The materials here can be downloaded and used in K-12 classrooms for both in-person and remote learning. Many of these lessons focus on local history and the diverse communities of Los Angeles. Materials on this page are protected by copyright. #locallyoriented
We collaborated with UC Riverside’s Public History Program, Cal State San Bernardino, the University of Redlands, and The Relevancy & History Project to create a series of lessons about local, Inland Empire history. Using various archives and Storymaps from A People’s History of the IE, these lessons were designed by our teacher leaders for elementary, US History, and Ethnic Studies classrooms. a big shout out to our Teacher Leaders Lisa Patterson, Maia Ruiz, Vanessa Herrera, Amanda Sandoval, Vanessa Aranda, and Dr. Irene Sanchez for their hard work in creating these lesson plans.
We continue to collaborate with our partners at PBS and the USC Libraries to create lesson plans for the Emmy-award-winning series Lost LA. This round of lessons corresponds to Season 5 of Lost LA. The lessons explore solidarity, astronomy, public transportation, and oral history. A big shout out to the authors of these lessons, Frank Salcedo-Fierro, Miguel Sandoval, Vanessa Herrera, Maia Ruiz, and Marissa Matich.
| Content Standard | Title | Resources |
| 6.6 | Which Chinese philosophy would be most effective for running your school?
In this 2 to 3 day lesson students will use information from primary sources and a PowerPoint to learn about the three main Chinese philosophies—Taoism, Confucianism, and Legalism, analyzing and organizing the information from the documents on a worksheet. They will then use the information to write an eight-sentence paragraph in which they answer the guiding question. |
Lesson |
| 6.6 | How should we remember Emperor Qin Shi Huang Di?
In this 2-day lesson students will read and analyze multiple sources about Chinese Emperor Qin Shi Huang Di. Students will discuss his accomplishments, how people felt about his rule, and the impact he had on future dynasties. |
Lesson |
| 6.6 | How did belief systems influence society in China?
Students will understand the role of belief systems as they shape cultures and cultural interaction. By matching pairs of artifacts, descriptions, quotes, and literature excerpts, students will learn about, discuss, and write about Confucianism, Taoism, and mysticism and their impact on ancient Chinese culture. |
Lesson |
| Evidence Sort & Claim 6th Grade Ancient Greece
Many historians have written about the freedoms associated with Athenian democracy, while others have argued that slavery was vital in supporting Athens’ Golden Age. Argument/Claim: The Athenian Golden Age would have occurred with or without the existence of slavery. Evidence Sorts are a low-stakes strategy that allows students to practice the skill of connecting evidence to a claim. In this strategy, the claim, or argument, is provided alongside a series of primary and secondary sources. Working individually, or in groups, students read and analyze each piece of evidence and determine if it supports the provided argument or it if counters it. |
Strategy |
| Content Standard | Lesson Title | Resources |
| 7.2 | How does poetry help us understand how people thought and felt in 1200s-1300s Southwest Asia? | Remote Lesson |
| 7.2 | How was the city of Nishapur a Site of Encounter? | Remote Lesson |
| 7.3 | Can looking at the past help rulers succeed in the future? | Lesson |
| 7.4 | How did trade connections between the Gupta Empire in India facilitate the spread of Buddhist and Hindu ideas and beliefs in Srivijaya? | Lesson |
| 7.3 | How did the Mongols control their vast empire? | Lesson |
| 7.5 | How did the lives of women, as reported by writers of Heian Period, compare to the lives of women today? | Lesson |
| 7.5 | How Should Historians Remember Prince Shotoku? | Lesson |
| In what ways are Mayans living in Los Angeles connected to Quetzaltenango? | Lesson |
| Content Standard | Lesson Title | |
| 10.4/10.8 | To what extent did Japanese imperialism of Manchukuo incorporate pan-Asianism | Lesson |
| 10.8 | How did Magnus Hirschfeld support and advocate for LGBT people? – ONE Archives | Lesson |
| 10.9 | Why did the US intervene in Chile? | Lesson |
| 10.9.1 | How did the United States address social, political, and economic issues in post WWII Japan? | Lesson |
| Why do People Revolt and What Justifies Revolutions? | Lesson | |
| Post-Ottoman Immigration to LA 1920s: Syrian Mestizaje Do you agree that Syrian Americans can be defined with the term Mestizaje? Why? If not, what term would you use instead? Why? | Lesson | |
| Did Vietnam live up to the promise of the August Revolution? What are the ideals vs. reality of the August Revolution? | Lesson | |
| How should we remember the Haitian Revolution?
