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NEW!!! Middle School e-Lessons for U.S History, World History, and Social Studies
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Download CRF’s most popular standards-based lessons and units for middle. Each affordably priced, exciting e-lesson or e-unit provides balanced readings as well as teacher instructions, focus activities, discussion questions, and interactive group activities that engage and enrich students’ critical thinking skills and historical understanding. Priced from $5.95 to $8.95 ea.

U.S. HISTORY

The Federalist Papers
This lesson explores the Federalist Papers and the historic roles of Hamilton, Madison, and Jay in laying out the arguments for the U.S. Constitution. Students take on the roles of these founders as well as the Anti-Federalists for a debate on the adoption of the Constitution.

George Washington and Leadership
This two-day lesson sequence focuses on the nation’s first president and the qualities that make a good leader. Students are introduced to “ABCs…and Ds of Leadership” (actions, beliefs, contributions, and decisions) and apply these criteria to George Washington’s leadership qualities.

Night Forever: Slavery in the American South
In this lesson, students learn about the economic, cultural, and social characteristics of slavery in the American South before the Civil War. They then role-play abolitionists writing editorials against slavery.

How the Women’s Rights Movement Began
In this lesson, students learn about the beginnings of the women’s rights movement and the leadership role women played in antebellum reform movements, tying it to a hypothetical modern movement for the rights of teenagers.

African Americans and the Civil War
This lesson looks at how African Americans struggled to be allowed to fight for the Union Army in the Civil War and the effect that black soldiers had on the war and the American people. Students apply their knowledge and work in groups to create their own edition of Frederick Douglass’s Paper.

Rockefeller and the Standard Oil Monopoly
This lesson focuses on John D. Rockefeller, the Standard Oil Company that he created, and the growth of industrialism. Students prepare and present a “television” interview of an industrialist from the Gilded Age.

Immigrants and Education
This lesson can span four days and focuses on immigration to America at the turn of the 20th century and issues of education in the Progressive era. Combining language arts and social studies skills, students compare contemporary teenage life with the lives of historical immigrant teenagers and analyze compulsory education laws of the early 1900s. In an engaging simulation, students learn how Progressives and others tackled issues by joining a 1909 committee that recommends solutions to problems and presents them to the class.

WORLD HISTORY

Ancient Egypt
In this three-lesson unit, explore the social and political order of the ancient Egyptian city of Thebes, the ways that the Nile river shaped Egyptian civilization through the three kingdoms, and the relationship between religion and Egypt’s social and political order. The unit includes role play, discussion, and writing activities.

Ancient China
In this four-lesson unit, students explore the geography of China and the development of ancient Chinese civilization; the social, legal, and political impact of Qin Dynasty Emperor Shi Huangdi; Confucianism and Daoism; and the opening of the Silk Road in the Han Dynasty. The unit includes role-play, debate, discussion, and writing activities.

Ancient Greece
In this three-lesson unit, students explore the rise of Greek city-states and Athenian democracy under Pericles; compare ancient Athens and Sparta; and explore ideas about what makes a good society from three of the Western World’s greatest philosophers—Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. The unit includes creating a speech for presentation, a brochure, and an ideal modern community.

Ancient Rome
In this three-lesson unit, students explore the history of Rome from its founding myths through the Roman Republic; the political and social institutions of the republic; the leadership of Augustus when Rome made its transition from republic became an empire; and religious toleration and persecution in the Roman Empire. The unit includes role play, creation of “T.V. interviews” of historic leaders, and creating a speech for presentation.

GENERAL SOCIAL STUDIES

Does It Pay to Go to School?
This lesson provides an interactive way for students to integrate basic mathematical skills into social studies while looking at the economics of going to college. Students create a budget using hypothetical classified ads. A great extension activity for the “Immigrants and Education” lesson described above!

The River
This two-day lesson sequence introduces students to natural and human impact on the environment by examining changes over time in a hypothetical river community. Students work in groups, make decisions to solve problems, see the results of their decisions, and creatively present the history of their hypothetical community to the class. “The River” is an excellent way to enrich students’ historical understanding skills in the 6th, 7th, and 8th curricula.

CityYouth: Ancient History  
CityYouth: U.S. History
Project History: U.S. History for Middle School