First launched in 1991, the Teaching with Historic Places Lesson Plans from the National Park Service has really served to bring history to life for the benefit of young people by bringing together a number of pieces of historical documentation together for use by teachers in the classroom. One of the latest plans utilizes documents related to the grand home of Captain Penniman (a whale trader in Massachusetts in the 19th century), which not only tells the story of this historic site, but also that of the experiences of whaling families more broadly. As with all of the other previous lesson plans, this one also starts with an inquiry question where students examine a piece of visual evidence, then are asked to proceed by looking at the broader historical context by reading a brief essay and examining several maps. All of this material (including the primary historical documents and associated readings) is contained within this site, which also has detailed material for teachers on how to incorporate this lesson plan into the classroom.
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