CURRICULAR RESOURCES
Innovative lesson plans, activities, resources, and online exhibits feature archival materials to fit your classroom needs.
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This twenty page photo book tells the story of voting rights in the United States through primary sources housed in the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum archives and in other collections. Includes questions and links to additional resources.
Resource Guides / Packets
Subject: Civics and US Government, US History
Grade: 5, 6, 7, 8
Time: 0-1 hour, 1-2 hours
Students consider the impact of poll taxes as a barrier to voting by examining four primary sources.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: Civics and US Government, US History
Grade: 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Time: 1-2 hours
Students learn about gender discrimination in space exploration by analyzing a letter to President Kennedy from a female aviator training to be an astronaut.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: English Language Arts, US History
Grade: 5, 6, 7, 8
Time: 0-1 hour, 1-2 hours
Students conduct historical research on individual and collective efforts to achieve gender equality in the United States by reading and discussing a nonfiction picture book, analyzing an historical photograph, and researching and taking action on the current gender pay gap.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: Civics and US Government, English Language Arts, US History
Grade: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Time: 0-1 hour, 1-2 hours
Students read, listen to, and summarize excerpts of President Kennedy's June 11, 1963 speech on civil rights. They reflect on its resonance today and create images of a better future.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: Civics and US Government, English Language Arts, US History
Grade: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Time: 0-1 hour, 1-2 hours
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
Adapted from the longer lesson plan, "What if Laws are Unjust?", this activity asks students to consider young people’s rationales for participating in civil rights demonstrations in Birmingham, and the risks and rewards of their inclusion.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: Civics and US Government, English Language Arts, US History
Grade: 7, 8, 9, 10
Time: 1-2 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 primary source materials, students investigate the use of metaphor in presidential oratory and apply it to a piece of persuasive writing on a current national or global issue.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: Civics and US Government, English Language Arts
Grade: 7, 8
Time: 1-2 hours
Students analyze excerpts from the first Kennedy-Nixon debate (September 26, 1960) and a memo assessing the debate from one of Kennedy's advisers. They then use the memo as a model as they watch a current political debate to consider the strengths and weaknesses of the candidate they support.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: Civics and US Government, US History
Grade: 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
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 use primary and secondary sources to research a mystery artifact -- a coconut husk with a message carved on it -- and determine the object’s historical significance.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: English Language Arts, US History
Grade: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Time: 0-1 hour, 1-2 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