CURRICULAR RESOURCES
Innovative lesson plans, activities, resources, and online exhibits feature archival materials to fit your classroom needs.
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By studying historical nonfiction text, students learn how a president demonstrates leadership through ideas, words, and deeds. Students can analyze the text as a persuasive speech and identify the arguments Kennedy used to try to convince the nation that Americans of all races deserve equal treatment.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: Civics and US Government, English Language Arts, US History
Grade: 5, 6, 7, 8
Time: 3-4 hours
Provided for in the US Constitution, the oath of office is a key component of a presidential inauguration and symbolizes a peaceful transition of power. This lesson, which introduces students to the president’s official pledge, begins with examining an artifact, the top hat Kennedy wore on January 20, 1961.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: Civics and US Government, English Language Arts
Grade: 4, 5, 6
Time: 1-2 hours
Students analyze the rhetoric surrounding civil rights in the early 1960s, focusing on a speech by Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett, a section from Martin Luther King Jr.’s "Letter from Birmingham Jail," and President Kennedy’s June 11, 1963 speech on civil rights.
Guided Programs
Subject: English Language Arts, US History
Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12
Time: 2-3 hours
After investigating primary source material on the March on Washington, students put themselves in the role of a civil rights leader and write a letter to President Kennedy.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: English Language Arts, US History
Grade: 3, 4, 5, 6
Time: 2-3 hours
This 20-page booklet tells the story of voting rights during the Kennedy administration and beyond through photographs and documents. Includes guiding questions and a bibliography.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: Civics and US Government, English Language Arts, US History
Grade: 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Time: 0-1 hour
Students read and analyze segregation ordinances, and learn how Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights activists challenged these unjust laws through peaceful protest and civil disobedience during the 1963 civil rights campaign in Birmingham, Alabama. The lesson highlights the vital role that young people played in the campaign.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: Civics and US Government, English Language Arts, US History
Grade: 7, 8
Time: 3-4 hours
Students become biographers for the day as they explore John F. Kennedy's early years, his presidency, and the contributions he made to our nation and the world. They analyze historic photographs and documents, view films and television footage, and examine objects in the museum as they gather and record information in our "Biographer's Workbook."
Guided Programs
Subject: Civics and US Government, English Language Arts, US History
Grade: 3, 4, 5
Time: 2-3 hours
Using primary source materials, students investigate the motivation for President Kennedy's ambitious space program.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: Civics and US Government, Economics, English Language Arts, US History
Grade: 6, 7, 8, 9
Time: 1-2 hours
Students can watch a 15-minute video about the importance of letter writing which provides examples of letters to President Kennedy from young people, and guides students to write their own letter to the president. Includes letter writing templates.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: Civics and US Government, English Language Arts, US History
Grade: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Time: 1-2 hours
Students learn how young John F. Kennedy tried to convince his father to raise his allowance and then try their hand at persuasive letter writing.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: English Language Arts, US History
Grade: 3, 4, 5, 6
Time: 2-3 hours