The Delaware Public Archives is committed to supporting educators with primary sources, instructional materials, and research tools that bring history to life in the classroom. This page offers a growing collection of resources designed for use by teachers, librarians, and education professionals. In addition to standards-aligned lesson plans, you’ll find curated materials that highlight Delaware’s history and other specialized content to enrich your instruction and engage students in meaningful historical inquiry.
Road To Liberty is an original board game created by Delaware Public Archives staff to help kids learn about Delaware’s role in the Revolutionary War. Designed for quick play – approximately 10 minutes – the game utilizes archival documents from the Archives’ collections as part of the journey. Players move their pieces along the board, draw Action and Chance cards, and encounter shortcuts, setbacks, and historical challenges along the way. All components, including the gameboard (20×20) and cards, are now available as PDFs, allowing families and classrooms to print and play!
Printing note: The gameboard is designed at 20×20 inches, but can also be printed across multiple sheets of paper and assembled for easier home or classroom use.
These specialized pages offer topic-based links to primary source material to support deeper exploration of Delaware’s past.
These formative assessments will focus on primary sources to gauge the level of understanding for the students.
The instructional videos include information on two warm-up activities and one exit ticket. These can be used “on their own” or with the appropriate lesson plan found on this web page.
● “Are We Ready for Equality”
● “Annual Report of the Delaware Council for Women”
● Basic Principles of the Federal Civil Defense Advisory Council
DE Geography Standard 1a and Civics Standard 4b
● Basic Principles of the Delaware Civil Defense Plan
● Brigadier General Moore’s Address to Religious Leaders
DE Civics Standard 1a and CCSS.ELA-Literacy. RH.11-12.2 and 3
● Highway Evacuation Plan 1951
• Delaware Relief Commission
• Federal Emergency Relief Administration
● Opening Activity – “Duck and Cover School Drill” (Civil Defense)
DE History Standard 2a and CCSS ELA-Literacy.RH.12.2 and 3
● Opening Activity – “New Deal Criticisms” (The Great Depression)
DE History Standard 2a and CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.7
● Exit Ticket – “New Deal Criticisms” (The Great Depression)
DE History Standard 2a and CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.7
For information about our motion pictures and audio holdings, please email us at archives@delaware.gov or (302)744-5000
Click here for an audio sample | Click here for a video sample
The Delaware Public Archives is proud to present this online collection of lesson plans for Delaware teachers to use in their classrooms. Sponsored by the Friends of the Delaware Archives, each plan provides teachers with a ready-to-use lesson that engages students with a range of primary and secondary sources. For the lessons that follow Delaware’s social studies standards and formatting used in the Delaware Recommended Curriculum, the Archives partnered closely with Delaware’s education community, including the University of Delaware, Wesley College, and the Delaware Department of Education. Delaware teachers created all of the lessons themselves. We encourage you to review the lessons and discover what can be used in your classroom!
Special Thanks to the Friends of the Delaware Archives for sponsoring this education project. For more on the Friends (FODA), please visit this page.
Grade Level: 4-5
In this lesson, students will compare the British and American Armies using “The battle of Lexington” published by John H. Daniels & Son, and Percy Moran’s “Burgoyne’s surrender at Saratoga.” Students will also view and analyze a letter written by an Army officer from Delaware to the President (Governor) of Delaware during the American Revolution to understand the challenges the Continental Army faced.
Teacher’s Plan: click here for the Lesson Plan
Grade Level: 2-5
This lesson designed to have students think about what life was like in various periods of history. Using the Delaware Public Archives online exhibit, Then and Now, students will compare pictures of areas of Delaware at different points in history with ones from today. Students will be able identify various changes that have happened over time.
Teacher’s Plan: click here for the Lesson Plan
Picture 1: Woodside DE tomato market. Farmers bringing their tomatos to market to sell. 1910
Picture 2: Car accident in New Castle DE 1919
Picture 3: Old Dover Days The Green in Dover 1950
Picture 4: Isaac School Sussex County near Redden Crossroads 1936
Grade Level: 4-5
In this lesson, students will view and analyze the 1785 Inventory of Robert Burton (Sussex County), draw conclusions of how the principle of property has changed over time by comparing the inventory of Robert Burton to a post-civil war inventory.
