School Resources

Lesson Plans

The following literacy lessons were developed by Denver Public School teachers using primary sources from both the collections of History Colorado and other public domain sources. Be sure to check out our lesson plans for Hispano history and National Parks and Monuments as well.

 

3rd or 4th Grade Colorado History Lessons

Fur Trappers and Beaver Pelts

Silver Ore and Smelters

Hunting with Bows and Arrows

Left Hand's Visit

Mining and the Environment

Women and the Gold Rush

 

4th Grade Westward Expansion Lessons

Exploring the Colorado River

Life on a Midwest Farm in 1800

Oklahoma Land Rush

The Alamo

 

5th Grade Revolutionary War Lessons

A Tea Party Volunteer

Events in Moses Grandy's Life

Moses Grady's Life as a Slave

Not Really a Tea Party

Patriots and Tories

The Boston Massacre

 

Sand Creek Massacre Foundation Inquiry Kits→

The Sand Creek Massacre Foundation received funding in 2023 from the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources program and the Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums (with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities) to create primary source Inquiry Kits to support instruction about the Sand Creek Massacre. 

The kits were developed during a collaborative workshop with Cheyenne and Arapaho descendants and educators, Colorado educators, museum specialists, and historians at the History Colorado Center and the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site. They were reviewed by the Foundation's Board of Directors and Advisory Board and are adaptable for a variety of teaching strategies.