CURRICULAR RESOURCES
Innovative lesson plans, activities, resources, and online exhibits feature archival materials to fit your classroom needs.
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- Topic: Space, The Cold War
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Primary source material and classroom activities reveal why exploring space was a priority for the Kennedy administration.
Resource Guides / Packets
Subject: Civics and US Government, Science, US History, World History
Grade: 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Students consider the rhetorical devices in the inaugural address. They analyze suggestions made by advisors and compare them to the delivered version of the speech.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: English Language Arts, US History
Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12
Time: 1-2 hours
Students learn tactics for answering a document-based question similar to those on the AP US History exam using documents from the Kennedy Library archives. Though emphasis is placed on developing strategies for document analysis, we also provide students with an introduction to the content they will need to answer the question.
Guided Programs
Subject: US History
Grade: 10, 11, 12
Time: 0-1 hour, 1-2 hours
Students work on a document-based question similar to those on the AP exam using documents from the Kennedy Library archives, and strategize tactics for successfully analyzing primary sources.
Guided Programs
Subject: US History
Grade: 10, 11, 12
Time: 2-3 hours
Students can use outlines of astronauts to make one-of-a-kind portrait collages.
Hands-On History Activities
Subject: US History
Grade: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Time: 0-1 hour
Students can learn how to suit up for space, and then color a spacesuit and create an astronaut puppet.
Hands-On History Activities
Subject: US History
Grade: 1, 2, 3
Time: 0-1 hour
Written for upper elementary to adult readers, this narrative summarizes the life and legacy of the 35th president of the United States.
Resource Guides / Packets
Subject: Civics and US Government, US History
Grade: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Students learn about gender discrimination in space exploration by analyzing a letter to President Kennedy from a female aviator training to be an astronaut.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: English Language Arts, US History
Grade: 5, 6, 7, 8
Time: 0-1 hour, 1-2 hours
Why do archives matter? If you were creating a museum about Kennedy and his administration, what would you put in it? What kind of work is done at an archive and a museum? In this virtual program, students consider how history is constructed as they learn about the holdings and work of the Kennedy Library.
Guided Programs
Subject: The Arts, Civics and US Government, US History
Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12
Time: 0-1 hour
Students learn about the historical context of the inaugural address and then analyze the speech from three perspectives—a young civil rights activist, a Soviet diplomat, and a Cuban exile.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: US History
Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12
Time: 0-1 hour
On December 25, 2021, the James Webb Space Telescope, the world’s most powerful space observatory, was launched. This massive telescope was named after the administrator of NASA from 1961 to 1968. The Kennedy Library’s website has extensive materials by and about Webb that can be useful for curricular materials and students’ online research.
Resource Guides / Packets
Subject: Science, US History
Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12
Students consider the language a president might use in trying to create the right balance in tone for both American and foreign audiences when discussing US involvement in other parts of the world.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: US History, World History
Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12
Time: 0-1 hour
The free JFK Challenge! app for iPad brings American history to life for kids by turning them into astronauts and Peace Corps volunteers. Students may fly to the Moon or help people around the world through these unique and engaging activities from the JFK Library.
Online Exhibits and Digital Interactives
Subject: Civics and US Government, US History
Grade: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
This section of the website contains topic guides on the significant events that occurred during President Kennedy's years in office. These essays are intended to give an overview of challenges and issues that defined Kennedy's administration, and include relevant primary source material.
Resource Guides / Packets
Subject: The Arts, Civics and US Government, Economics, Science, US History, World History
Grade: 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
This exhibition celebrates the 100th anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s birth with a presentation of items drawn mostly from the collections of the Kennedy Library.
Online Exhibits and Digital Interactives
Subject: Civics and US Government, US History
Grade: 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
This interactive, biography-based program introduces elementary students to the life and legacy of John F. Kennedy using archival material from the collections of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. In a follow-up activity, students consider the quote “Ask not what your country can do for you…” and create an illustration that shows how they are helping their family, neighborhood, school, or community.
Guided Programs
Subject: Civics and US Government, English Language Arts, US History
Grade: 3, 4, 5
Time: 1-2 hours
Students do a close reading of four primary sources related to the US Space Program in 1961, analyzing how and why public statements made by the White House regarding space may have differed from private statements made within the Kennedy administration.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: US History
Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12
Time: 1-2 hours
Acting as members of President Kennedy’s Press Office, students are given an assignment to prepare a briefing for the president on topics that may come up in a specific press conference. To fulfill this assignment, they explore the museum and use primary source documents.
Guided Programs
Subject: Civics and US Government, US History, World History
Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12
Time: 2-3 hours