Teacher’s Plan: click here for the Lesson Plan
Grade Level: 4-5
In this lesson, students will learn about Delaware and problems Delaware faced under the Articles of Confederation. Students will learn why Delaware is called the first state and Delaware’s ratification process. Students will create a chronology of events leading to Delaware’s ratification of the United States Constitution and will identify cause and effect relationships between the events.
Teacher’s Plan: click here for the Lesson Plan
Grade Level: 4-5
In this lesson students will analyze and compare a map of Delaware in 1819 to a map of Delaware in 2008. Students will identify what has stayed the same and what has changed on the map. Students will also construct a logical response as to why these changes occurred.
Teacher’s Plan: click here for the Lesson Plan
1819 Map from DPA State Map Collection
Grade Level: 6-8
This lesson designed to have students think about what life was like in various periods of history. Using the Delaware Public Archives online exhibit, Then and Now, students will compare pictures of areas of Delaware at different points in history with ones from today. Students will be able identify various changes that have happened over time.
Teacher’s Plan: click here for the Lesson Plan
Grade Level: 6-8
Students will analyze the response of the State of Delaware to the 1918 flu epidemic by examining primary and secondary sources describing the impact of the epidemic on the state of Delaware.
Teacher’s Plan: click here for the Lesson Plan
Presentation: click here for the Spanish Flu Presentation
Resources:
Document: Synthesis and Simulation
Photographs:
Grade Level: 7-8
In this lesson, students will read and hear about events in the life of the Bulah family of Hockessin, Delaware as context for analyzing change over time, and understanding how civil rights help protect American citizens and secure our freedom.
Teacher’s Plan: click here for the Lesson Plan
Presentation: click here for the PowerPoint presentation
Resources:
Grade Level: Middle and High School
This worksheet is designed to assist students with literacy and historical thinking skills. Students will read a petition relating to Delaware’s ratification of the Constitution, then explain Historical Context, Audience, Purpose, Point of View, & Why.
Teacher’s Plan: click here for the Lesson Plan
Grade Level: High School
Students will examine how historical accounts can differ by examining several primary sources relating to Caesar Rodney’s famous ride.
Teacher’s Plan: click here for the Lesson Plan
Grade Level: Middle & High School
This lesson is twofold in purpose. Students will be able to define what a national capital is and what Delaware’s role in determining the U.S. capital was. Students will also explore literacy through historical documents, identifying the context, audience, point of view and purpose of a primary source.
Teacher’s Plan: click here for the Lesson Plan
Grade Level: Middle & High School
This lesson has students hone their skills reading primary sources while applying their knowledge of ways to engage in the civic process. They will brainstorm ways they believe Delawareans could have contributed to the American Revolution. Then they will examine primary sources that show them ways citizens did participate and try to match them to the methods on their brainstormed list.
Teacher’s Plan: click here for the Lesson Plan
Resources:
Grade Level: Middle & High School
Using City of Wilmington Police Department documents from the early 1900’s, students will study crime. This lesson ideally would be for an Introduction to Criminal Justice class. It is focused on defining crime, what makes a behavior a crime, and how they are categorized.
Teacher’s Plan: click here for the Lesson Plan
Resources:
Grade Level: Middle & High School
Students will understand the principles and content of the Declaration of Independence and create a declaration for today.
Teacher’s Plan: click here for the Lesson Plan
Resources:
Grade Level: Middle & High School
Students will identify the context, content, and purpose of a primary source, while examining how Delawareans defend their waterways from British ships.
Teacher’s Plan: click here for the Lesson Plan
Resources:
Grade Level: Middle & High School
In this lesson, students will identify the difference between primary and secondary sources. Students will also be able to identify the benefits and disadvantages of each type of document to a researcher.
Teacher’s Plan: click here for the Lesson Plan
Resources:
Grade Level: Middle & High School
Using the Delaware Public Archives website on historical markers in the state, students will examine pictures of significance to Delaware’s role in the creation of the constitution. Students will also read and analyze primary source material related to the adoption of the Constitution.
Teacher’s Plan: click here for the Lesson Plan
Resources:
Petition to The General Assembly to adopt the U.S. Constitution
Grade Level: High School
Students will study Loyalists in Delaware during the American Revolution by examining several well-known incidents involving Loyalists in Delaware and creating a news report on them.
