Themed Lessons

Through this lesson and activity, students in grades nine through twelve will begin to have an understanding and knowledge of Detroit’s important and relevant civil rights history. Students will role-play and take a stand on certain issues. As part of taking a side, they will also have to provide reasons for their decision. In doing so, students will take part in an active learning experience and Core Democratic Values.

The right to organize had been granted by the National Labor relations Act of 1935. The right to organize was won by workers in a series of confrontations known as sit-down strikes. Through this lesson, students in grades nine through twelve will gain a better understanding of this process.

Wartime production of WWII within Detroit and its suburban areas played an important part to support the troops and the eventual victory, but at what cost? It is the role of this lesson to allow high school students to research and share their findings with one another in an effort to understand the actions that led to Detroit being labeled the “union city,” forever changing the infrastructure of Detroit.

This lesson helps High School United States History students, over two class periods, understand the important role the Tuskegee Airmen played in World War II, and that many of them were from the Detroit area.

This lesson will enable high school students to explore the rise of Wyandotte toys into one of the most successful toy companies in the world, its role in WWII, and the adjustments the company had to make after the war was over.

This lesson uses posters and prints archived in the Detroit Historical Museum’s digital collection to show high school students the importance that printed materials played in the total war effort and the significance of using primary sources in the classroom. The educator will use LOC analysis sheets, reasons for using primary sources, and the “gallery walk” teaching strategy.

The Norwayne Welcoming Committee lesson uses primary sources, maps and role playing to help students critically examine and understand the housing shortage crisis generated by the onset of WWII.