CURRICULAR RESOURCES
Innovative lesson plans, activities, resources, and online exhibits feature archival materials to fit your classroom needs.
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- Curricular Standards: Massachusetts Framework - English Language Arts
- Resource Type: Guided Programs
- (-) Guided Programs (16)
- (-) Massachusetts Framework - English Language Arts (16)
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Students learn tactics for answering a document-based question similar to those on the AP US History exam using documents from the Kennedy Library archives. Though emphasis is placed on developing strategies for document analysis, we also provide students with an introduction to the content they will need to answer the question.
Guided Programs
Subject: US History
Grade: 10, 11, 12
Time: 0-1 hour, 1-2 hours
Students work on a document-based question similar to those on the AP exam using documents from the Kennedy Library archives, and strategize tactics for successfully analyzing primary sources.
Guided Programs
Subject: US History
Grade: 10, 11, 12
Time: 2-3 hours
Students investigate the civil rights movement of the early 1960s--its goals, its major events, and the outcomes of these events. This program focuses on the Freedom Rides (1961) and the integration of the University of Mississippi (1962).
Guided Programs
Subject: Civics and US Government, US History
Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12
Time: 2-3 hours
Appropriate for students in both US history and government classes, this virtual program focuses on the integration of the University of Mississippi (1962).
Guided Programs
Subject: Civics and US Government, US History
Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12
Time: 0-1 hour, 1-2 hours
By examining photographs of less well-known civil rights activists and learning how they used the tools of democracy to fight for justice and equality, students discover what led President Kennedy to deliver his Televised Address to the Nation on Civil Rights. In a final activity, students reflect on a local, national, or international issue of concern and identify a civic action they can take to help address it.
Guided Programs
Subject: Civics and US Government, English Language Arts, US History
Grade: 3, 4, 5, 6
Time: 1-2 hours
Students consider the question, "How do people bring about change in the government and in their communities?" They investigate photographs, video, oral history, and documents to discover the story behind the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and President Kennedy's role in it. After visiting museum exhibits related to the civil rights movement, students reenact the demonstration, drawing on the hopes, dreams, and inspiring words from this historic event.
Guided Programs
Subject: Civics and US Government, US History
Grade: 4, 5
Time: 2-3 hours
This interactive, biography-based program introduces elementary students to the life and legacy of John F. Kennedy using archival material from the collections of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. In a follow-up activity, students consider the quote “Ask not what your country can do for you…” and create an illustration that shows how they are helping their family, neighborhood, school, or community.
Guided Programs
Subject: Civics and US Government, English Language Arts, US History
Grade: 3, 4, 5
Time: 1-2 hours
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
What makes a president an effective leader? This interactive program invites students to explore the challenges John F. Kennedy faced as the nation's leader during a tumultuous time in United States history. Through an analysis of objects, photographs, and documents from the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, students will consider how the thirty-fifth president tackled complex issues such as civil rights, space exploration, and Cold War tensions.
Guided Programs
Subject: Civics and US Government, English Language Arts, US History
Grade: 6, 7, 8
Time: 1-2 hours
Using the 1960 election as a case study, students learn the steps to becoming President of the United States. Students explore objects, photographs, and documents in the museum to discover important information about the 1960 election. The last part of the visit includes an interactive game based on the steps to the presidency. A final discussion draws on students' hopes and ideas to guide the next President of the United States.
Guided Programs
Subject: Civics and US Government, English Language Arts, US History
Grade: 4, 5
Time: 2-3 hours
From launching a campaign to taking the oath of office, students learn about the process of running for the office of presidency of the United States. They use visual information including current photographs and archival film footage to examine the electoral process and discuss what voters need to consider when selecting a candidate.
Guided Programs
Subject: Civics and US Government, English Language Arts, US History
Grade: 4, 5
Time: 1-2 hours
Students investigate archival film footage, audio recordings and song lyrics to discover the essential role music played in the civil rights movement. They practice several freedom songs and hear first-hand accounts of how singing helped motivate and sustain activists who were fighting for racial equality. While in the exhibit galleries, students sing freedom songs and learn about President Kennedy’s key actions and decisions related to the civil rights struggle.
Guided Programs
Subject: The Arts, Civics and US Government, English Language Arts, US History
Grade: 3, 4, 5
Time: 2-3 hours
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 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
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