Teacher’s Plan: click here for the Lesson Plan
Resource: Thomas Robinson Treason Files
Grade Level: High School
In this lesson, students will read and analyze a document calling for citizens to support the people of Boston after the passage of the Intolerable Acts. Students will use a primary source in an engaging manner to answer questions relating to opinions about the British during the colonial period in Delaware.
Teacher’s Plan: click here for the Lesson Plan
Grade Level: High School
This lesson is designed to help students understand the struggle for fair housing in Delaware. Students will be exposed to three forms of housing discrimination. They will then examine the ways in which Delawareans sought to gain support for fair housing legislation.
Teacher’s Plan: click here for the Lesson Plan
Resources:
Grade Level: High School
Students will analyze historical materials to trace the development of an idea or trend across space or over a prolonged period of time in order to explain patterns of historical continuity and change.
Teacher’s Plan: click here for the Lesson Plan
Grade Level: High School
Students will read primary sources while applying their knowledge of Enlightenment ideals. Students will read sections of the Delaware Committee of Correspondence minutes and race each other to identify and explain Enlightenment ideals in the transcript. They will then reflect on how the Enlightenment shaped Delawareans’ understanding of the government.
Teacher’s Plan: click here for the Lesson Plan
Resources:
Grade Level: High School
In this lesson, students will study/research the debate over the Maysville Road Veto by Andrew Jackson to establish historical context.
Teacher’s Plan: click here for the Lesson Plan
Resources:
Resource 1 – Henry Clay, “Defense of the American System” (1832)
Resource 2 – Jackson v. Clay & Calhoun
Resource 3 – Alabama Document
Resource 4 – Delaware Document
Resource 5 – Maysville Rd Map (shown at right)
Grade Level: 11
Students will gain/review a general chronology of key events leading to the outbreak of
the Civil War to examine the causes of the conflict. They will then examine primary sources to write their own historical interpretation to determine how likely it was that Delaware would support the Confederacy in the Civil War.
Teacher’s Plan: click here for the Lesson Plan
Grade Level: 11
Students will brainstorm various measures of success for evaluating Reconstruction. They will then utilize their criteria to analyze sources about Reconstruction to evaluate its effectiveness. This lesson allows students to examine several documents at a time to emphasize the importance of analyzing multiple sources in evaluating historical events while also noting the importance of sourcing documents for facts and interpretations.
Teacher’s Plan: click here for the Lesson Plan
Grade Level: 11
In this lesson students will analyze the reasons for the increasing foreign born population in the state of Delaware. They will identify the trend of foreign born population using Delaware Census Data. They will then examine three primary sources to identify how they influenced the trend on the table. Finally, students will practice making a historical claim and supporting it with evidence.
Teacher’s Plan: click here for the Lesson Plan
Grade Level: 11
Students will examine five documents from the 1920s and the 1950s to identify continuities and changes in the naturalization experience for immigrants to the United States. They will then support their claims using document evidence as support.
Teacher’s Plan: click here for the Lesson Plan
Grade Level: 11
Students will read a secondary source about the growth of the DuPont Company between 1900 and 1930. They will then pair share and jigsaw two primary sources about the growth of infrastructure. Students will identify changes in these sources and account for the reason for those changes.
Teacher’s Plan: click here for the Lesson Plan
Grade Level: 11
In this lesson students will examine the State of Delaware’s official use of the whipping post as a form of punishment until the mid-20th century. Students will analyze the use of the whipping post through correspondence between a Delaware Governor and a resident of Smyrna. Students will determine if the interpretation of “cruel and unusual punishment” in the Constitution has changed over time.
Teacher’s Plan: click here for the Lesson Plan
Grade Level: 11
In this lesson students will examine the conscription of Americans through three conflicts – the Civil War, World War I, and the Vietnam War. Using videos and primary sources, students will analyze how the draft changed and evolved over the course of American history.
Teacher’s Plan: click here for the Lesson Plan
Grade Level: 9-11
This is a series of lessons or strategies to help students understand how the U.S. Government mobilized consensus and war preparedness during World War I.
