protest – open ended social studies

A History of Criminalized Blackness in the United States (Free Lessons for Middle or High School Classrooms)

June 5, 2020June 6, 2020 Editor

94271 — Sign seen at a protest in Washington, DC, 2020.

An injustice against one of us is an injustice against all of us.

Black lives matter.

But here’s a sobering thought – at various early points in the history of our nation, certain people decided very consciously that they absolutely should not. And many of our modern institutions – from the police to the courts to the schools – were built on this cracked foundation.

The historical decisions that have shaped our moment are often invisible to us – like water to fish, we swim in the choices our ancestors have made.

But we when we realize that this is the case – that our reality is not set, but a sum total of historical choices – we become responsible for our own actions.

And then, we are truly free.

Here are a selection of free history lessons from our archives – suitable for middle or high school classrooms – that shed a light on our current moment. If you aren’t teaching lessons like these in your social studies classes, ask yourself – why not?

The Evolution of the Virginia Laws of Servitude and Slavery (1643-1691) – Read along as Virginia colonial officials criminalize blackness in real time. (primary source analysis with guided questions)
Comparing Slavery and Factory Life – Apologists for slavery often argued that, in their day at least, their system of slavery was better than free market capitalism. Let’s put that to the test… (primary source analysis with guided questions)
Were the Freedmen Really Free? – After the Civil War, Southerners sought to reconstruct slavery in everything but name. We are the direct inheritors of this system, which was only partly deconstructed in the 1950s and 60s. (primary source analysis with guided questions)
Social Reform Movements – Who Should Be the New Face of the $20 Bill? – Progress has always been earned, never granted. Give students the change to reimagine our national pantheon to include the social reformers and progressives who are often more responsible than any president or general for the way of life we cherish today. (research activity)

Two relevant chapters from our totally free, open source textbook The United States: An Open-Ended History:

Do you have other relevant lessons? Share them – I would be honored to host them for free so that they can reach a wider audience! Reach out to me here.

“Why did the colonists declare independence?” Children’s Book

October 9, 2018October 10, 2018 Editor

This lesson can be used with The United States: An Open Ended History, a free online textbook. Adapted in part from open sources.

If you had to explain the causes of the American Revolution to your kid sister, how would you do it?? Believe it or not, being able to streamline and simplify your explanation of key events is a great way to check your own understanding.

Start with:

For tomorrow: Take one page of notes filled with basic facts and chronology of the colonies from French and Indian War to American Revolution, drawn from the pages above, all with the general question in mind — “Why did the colonists declare independence?”

Use the information contained in these notes to create a minimum eight page storybook, illustrated, answering the question — “Why did the colonists declare independence?” Your book should tell the story of how the Revolution came to be – roughly from the French and Indian War to the Declaration of Independence. It should utilize at least 10 vocabulary words or key terms and tell a story that makes sense.

Your book will be read aloud during a class-wide story time – so make sure it has cadence (and maybe rhymes?)

Bonus points if you include a cute talking animal to gloss over uncomfortable social truths.

Ideas for Teaching About Nicaragua

September 3, 2018September 3, 2018 Editor

Openendedsocialstudies has a unit for teaching middle or high school classrooms about the history of Nicaragua, the Sandinistas, and controversial leader Daniel Ortega. Find free readings, guided questions, and lesson plan ideas on the following subjects:

A Basic History of Nicaragua: A basic overview of Nicaraguan history and culture through the end of the modern period, with a focus on the post-colonial period.
- Web.
William Walker, the Grey-Eyed Man of Destiny: William Walker was an American who organized several private military expeditions into Latin America with the intention of establishing English-speaking colonies under his personal control, an enterprise then known as “filibustering.”
- Web.
Augusto Sandino, National Hero: From 1927 until 1933, Gen. Augusto César Sandino led a sustained guerrilla war first against the Conservative regime and subsequently against the U.S. Marines, whom he fought for over five years. He was referred to as a “bandit” by the United States government; his exploits made him a hero throughout much of Latin America, where he became a symbol of resistance to United States’ domination.
- Web.
The Sandinistas: The Sandinista National Liberation Front – also called the Sandinistas – are a former guerrilla army and ruling party of Nicaragua. Following a decade of single party rule, they submitted to free and fair elections in 1990, ushering in Nicaragua’s current period of period of peace, democratic stability, and relative prosperity after decades of corrupt dictatorship, civil war, and domination by the U.S. and its corporations.
- Web.

One great way for students to develop a deeper understanding of a concept is to have them teach others.

Choose any section from this unit and develop a lesson – in the form of a presentation, a storybook, or a worksheet – that teaches younger students about some aspect of Nicaragua’s history. Make sure the material is age appropriate in content and approach, and create some simple questions to check your audience’s understanding.

Find more free lessons on Nicaragua at Openendsocialstudies.org.

There are also plenty of free lessons featuring other peoples from world history.