This parent guide supports parents in helping their child at home with the 8th grade Social Studies content.

This resource accompanies our Rethink 8th Grade Social Studies course. It includes ideas for use, ways to support exceptional children, ways to extend learning, digital resources and tools, tips for supporting English Language Learners and students with visual and hearing impairments. There are also ideas for offline learning. 

This online textbook is designed for grade 8 and up and covers all of North Carolina history, from the arrival of the first people some 12,000 years ago to the present. There are eleven parts, organized chronologically, a collection of primary sources, readings, and multimedia that can be rearranged to meet the needs of the classroom. Special web-based tools aid reading and model historical inquiry, helping students build critical thinking and literacy skills.

In this lesson, students will: 1. Review and understand multiple perspectives of slavery (the slaves' point of view, the abolitionist point of view and the view of the slave holder). 2. Learn three abolitionist leaders and their contribution to the movement against slavery. 3. Read and interpret primary documents having to do with the abolitionist movement. 4. Demonstrate understanding of primary documents through written assessment.

Containing more than 50 articles from the award-winning Tar Heel Junior Historian magazine and over 40 lesson plans, this multidisciplinary Educator Notebook will enrich your exploration of North Carolina and American history with diverse perspectives. This resource's link takes you to a very short form that gives you free downloadable access to the complete PDF book.

Students will learn about the roles of African Americans in Congress during Reconstruction. Through their participation in class discussion and the review of primary sources, students will explore the political climate and changes that took place during Reconstruction. Students will focus on the legislation that restricted and advanced the rights of African Americans throughout this period, examining how African American men were able to gain representation in Congress. Through creation of and participation in a group teaching activity, students will focus on the important roles these African American legislators filled. Access the PowerPoint to accompany this lesson here: https://database.civics.unc.edu/files/2012/10/AfAmUSCongressReconstructionPPT.pdf

In this lesson, students examine the contributions of black soldiers during the Civil War. A set of discussion questions is provided. In an associated activity, the class will write and publish an issue of Frederick Douglass's Paper, reflecting some of the important controversies concerning black troops in the Union Army.

This collection of primary resources and corresponding activities sheds light on the endurance of peaceful protesters in Montgomery, Ala., who overturned an unjust law.

This inquiry provides students with an opportunity to explore how words affect public opinion through an examination of Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin. Students will investigate historical sources related to the novel and reactions of people in the North and South in order to address the compelling question "Can words lead to war?" The final summative assessment asks the to make an argument about the impact of the words in Uncle Tom's Cabin.

In this lesson, students will learn about Durham's Hayti community, which was once one of the most unique and successful black communities in America. Through reading, class discussion, and examination of the UNC-Chapel Hill Digital Innovation Lab's digital history project "Recovering Hayti", students will learn how Hayti flourished from the 1880s to the 1940s and became known as the "The Black Capitol of the South." Students will then place themselves in the year 1958, when the Durham Redevelopment Commission was formed and proposed a plan to "renew" Hayti, which had fallen into disrepair by the 1950s. Students will participate in a mock public hearing in which they grapple with the pros and cons of the urban renewal proposal and ultimately, they will decide whether or not to implement the plan. Afterwards, students will explore the actual decision made to implement the renewal plan, as well as the impact urban renewal had on Hayti.

In this activity, students examine a print from a wood engraving titled "Emancipation" and answer a series of questions. The questions are designed to guide students into a deeper analysis of the source and sharpen associated cognitive skills.

In this lesson, students explore major events occurring at the end of World War II, including the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the forced relocation of Japanese Americans into internment camps, and America’s use of atomic weapons against Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Students will explore primary sources, read poetry and a narrative, and discuss the US government’s choices in depth while examining the affect on America, Japan, and the world community at large.

In this lesson, teachers can engage students in chapter by chapter discussions of Crow by Barbara Wright that encourage critical reading and higher order thinking. The numerous activity options provided allow students to creatively explore the fictional life of the characters as they relate to the 1898 Wilmington Race Riots through group work, drama, art, creative writing, deliberation, examination of primary source documents, and more.

This presentation is intended for use with the lesson "Exploring Life in 1898 Wilmington and the Wilmington Race Riot with CROW." In this lesson, teachers can engage students in chapter by chapter discussions of Crow by Barbara Wright that encourage critical reading and higher order thinking. The numerous activity options provided allow students to creatively explore the fictional life of the characters as they relate to the 1898 Wilmington Race Riots through group work, drama, art, creative writing, deliberation, examination of primary source documents, and more.

In this lesson students do a close reading of “Learning to Read,” a poem by Francis Watkins Harper about an elderly former slave which conveys the value of literacy to blacks during and after slavery. The activities also prompt students to examine the nature of literacy in the 21st century and the value they put upon it.

This interactive site provides primary resources and curator interviews designed to focus on the lunch counter as an object in historical context. Also provided are a lesson plan and annotated links to other online resources to expand student understanding of the topic.

In this lesson, students examine the life and career of North Carolina native George Henry White, the last African American Congressman before the Jim Crow Era, as well as the reasons for the decline in African American representation in Congress during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Through examination of Congressional data from the time period, viewing a documentary, analyzing speech excerpts, class discussion, and more, students will gain a comprehensive understanding of the political, cultural and racial realities of the Jim Crow Era. The lesson culminates with an assignment where students are tasked with creating a reelection campaign for White.

Students will demonstrate understanding of contributions made by George Washington by analyzing symbols and symbolism in primary source documents.

In this lesson, students will analyze the Grimm fairy tale Hansel and Gretel and evaluate the major characters in terms of their rights and responsibilities in terms of power and authority.

In this lesson, students learn firsthand about the childhoods of Jacobs and Keckly from reading excerpts from their autobiographies. They practice reading for both factual information and making inferences from these two primary sources.