Teacher’s Plan: click here for the Lesson Plan
Resources:
SOAPS-Tone Documents:
Poster Analysis:
More Resources:
Wilson Speech | DPA Survey | Assessment
Grade Level: 11
Students will begin the lesson by analyzing a cartoon from 1920 showing a father overwhelmed by the responsibility of caring for the children while their mother leaves to vote in order to gain context for reasons why some were opposed the women’s suffrage. After setting that context, students will learn about the ratification debate in Delaware for the 19th amendment to understand the way that women’s changing status at the turn of the 20th century illustrated an example of both the dynamic nature of the Constitution and the balance of power in place to preserve traditions.
Teacher’s Plan: click here for the Lesson Plan
Grade Level: 11
Students will evaluate several sources about the New Deal, nationally and in Delaware, to examine if the New Deal resulted in significant change for Americans. They will then answer this essential question with supporting evidence from primary sources.
Teacher’s Plan: click here for the Lesson Plan
Grade Level: 11
Students begin the lesson by brainstorming events in history where citizens have worked to alter the law based on changing social values. They then use a graphic organizer to analyze four documents from citizens petitioning the government. Finally, students will research another example of a time when citizens petitioned the government to find similarities and differences across instances and evaluate the extent of change over time in petitioning the government.
Teacher’s Plan: click here for the Lesson Plan
Grade Level: 11
Students will analyze the use of propaganda during America’s conflicts dating back to the Spanish-American War. Students will then focus on propaganda posters of the World War II era and will determine the effectiveness of these posters along with examining the truth versus the propaganda that is displayed in each of these posters.
Teacher’s Plan: click here for the Lesson Plan
Grade Level: 11
Using primary sources and several different case scenarios, students will explore the idea of government sanctioned rationing. The students will then examine the effectiveness of government rationing that took place during World War II.
Teacher’s Plan: click here for the Lesson Plan
Grade Level: 11
In this lesson students will examine the integration of schools in Delaware through a case study of the Milford desegregation crisis of 1954. Through videos and primary sources, students will analyze the background of the Supreme Court’s decision of Brown v. Board and what happened when the Milford School District attempted to integrate its high school four months after this landmark case.
Teacher’s Plan: click here for the Lesson Plan
Grade Level: 11
In this lesson, students will focus on a variety of communication tools that may have been available during the Cold War era. They will also explore the Cold War from the Soviet perspective. Using primary sources and videos, the students will create a brief radio broadcast based on the information they have gathered.
Teacher’s Plan: click here for the Lesson Plan
Grade Level: 11
In this lesson students will examine different methods of protest and counter-protest that took place during the Vietnam War. Using videos along with letters to the Governor concerning the war, students will analyze the accuracy of the information provided in the protests and the effectiveness of the method of protest.
Teacher’s Plan: click here for the Lesson Plan
Grade Level: 9-12
In this lesson, students will read letters written by Delaware soldiers to Nancy E. Lynch’s Vietnam Mailbag newspaper column, which appeared in the Wilmington Morning News, expressing different views on the Vietnam War. Students will understand that a historian’s choice of sources will impact his/her conclusion.
Teacher’s Plan: click here for the Lesson Plan
Presentation: click here for the Vietnam Mailbag Presentation
Resources:
Resource 1 (worksheet)
Resource 2 (worksheet)
Resource 3 (worksheet)
Resource 4 (additional letters)
Resource 5 (worksheet)
The entire Vietnam Mailbag collection is available to view here.
Grade Level: 11
In this lesson, students will compare different perspectives about the presence of the National Guard in Wilmington and identify why they believe the National Guard stayed in Wilmington for over nine months.
Teacher’s Plan: click here for the Lesson Plan
Presentation: click here for the Race Riots Presentation
Resources:
Worksheets:
Document Worksheet | Video Worksheet
Grade Level: 11
In this lesson, students will read letters written by Delaware residents to the Governor to express their opposition to busing mandated by a federal court. Students will evaluate the arguments presented in these sources. There is an AP and non-AP version of the lesson.
Teacher’s Plan: click here for the Lesson Plan
Presentation: click here for the Segregation Presentation
AP Teacher’s Plan: click here for the AP Lesson Plan
Resources:
Resource 2 (worksheet)
Resource 3 (worksheet)
Resource 5 (worksheet)
If you would like to contact us about suggestions, issues, corrections and/or for additional materials such as answer keys, please contact us at archives@delaware.gov
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