During the summer of 2010, the Hoover Presidential Library held a weeklong workshop for educators emphasizing the use of primary sources with students grades 6–12. The grant was made possible through The Library of Congress Midwest Center for Teaching with Primary Sources administered by Illinois State University. Educators from across Iowa researched topics at the Hoover Presidential Library or online in the holdings of the Library of Congress. The following lesson plans were created and are presented as Word documents, allowing educators to download and edit the lessons to meet the needs of their students.

• Through a Soldier's Eyes-A Closer Look at WWI - War has been a part of human history for thousands of years and is still a force in the world today. While weapons and tactics may change, there are always brave men and women who fight and sacrifice their very lives for their nations. What is war like for the average citizen soldier? How can a civilian cope with the horrors of war?
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• Bonus Army March Eviction from Washington, D.C. - Was it Really the 6th Worst Presidential Action by a President in United States History?
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• Creating Our (First) Constitution - In this lesson students will play the role of political consultants advising the Second Continental Congress on the development of a political system to govern "the thirteen united States of America," as they were referred to in the Declaration of Independence.
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• The Great Depression "The Early Years" - Students will identify the early signs of the Great Depression and realize the economic factors leading up to the hardships faced by the American people during the Great Depression.
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• How Toys and Games Have Changed: 1800s-early 1900s - Students will examine photos and text (diary entries, interviews, and excerpts from speeches) as part of a more extensive study of the ways toys and games have changed. This lesson plan provides primary sources from a time period that is not readily researched by students interviewing their grandparents.
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• Jewish American Veterans of World War II - This lesson explores the experience of American Jews serving in the military in order to evaluate the outcomes. This lesson utilizes the Library of Congress Veterans History Project.
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• Making Sacrifices: Effects of the Great Depression on Daily Life - The Great Depression was a huge economic downturn in American History that affected thousands of average Americans and their families. The members of the Hoover and FDR administrations worked tirelessly to change the situation for Americans. However, for many Americans this help would be a very small light at the end of a very long, dark tunnel. This lesson will help students to understand what daily life might have been like for these people.
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• The Dark Side of the 1920s - Few people realize that there was a "dark side" to the 1920s. Paul Sann put together a pictorial history of the decade entitled The Lawless Decade. The following lessons explore that "dark and lawless" side of the 1920s. At the end of this unit, students should be encouraged to draw conclusions as to whether some of the laws and practices of this decade contributed to the next era of U.S. history; namely, the Great Depression.
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• Westward Expansion along the Overland Trail - Between 1840 and 1870 nearly 300,000 emigrants made a wagon journey across the continent in search of a better life. The trek from the plains to the Pacific coast is one of the remarkable chapters in American history. The purpose of this lesson is to help students understand why pioneers made the journey west and describe the challenges they faced along the way.
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• Women, Unions, and Social Change - Change in the lives of women is strongly correlated with changes in cultural mores or standards of a society. The cultural proscriptions circumscribing women and the world of work are very powerful agents, that, when shifted, have a compound effect that leads to changes throughout a culture.
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