In this unit, students learn about the causes and consequences of the Haitian Revolution. This unit of instruction was created using the Inquiry Design Model. The unit plan includes links to supporting sources and strategies. This can be taught as an entire unit, or teachers can use the individual lessons embedded in the unit. |
Unit IDM |
| Content Standard | Inquiry Question | Resources |
| What might we learn about our families from photos? | Lesson |
| Content Standard | Inquiry Question | Resources |
| What actions did people take in order to live freely in my community? What informed actions can we take today? – from the Belmar History + Art Project | Lesson Remote Lesson |
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| What actions did people take in order to live freely in my community? What informed actions can we take today? – from the Belmar History + Art Project | Lesson Remote Lesson |
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| My Community: Past & Present | Lesson | |
| How can we continue to help preserve our communities’ stories? – Inland Empire Stories | Lesson | |
| 3.1 | Chavez Ravine: What happens to a place across time? – Lost LA Curriculum Project | Lesson |
| 3.1 | What can this photograph tell us about the Harvey family in 1874? This lesson includes the primary source analysis chart and writing frames. – UC Berkeley History-Social Science Project | Lesson |
| 3.1 | What can we learn about Japanese culture through their folktales and artwork? – UC Berkeley History-Social Science Project | Lesson |
| 3.3 | What Impact has Urban Development had on Biodiversity in the Los Angeles Area? – Lost LA Curriculum Project | Lesson |
| Content Standard | Inquiry Question | Resources |
| 4.2 | What was life like for the Tongva Before and After Spanish Arrival? – Lost LA Curriculum Project | Lesson |
| Content Standard | Lesson Title | Resources |
| 8.6 | What was life like for Chinese Railroad Workers in the 1860s? | Lesson |
| 8.12 | Were Chinese Americans free in the West? | Lesson |
| How did the African Americans of Santa Monica and Los Angeles challenge racial discrimination and segregation at beaches to form community spaces during the 1900s? | Lesson | |
| Slavery in the US ended largely because of the efforts of Northern Politicians | Lesson | |
| What consequences did the pursuit of Manifest Destiny have on liberty and freedom for the expanding nation? | Lesson |
| Content Standard | Lesson Title | Resources |
| How can memorials help us understand continuity and change in our community? | Lesson | |
| 11.8 | Why are there so many freeways in Boyle Heights | Lesson |
| 11.7 | How did Zoot Suit fashion challenge the accepted culture of the 1940s? | Lesson |
| 11.2 | What were the causes of the Anti-Chinese Massacre? – Lost LA Curriculum Project | Lesson |
| 11.2 | How was gender challenged during urbanization in the late-19th century and what was the response? – ONE Archives | Lesson |
| 11.5 | In what ways did the Entertainment Industry Impact African Americans in Los Angeles During the Early 1900s? – Lost LA Curriculum Project | Lesson |
| 11.5 | What were the costs and benefits of Los Angeles urban growth in the 1920s? – Lost LA Curriculum Project | Lesson |
| 11.5 | Were LGBT Americans welcome in Hollywood during the 1920s and 1930s? – ONE Archives | Lesson |
| 11.6 | What internal and external factors shaped African-American South Central between the 1920s and 1950s? – Lost LA Curriculum Project |
Lesson |
| 11.8 | How did The Ladder magazine provide lesbian women support in the 1950s? | Lesson |
| 11.8 | How can we make the Beach Culture in So Cal Equitable for all? – Lost LA Curriculum Project | Lesson |
| 11.8 & 11.10 | How did African Americans adapt to the challenge of traveling in the United States over time? – Lost LA Curriculum Project | Lesson |
| 11.8 & 11.10 | What can historical markers tell us about what is important in the San Gabriel Valley (SGV) and in the Greater Los Angeles area? – Lost LA Curriculum Project | Lesson |
| 11.9 | How were gays and lesbians viewed and treated by the U.S. government? | Lesson |
| 11.9 | How did LGBT Americans respond to the Vietnam War? – ONE Archives | Lesson |
| 11.10 | What led to the segregation of neighborhoods in the United States? – UC Berkeley History-Social Science Project | Lesson |
| 11.10 | How have opportunities for Mexican immigrants to the U.S. changed during the 20th century? – UC Berkeley History-Social Science Project | Lesson |
| 11.10 | How was Prop 187 resisted and ultimately defeated? | Lesson (pdf) Lesson (Google Doc) |
