Lesson Plans

With Tenement Museum resources, students become historians. Using our teacher-designed, teacher-tested lesson plans, students engage in inquiry and learn to use critical thinking to interpret objects, oral histories, and primary sources, while making history relevant to today. Our classroom resources support multi-state History-Social Studies and English Language Arts curricula and can be used with or without a museum visit.

We currently offer three kinds of resources for teachers, including unit plans, lesson plans, and family stories. Whichever resource you select, you will find primary sources such as video stories, oral histories, documents, and photos in each. Educators can sort by grade level, unit plan, lesson plan, family stories, or primary source type below.

Be sure to check out our new comprehensive suite of virtual field trips and sign up for our monthly teacher’s newsletter for tips from other teachers, event and webinar information, new resources, and more!

Lesson Plans: Teaching With Primary Sources
Lower Elementary

Teaching with Primary Sources: Lower Elementary

Students investigate primary source documents in order to learn about people, places,...

Lesson Plans: Teaching With Oral History
High School

Teaching with Oral History: High School

Students explore how multiple perspectives are integral to understanding history.

Lesson Plans: Teaching With Oral History
Middle School

Teaching with Oral History: Middle School

Students explore how historians use oral histories to understand events, people, and...

Lesson Plans: Teaching With Oral History
Lower Elementary

Teaching with Oral History: Lower Elementary

Students utilize oral histories as a tool for learning about people, places, and events.

Lesson Plans: Teaching With Objects
High School

Teaching with Objects: High School

Students investigate how historians and curators use historical objects to inform our...

Lesson Plans: Teaching With Objects
Middle School

Teaching with Objects: Middle School

Students explore a collection of objects in order to identity their owner.

Lesson Plans: Teaching With Objects
Upper Elementary

Teaching with Objects: Upper Elementary

Students examine a collection of historical objects in search of clues.

Lesson Plans: Teaching With Oral History
Upper Elementary

Teaching with Oral History: Upper Elementary

Students utilize oral histories as a tool for learning about people, places, and events.

Lesson Plans: Teaching With Objects
Lower Elementary

Teaching with Objects: Lower Elementary

Students explore how objects can be used to learn about people, places, and events.

Tools for Educators

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