Dime novels - they had to crank them out, it's all in the title, and the artwork really captures the flavor of the Gilded Age. Each student could read a different one, and write one of their own.
Put a strong statement of the board. Divide the class into two groups: agree and disagree. During the discussion, kids are allowed to change sides.
song to play about lynching: Strange Fruit by Billie Holiday
Walt Whitman - track his changes resulting from the Civil War, his journey from journalist to poet. Study poem examples from romantic to realism.
"Magic paper" - hold a blank paper in front of a projected image to highlight one part of it
Idea for a game about people of the era: Students play 20 questions, and see if the audience can guess who they are in 20 questions
New York Times interactive map of different ethnic groups by decade, by county, by all sorts of things. Cool way to fiddle with loads of information
