CURRICULAR RESOURCES
Innovative lesson plans, activities, resources, and online exhibits feature archival materials to fit your classroom needs.
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Students analyze excerpts from the first Kennedy-Nixon debate (September 26, 1960) and a memo assessing the debate from one of Kennedy's advisers. They then use the memo as a model as they watch a current political debate to consider the strengths and weaknesses of the candidate they support.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: Civics and US Government, US History
Grade: 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Time: 1-2 hours
Using the 1960 election as a case study, students learn the steps to becoming President of the United States. Students explore objects, photographs, and documents in the museum to discover important information about the 1960 election. The last part of the visit includes an interactive game based on the steps to the presidency. A final discussion draws on students' hopes and ideas to guide the next President of the United States.
Guided Programs
Subject: Civics and US Government, English Language Arts, US History
Grade: 4, 5
Time: 2-3 hours
From launching a campaign to taking the oath of office, students learn about the process of running for the office of presidency of the United States. They use visual information including current photographs and archival film footage to examine the electoral process and discuss what voters need to consider when selecting a candidate.
Guided Programs
Subject: Civics and US Government, English Language Arts, US History
Grade: 4, 5
Time: 1-2 hours
Students use a letter of advice from a young student to President Kennedy to learn about the "Space Race.”
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: English Language Arts, US History
Grade: 2, 3, 4, 5
Time: 0-1 hour, 1-2 hours
Students consider what "ingredients" might go into the speech that will launch a President's term in office as they examine some of the most memorable inaugural addresses of the past.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: Civics and US Government, English Language Arts, US History, World History
Grade: 6, 7, 8
Time: 1-2 hours
Explore photographs, documents, and other primary sources that focus on religious matters related to Kennedy's 1960 campaign and his presidency.
Media Galleries
Subject: Civics and US Government, US History
Grade: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Students make the "trip" with JFK from the Democratic National Convention to the November 8, 1960 election, answering questions with information gleaned from the primary sources located in the Campaign Office in "The President’s Desk".
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: Civics and US Government, English Language Arts, US History
Grade: 4, 5, 6
Time: 1-2 hours
These resources guide elementary students to become biography detectives as they investigate Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy’s life. Three classroom activities feature documents, photographs, and a giant timeline.
Resource Guides / Packets
Subject: English Language Arts, US History
Grade: 3, 4, 5
Time: 3-4 hours, 5+ hours
Students investigate archival film footage, audio recordings and song lyrics to discover the essential role music played in the civil rights movement. They practice several freedom songs and hear first-hand accounts of how singing helped motivate and sustain activists who were fighting for racial equality. While in the exhibit galleries, students sing freedom songs and learn about President Kennedy’s key actions and decisions related to the civil rights struggle.
Guided Programs
Subject: The Arts, Civics and US Government, English Language Arts, US History
Grade: 3, 4, 5
Time: 2-3 hours
Students use primary and secondary sources to research a mystery artifact -- a coconut husk with a message carved on it -- and determine the object’s historical significance.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: English Language Arts, US History
Grade: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Time: 0-1 hour, 1-2 hours
Students consider how a president can generate support for one of his legislative initiatives and help a bill become a law by investigating the steps President Kennedy took in attempting to turn his June 1963 civil rights proposal into meaningful legislation.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: Civics and US Government, US History
Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12
Time: 1-2 hours
View a selection of books on a variety of topics related to John F. Kennedy and his administration, publications featured in Kennedy Library Forums, and online resources from the Kennedy Library website.
Resource Guides / Packets
Subject: Civics and US Government, US History
Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12
Use primary source material to explore what voters can learn from political debates. Students then create a guide book to help voters select a candidate.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: Civics and US Government, English Language Arts, US History
Grade: 3, 4, 5, 6
Time: 2-3 hours
In this lesson, students examine the official program for the March on Washington to learn about the event itself and about some of the people who played a leading role in the civil rights struggle. They research different organizations and civil rights leaders and then create a montage to depict the diverse makeup of the movement in visual form.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: Civics and US Government, English Language Arts, US History
Grade: 7, 8
Time: 2-3 hours
Students analyze President Kennedy’s April 20, 1961 speech to the American Society of Newspaper Editors framing the invasion as “useful lessons for us all to learn” with strong Cold War language. This analysis will help students better understand the Cold War context of the Bay of Pigs invasion, and evaluate how an effective speech can shift the focus from a failed action or policy towards a future goal.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: Civics and US Government, English Language Arts, US History, World History
Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12
Time: 0-1 hour
Students analyze the Cold War’s impact on the politics and people of the early 1960s, and are introduced to conflicts between the US and the USSR over Berlin, Cuba, and space exploration.
Guided Programs
Subject: Civics and US Government, US History, World History
Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12
Time: 2-3 hours
How did the Cold War impact the politics and people of the early 1960s? This program focuses on confrontations between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. over Berlin and Cuba.
Guided Programs
Subject: Civics and US Government, US History, World History
Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12
Time: 0-1 hour, 1-2 hours
Students examine primary source documents and recordings. They consider some of the options discussed by Kennedy's advisors during the Cuban Missile Crisis, what groups and which individuals supported each option, and the pros and cons for each alternative.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: Civics and US Government, US History, World History
Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12
Time: 1-2 hours