - Stanford History Education GroupCreating the Constitution - DPLA
Who was Alexander Hamilton? - PBS
Whiskey Rebellion - PBS
Hamilton's Bank - PBS
Hamilton!: Founding Fathers - PBS
Challenges to a new government... - PBS
Who was Alexander Hamilton? - PBS
Whiskey and War - PBS
John Quincy Adams - PBS
Honoring the Adams Family - LRE
John and Abigail Adams - PBS
War of 1812 - DPLA
Multiple Perspectives of the War of 1812 - PBS
James Madison - PBS
War of 1812 Scavenger Hunt - PBS
War of 1812 and Star-Spangled Banner - Smithsonian History Explorer
Monroe, Madison and Jefferson - PBS
James Monroe - PBS
Supremacy Clause - Annenberg Classroom
Judicial Independence - Annenberg Classroom
Marbury v. Madison - LRE
McCullough v. Maryland - PBS
Landmark Library - iCivics
Court Cases - LRE
Jacksonian Democracy - DPLA
Andrew Jackson - PBS
Jackson and Adams - LRE
Two Nations of Conflict: Indian Removal Act and Trail of Tears - Zoomin
Trail of Tears - DPLA
Cherokee Removal and Trail of Tears: Primary Sources - PBS
Trail of Tears: Georgia Stories - PBS
Cherokee Nation v. Georgia - Annenberg Classroom
Native Americans in the West - PBS
Westward Expansion and the Homestead Act - PBS
Lewis and Clark - Interactive - PBS
Pony Express: Primary Sources - PBS
Westward Expansion - Interactive - PBS
Westward Expansion - Interactive Map - PBS
Westward Expansion: Life in the West - PBS
Land, Land, Land: From Sea to Shining Sea: Primary Sources - PBS
Conflict Over Western Lands - Interactive - PBS
Westward Expansion: A Systems Approach - PBS
The Gold Rush - PBS
Westward Migration - Smithsonian History Explorer
A Growing Nation - iCivics
We're Free: Let's Grow - iCivics
White Farmers and the American West - PBS
Railroads and the American West - Zoomin
Chinese Immigrants and the Transcontinental Railroad - PBS
Manifest Destiny - Stanford History Education Group
Manifest Destiny - DPLA
Manifest Destiny: Wild Nevada - PBS
Mexican American Relations - PBS
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo - DOCSTEACH
Mexican-American War and Slavery - PBS
Mexican American War - PBS (Ken Burns)
Cotton Gin and Expansion of Slavery - DPLA
Industrial Revolution: Steam Engine and Transportation - DPLA
Temperance Movement - DPLA
Abolitionist Movement - DPLA
The Abolitionists: The Economics of Slavery - PBS
Women and Reform: Primary Sources - PBS
The Abolitionist Movement - Connection to Current Events - PBS
Abolition - Smithsonian History Explorer
Declaring their Sentiments - LRE
People of the Reform Movements - LRE
Reform Movements - PBS (Ken Burns)
A Nation of Drunkards - PBS (Ken Burns)
Alcohol and the Roots of Prohibition - PBS (Ken Burns)
Not for Ourselves - PBS (Ken Burns)
John Brown's Raid on Harper's Ferry - DPLA
Underground Railroad and Fugitive Slave Act
Dred Scott - Constitution Center
Secession - DPLA
Henry Clay: The Great Compromiser - DPLA
Uncle Tom's Cabin - DPLA
Free but not Free - PBS
Kansas-Nebraska Act - Interactive - PBS
People of Sectionalism - LRE
African American Music - PBS
A House Divided - PBS
Secessionists - PBS (Ken Burns)
Taking Sides - LRE
Civil War Overview - PBS
Dred Scott to Civil Rights Act of 1875 - DOCSTEACH
What else happened during the Civil War? - DOCSTEACH
People of the Civil War - LRE
Freeing the Slaves: Why did Abraham Lincoln Issue the Emancipation Proclamation - Zoomin
Emancipation Proclamation - Interactive - PBS
Changing America: The Emancipation Proclamation - Smithsonian History Explorer
African-American Troops and the Emancipation Proclamation - PBS
Fort Sumter: Rebellion or Revolution - Stanford History Education Group
Battle of Gettysburg - DPLA
Sherman's March - PBS
Lee and Grant at Appomattox - PBS
Andersonville: Confederate Prison - Virtual Field Trip - PBS
The Gettysburg Address - PBS
The Civil War - PBS (Ken Burns)
John Brown - Stanford History Education Group
Fredrick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln - DPLA
President Lincoln - Constitution Center
President Lincoln: Crossroads - Constitution Center
Lincoln Collection - PBS
Lincoln's Early Views - PBS
The Time Trial: John Brown - Smithsonian History Explorer
Reconstruction: Was it a Revolution? - DOCSTEACH
Civil War:The Aftermath - PBS
Were African Americans freed during Reconstruction? - Stanford History Education Group
Political Cartoons and Reconstruction - Stanford History Education Group
People of Reconstruction - LRE
Lessons from the Civil War - PBS (Ken Burns)
Sharecropping - Stanford History Education Group
Radical Republicans - Stanford History Education Group
15th Amendment - DPLA
13th Amendment - Constitution Center
14th Amendment - Constitution Center
14th Amendment: Emancipation Proclamation - Constitution Center
14th Amendment: Black Codes - Constitution Center
14th Amendment - PBS
Reconstruction: Black Codes - PBS
Reconstruction: President Lincoln - Simulation - PBS
Klansville: Formation of the Klu Klux Klan - PBS
Freedman's Bureau - DOCSTEACH
Freedman's Bureau - DPLA