Active Viewing: The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter
In this activity, students watch film clips from the documentary The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter, decode a propaganda poster, and analyze statistics about working women during World War II. Parts of this activity can be completed without [...]
FDR's Tree Army: Personal Turning Points in the CCC
In this activity students learn about the goals of the Civilian Conservation Corps and the opportunities it provided for young men. Students create poster presentations about different aspects of the CCC by combining photographs and quotes from [...]
Active Viewing: Savage Acts
This activity is designed to help students understand key ideas from the documentary film Savage Acts: Wars, Fairs, and Empire 1898-1904. The film is divided into short segments with suggested viewing strategies and questions to keep students [...]
Active Viewing: Up South
In this activity, students watch the ASHP documentary Up South: African-American Migration in the Era of the Great War with documents and exercises designed to support and reinforce the documentary's key concepts of Jim Crow, lynching, [...]
Active Viewing: 1877: The Grand Army of Starvation
In this activity, students watch a short clip from the ASHP documentary 1877: The Grand Army of Starvation to learn about the impact of railroad expansion on Americans and the nation as a whole. After watching the clip, students complete the [...]
Active Viewing: Daughters of Free Men
In this activity, students watch short clips of the ASHP documentary Daughters of Free Men to learn about the experiences of Lowell mill girls in the 1830s. Students follow the life of Lucy, a young girl working in Lowell in 1836. After each clip, [...]
Active Viewing: Eyes on the Prize "Awakenings"
In this activity students analyze the reasons why the Montgomery Bus Boycott lasted so long and was successful. Students watch a short clip from the PBS documentary Eyes on the Prize about the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Then students analyze primary [...]
Active Viewing: Becoming American: The Chinese Experience
In this activity, students watch short clips of the PBS/A Bill Moyers Special production of Becoming American: The Chinese Experience (2003). The documentary clips and accompanying materials cover the arrival of Chinese in California, their work on [...]
Active Viewing: Abraham and Mary Lincoln: A House Divided
PBS American Experience’s Abraham and Mary Lincoln: A House Divided is a 6 episode mini-series available as a 3 DVD set. The following activity focuses on the causes and consequences of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation through an active [...]
Active Viewing: Heaven Will Protect the Working Girl
In this activity, students watch the documentary Heaven Will Protect the Working Girl in sections, with documents and exercises designed to support and reinforce the film's key concepts: workers challenging the effects of industrial capitalism, the [...]