1869: A Report on Schools in North Carolina
In this lesson, students use a guided reading to look at a report on the status of education in North Carolina in 1869, and discuss the reasons given then for why the Governor and Legislature should support educating North Carolina's children. They are provided an opportunity to compare and contrast the 1869 document against their own ideas about the civic duty to attend school through age 16, and its relative value to the state and the country.

Cherokee Relocation
Using primary sources from the Documenting the American South collection, students will investigate the boundaries of the Cherokee lands set for North Carolina after the Revolutionary War.

Confederate Currency: An Inflation Simulation
Using primary sources from the Documenting the American South collection, this lesson provides a brief simulation of inflation during the Civil War while introducing students to issues faced on the home front.

Diary of a Tar Heel Confederate Soldier
In this lesson students read the account of a private from Charlotte who served in the Civil War and grew tired of only hearing about the war from the perspectives of officers. After reading his experiences as a "man behind the gun" students will write their own point-of-view piece. They also have the opportunity to read other diary accounts from the war available through Documenting the American South.

Early North Carolina Exploration (warm-up activity)
This lesson is intended to be used at the beginning of a unit that examines the early exploration of the North Carolina coast and its inhabitants

Eyewitness to the flood
This lesson looks at actions and reactions of those who have been affected by hurricanes and floods by contrasting what happens to Janie in Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God with personal accounts from North Carolinians who were flooded out of their homes by Hurricane Floyd in 1999.

Hurricane Floyd
One of the most damaging hurricanes to hit North Carolina, Hurricane Floyd made landfall on September 16, 1999. Visitors to this site will see images of the damage that occurred to the eastern part of North Carolina and hear the stories of those who lived through this devastating storm.

Exploring the 1835 NC Constitutional Convention
This Internet scavenger hunt allows students to read the actual proceedings of the 1835 Constitutional Convention while they discover for themselves some of the significant amendments that were made. The activity also sets the foundation for class discussions about why the state Constitution was amended in 1835 and what impact the amendments had on religious groups, free blacks, and American Indians.

Interpreting Diaries of the American South
Students will read diaries of individuals who lived in the American South from 1865-1917. After reading these diaries the students will use a visual means of displaying their interpretation. Visual presentations will be one of the following: shadow box, poster, PowerPoint using drawings done by the student, brochure, or presenting an item that would have been used during the time that their diary was written.

Liberation and Deliberation: The North Carolina Ratification Debates of 1788
This lesson focuses on the deliberations over ratification of the US Constitution by the North Carolina legislators. In particular it traces the arguments of the Federalists and Anti-federalists found in the primary sources digitized in the Documenting the American South collection.

Land of Milk and Honey Relocated or Not (Lesson 1)
In this lesson students will brainstorm reasons people leave their homes and move somewhere else. After discussing modern day reasons for migration students will explore the motives of early settlers to immigrate to colonial North Carolina. Motives will be explored using a primary source, specifically letters from potential settlers asking for permission to come to the land of "milk and honey".

Land of Milk and Honey (Lesson 2)
Using primary sources students will examine the use of propaganda and how it influenced people's decisions to immigrate to the colonies.

Land of Milk and Honey Relocated or Not (Lesson 3)
Using primary sources students will read about the establishment of the city of New Bern, North Carolina. The students will also use maps to draw conclusions about what was read.

Lunsford Lane: A Slave in North Carolina Who Buys His Freedom
Lunsford Lane's story is about a slave who lives in Raleigh, North Carolina. Though his master owns as many as three plantations outside of Raleigh, Mr. Lane is not a plantation slave. Rather, he works for his master in the city-dwelling. His story provides an example of an ingenious, determined, and disciplined slave who's vision and creativity affords him the opportunity to earn money and eventually buy his freedom. This is an incredible story.

Measuring the waters
In this lesson plan, students will discuss and understand measurement of a single event and measurement over time. Students will learn how to use different tools for measurement, and decide which are better for long-term or short-term use.

Native Americans and Jamestown
Using primary sources, students will investigate the role of Native Americans in the successes and failures of Jamestown. Students will identify and analyze inaccurate portrayals of Pocahontas and Powhatan by comparing historical facts with literary fiction.

North Carolina Women and the Progressive Movement
This lesson includes primary sources from Documenting the American South specifically related to North Carolina women involved in reform movements characteristic of the Progressive era. For the most part, these documents detail women's work in education-related reform and describe the creation of schools for women in the state. They also demonstrate that, as was true in the rest of the nation, the progressive, female reformers of N.C. were segregated based on race and socio-economic status.

Politics and Economics of Land Settlement in Colonial North Carolina
Using a primary source, students will examine the political nature of land settlement in North Carolina. The influence the economy had on land settlement will also be highlighted. Students will also learn about colonial industry in North Carolina.

Slavery Across North Carolina
In this lesson, students will read excerpts from slave narratives written by North Carolinians to better understand the slave experience in different regions across the state.

Spirituals and the Power of Music in Slave Narratives
After reading two brief excerpts about the importance of music in the lives of slaves from slave narratives written by Thomas L. Johnson and William H. Robinson, students will listen to and discuss folk spirituals.

Storytellers in the Mountains of North Carolina
Students will study five famous North Carolina storytellers: Jackie Torrence, Ray Hicks, Donald Davis, David Holt and Sheila Kay Adams. They will research how their stories were collected and how they developed their storytelling styles that distinguish them from other tellers.

A survivor's story: How does it really feel?
In this lesson plan, students will look at photographs of women and discuss their first impressions. After listening to an excerpt from an oral history, students will gain empathy for a flood survivor of 1999's Hurricane Floyd.

Two Perspectives on Slavery: A Comparison of Personal Narrative
Students will read and analyze personal narratives written by two North Carolinians who grew up on antebellum plantations in New Bern. One, Mary Norcott Bryan, was the daughter of a wealthy slaveholder, while the other author, William Henry Singleton, was a man born into slavery who fought for the Union Army. How do the authors' cultural backgrounds influence the texts?

A Visit to Colonial North Carolina
This lesson plan extends student learning about the colonial period in North Carolina history by incorporating primary sources from the Documenting the American South collection. After reading first-hand accounts of travelers to colonial America, students will create their own travel brochure advertising North Carolina.