Ohio State University and College Board Lesson Plans for AP U.S. History
The History Teaching Institute at Ohio State University, in partnership with the College Board, has developed lesson plans for use in the AP United States History classroom. The Teaching Institute is one of several innovative programs for teachers of history sponsored by Ohio State's history department. Its mission is to work with history teachers in Ohio to develop curriculum and incorporate technology in the classroom in an effort to improve both teaching and learning.
Each lesson plan includes background on the historical issue involved; a set of specific learning objectives, websites, and documents for students to examine; and activities that can be completed by students individually or in groups. The lesson plans ask students to interrogate primary sources, statistical data, and images to get a feel for the broader dimensions of a particular historical question. Particularly noteworthy is the attention to underlying cultural meanings that contemporary historical actors appealed to in framing their arguments.