Ideas for the classroom:
Crop It - Use a famous primary source photo but reveal it a piece at a time, one face at a time, discussing as you go. Or "over-zoom" a photo and slowly pan around it. Gradually the whole picture is seen with more understanding.
Value Sort - Write ten values like justice or equality on cards and have them sort them in order of importance
Admission Game - Start with a list of interesting people from the era, and have the students choose 2 to be admitted to a special university. Or pair them up for activity groups, or make teams.
Key web sites:
History Now website: http://gilderlehrman.org/historynow/06_2010/index.php
The Gilded and the Gritty: http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/gilded/index.htm
Factory Activity - Each student in the group makes a piece. Could be a shirt, cannon, or a machine - whatever. You put some stress on them to hurry and make good quality pieces.
Mug Books - each student make their own. Most pre-Civil War ones were the same. The original log cabin, the new big farmhouse, the two middle or old age people who have prospered.
Harper's Weekly - good primary source
Make a MySpace page for a famous person. "FarceBook" is where there's a template for students to fill in about famous people.
