Reports on a field trip by secondary school history students to Fort Malden National Historic Site in Canada. Describes the use of primary sources and battlefield sites to help students understand historical perspective and interpretation. Includes discussion questions for students and recommendations for implementation. (CFR)

Allows students to experience the trials and tribulations of traveling the Oregon Trail through reading diary and journal entries written by children of that time. Recommends three classroom activities for use with historical narratives: looking for the unexpected, identifying recurring events, and creating "imaginary" diaries based on…

Addresses the creation of the U.S. census, the various reasons for the census, and its role as a "reflecting pool" in society. Provides a timeline of the decennial censuses from 1790-2000 and primary documents of schedules used in different censuses for analysis. Aims to promote understanding of the census' place in society. (CMK)

Addresses the Niles Firebrick Project, an outreach program from Youngstown State University that has traveled to nine schools in six Ohio school districts, with a majority of the classrooms visited in middle schools. Explains that the project centers on the use of primary documents about the Niles Fire Brick Company. (CMK)

Describes an Internet assignment where students perform their own searches in order to locate three primary sources from the time period 1776 to 1800 that deal with African Americans in the United States. Discusses the assignment in detail and provides resources for evaluating Internet sites and a list of websites and secondary sources. (CMK)

Describes an assignment in an undergraduate course on Roman history for junior and senior history majors in which students create their own 15-page textbook using primary sources. Explains how each class session developed student analysis of primary sources. (CMK)

Discusses a research seminar for senior history majors that uses three documents: a written text, a photograph, and a material object. Focuses on how the object, a 19th-century curling iron, is used to elucidate discussion not only of the object, but hypotheses about individuals and society, and about historical research. (DSK)

Provides information on the social conditions of women during the American Revolution, brief profiles of six women from the time period, and primary source material drawn from personal letters and publications. Includes discussion questions for middle school students and an activity for high school students. (CMK)

Describes a project in which secondary school students of German helped their teacher investigate, translate, and organize mid-nineteenth-century German-American papers, including "Einwanderer," an activity-based supplementary reader recounting the true story of a group of German immigrants to the United States in 1847. (MSE)

Provides background information on the election of 1876 between Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel J. Tilden and how it was disputed over electoral votes. Includes copies of the electoral ballot from Louisiana that was rejected and a letter from William Kellogg, the Republican governor of Louisiana. (CMK)

Focuses on helping students develop historical skills in a U.S. history survey course using active learning strategies that incorporate small group work with primary sources. Describes four activities used to teach women's history: (1) visiting a museum exhibit; (2) attending a convention; (3) deciphering census data; and (4) examining political…

Presents a lesson plan for eighth-grade students where they learn about the Great Depression by studying rural life. Explains that the students explore farm records from June and December 1935 after reading an excerpt about rural life in the 1930s. Includes copies of the ledgers, photographs, and student handouts. (CMK)

Presents an annotated list of Web sites that focus on the Great Depression. Includes the American Experience, American Memory, the National Archives and Records Administration, and the New Deal Network Web sites. Offers additional sites covering topics such as the Jersey homesteads and labor history. (CMK)

Describes a project for a history survey course where students visit a historic site and write an essay that identifies a broad theme in history relating the site to the theme; the students must also reflect upon their own learning process. Discusses the merits of the project providing student responses. Gives an appendix. (CMK)

Describes a lesson plan that utilizes two primary sources, a handbill announcing the reduction in Baltimore and Ohio rail workers' wages and a list of damages to Baltimore and Ohio Railroad property, in order to determine the causes and effects of the Rail Strike of 1877. Provides the two sources and other handouts. (CMK)