Explore photographs of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy.
Media Galleries
Subject: The Arts, Civics and US Government, US History, World History
Grade: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Created for our November 2, 2022 conference Framing History: The Power of Pictures, this annotated bibliography is a go-to resource for finding high quality, recently published biographies that have exceptional images.
Resource Guides / Packets
Subject: The Arts, English Language Arts, US History, World History
Grade: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Annotated bibliographies of both recommended biographies and literature about American history. Includes guidelines for critically analyzing biographies and history-based literature.
Resource Guides / Packets
Subject: English Language Arts, Science, US History, World History
Grade: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Students learn about ancient symbols and ornamental and architectural elements to identify some symbols of American democracy in the White House as an introduction to the origins of common symbolic representations of the United States and its values.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: English Language Arts, US History, World History
Grade: 5, 6, 7, 8
Time: 0-1 hour, 1-2 hours
Students consider the language a president might use in trying to create the right balance in tone for both American and foreign audiences when discussing US involvement in other parts of the world.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: US History, World History
Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12
Time: 0-1 hour
Acting as members of President Kennedy’s Press Office, students are given an assignment to prepare a briefing for the president on topics that may come up in a specific press conference. To fulfill this assignment, they explore the museum and use primary source documents.
Guided Programs
Subject: Civics and US Government, US History, World History
Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12
Time: 2-3 hours
Students consider the threat of nuclear weapons in the early 1960s and the opportunities and challenges in negotiating an arms control agreement.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: US History, World History
Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12
Time: 1-2 hours
Students analyze a letter to President Kennedy from a woman who had just lost her brother in South Vietnam and consider Kennedy’s reply which explains his rationale for sending US military to that country.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: US History, World History
Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12
Time: 1-2 hours
President Kennedy signed a bill authorizing the establishment of the Cape Cod National Seashore in 1961. By learning about the creation of the Seashore, students reflect on the importance of land conservation and the role of the federal government in preserving natural and historical resources.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: Civics and US Government, English Language Arts, Geography, Science, US History
Grade: 3, 4, 5, 6
Time: 1-2 hours
Students consider what "ingredients" might go into the speech that will launch a President's term in office as they examine some of the most memorable inaugural addresses of the past.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: Civics and US Government, English Language Arts, US History, World History
Grade: 6, 7, 8
Time: 1-2 hours
Students analyze President Kennedy’s April 20, 1961 speech to the American Society of Newspaper Editors framing the invasion as “useful lessons for us all to learn” with strong Cold War language. This analysis will help students better understand the Cold War context of the Bay of Pigs invasion, and evaluate how an effective speech can shift the focus from a failed action or policy towards a future goal.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: Civics and US Government, English Language Arts, US History, World History
Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12
Time: 0-1 hour
Students analyze the Cold War’s impact on the politics and people of the early 1960s, and are introduced to conflicts between the US and the USSR over Berlin, Cuba, and space exploration.
Guided Programs
Subject: Civics and US Government, US History, World History
Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12
Time: 2-3 hours
How did the Cold War impact the politics and people of the early 1960s? This program focuses on confrontations between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. over Berlin and Cuba.
Guided Programs
Subject: Civics and US Government, US History, World History
Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12
Time: 0-1 hour, 1-2 hours
Students examine primary source documents and recordings. They consider some of the options discussed by Kennedy's advisors during the Cuban Missile Crisis, what groups and which individuals supported each option, and the pros and cons for each alternative.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: Civics and US Government, US History, World History
Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12
Time: 1-2 hours
These annotated resources - gathered for a special conference held at the Kennedy Library in 2009 - provide students and teachers with useful documents, images, maps, timelines, and essays about issues related to nuclear armaments since the development of the first atomic bomb.
Resource Guides / Packets
Subject: US History, World History
Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12
Sit at President Kennedy's Oval Office desk and explore the world from his point of view.
Online Exhibits and Digital Interactives
Subject: Civics and US Government, US History, World History
Grade: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Explore "The President's Desk: A Resource Guide for Educators" and discover more than fifty-five curricular-relevant lesson plans and activities for grades 4-12 based on the online interactive exhibit, "The President's Desk."
Resource Guides / Packets
Subject: Civics and US Government, US History, World History
Grade: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Students act as members of President Kennedy's Press Office with an assignment to brief him for a news conference. They research issues and events of the early 1960s by exploring the Kennedy Library's website. The lesson culminates with a simulated press conference.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: US History, World History
Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12
Time: 1-2 hours