| 11.10 | What caused the Black Cat Tavern Riots? | Lesson |
| 11.10 | To what extent was the movement for LGBT rights part of the broader movement for Civil Rights? | Lesson |
| 11.10 | How did the movement for LGBT equality go from assimilation to “coming out” in the 1950s-1970s? | Lesson Powerpoint |
| 11.10 | How did Bayard Rustin’s identity shape his beliefs and actions? | Lesson |
| 11.10 11.11 | Were the 1950s truly the “dark ages” for gay men and women as some historians have claimed? | Lesson |
| 11.11 | Why and how did activists respond to the AIDS crisis of the 1980s? | Lesson |
| 11.11 | How did Harvey Milk and the Briggs Initiative unite marginalized groups? | Lesson |
| 11.11/12.2 | Through analyzing Audre Lorde’s essay on multiple identities and systems of oppression, how do power and privilege impact the relationships people have with each other as well as with institutions? | Lesson |
| Do you agree that Syrian Americans can be defined with the term Mestizaje? Why? If not, what term would you use instead? Why? | Lesson |
| Content Standard | Title | Lesson |
| 11.11/12.2 | Through analyzing Audre Lorde’s essay on multiple identities and systems of oppression, how do power and privilege impact the relationships people have with each other as well as with institutions? | Lesson |
| 12.2/12.7/12.8 | The FAIR Act: What are students’ rights to LGBT representation in the classroom? | Lesson |
| What did housing segregation look like in the Inland Empire in the 1920s-1970’s? | Lesson | |
| How does the media shape public opinion?? | Lesson |
| Inquiry Question | Resources |
| What can we learn from the hidden history of African American resistance to institutionalized racism in Santa Monica? | Lesson |
| How have shifts in land use in and around Mira Loma, CA contributed to evolving social justice movements? | Lesson |
| How do we remember our community’s history? | Lesson |
| How does food embody art, culture, and resistance? | Lesson |
| How does food help us understand our cultures and loved ones? | Lesson |
| What might we learn about our families from photos? | Lesson |
| Why does Ethnic Studies Matter? | Lesson |
| How can we right past wrongs against California’s Native Americans? | Lesson |
| How can we right past wrongs against California’s Native Americans? | Lesson |
The History-Social Science Framework
Calisphere
California history archives
Lost LA: Series of Local history essays with embedded primary sources
ONE Archives at USC: Digital archives of LBGTQ history
Mapping Indigenous LA: Explores LA indigenous history via maps and digital storytelling
US History Matters at George Mason University: http://historymatters.gmu.edu/
World History Matters at George Mason: http://worldhistorymatters.org
The American Memory Collections: The Library of Congress: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/browse/updatedList.html
Edtech Teacher’s Best of History Websites: http://besthistorysites.net/
Library of Congress: http://www.loc.gov/teachers/
Yale’s Avalon Project: http://avalon.law.yale.edu/default.asp
PBS Learning: http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/
Nova Ancient: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient/
The British Museum: http://www.britishmuseum.org/
BBC History: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history
BBC Ancient History: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/
BBC History for Kids: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/forkids/
BBC Hands on History: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00bw6wp
BBC Primary: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/
Gilder Lehrmann: http://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era
The Center for History and News Media: http://chnm.gmu.edu/
The British National Archives: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/
Odyssey Home Page by Emory University: Ancient and Pre-Modern World History http://carlos.emory.edu/htdocs/ODYSSEY/
National Archives Digital Vaults: http://digitalvaults.org/
Fordham University Sourcebooks Project: http://legacy.fordham.edu/Halsall/index.asp
California Common Core: https://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/documents/finalelaccssstandards.pdf (History/Social Studies starts on page 78)
California Content Standards: https://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/documents/histsocscistnd.pdf
This strategy takes the traditional 5 paragraph essay approach and condenses it to 11 sentences. This allows students to practice writing claims and supporting those claims with evidence and elaboration.
