CURRICULAR RESOURCES
Innovative lesson plans, activities, resources, and online exhibits feature archival materials to fit your classroom needs.
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John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address inspired children and adults to see the importance of civic action and public service. The letter included in this activity, written by a third-grade student, is one of thousands housed at the Kennedy Presidential Library.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: Civics and US Government, English Language Arts, US History
Grade: 3, 4, 5, 6
Time: 1-2 hours, 2-3 hours
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 rhetorical devices in the inaugural address. They analyze suggestions made by advisors and compare them to the delivered version of the speech.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: English Language Arts, US History
Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12
Time: 1-2 hours
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
Kennedy challenged every American to contribute in some way to the public good. After analyzing the "ask what you can do" quote, students draw and write about their own contributions to their families and communities.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: Civics and US Government, English Language Arts
Grade: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Time: 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
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 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
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
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
Students do a close reading of four primary sources related to the US Space Program in 1961, analyzing how and why public statements made by the White House regarding space may have differed from private statements made within the Kennedy administration.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: US History
Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12
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
In this role-play lesson, students consider some strategies proposed in 1963 for achieving the goal of equal voting rights for African Americans in Mississippi.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: Civics and US Government, US History
Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12
Time: 1-2 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