This module's artifacts are a pretty neat lesson about boundaries and political divisiveness and would make a good station/centers activity. After reviewing the artifacts and reading the captions--material that indicates the class is on the verge of studying the Civil War--students could then address in a short writing or longer response the steps that led America from indentured servitude in the colonies, to Constitutional compromises, to eventual war, demonstrating their knowledge of, and the connections between, the various rebellions and political maneuvers that created an America so ideologically divided that political division and war resulted.

I've actually always wanted to conduct a lesson in American history that was based on or around music. Students could be randomly assigned a song that in some way touched on American history or culture--some examples off the top of my head include Don McLean's 'American Pie', Bruce Springsteen's 'Born in the USA', Billy Joel's 'We Didn't Start the Fire', CSNY's 'Ohio', CCR's 'Fortunate Son', or Woodie Guthrie's 'Ludlow Massacre' to name a few--and students, in groups or alone, would listen to the assigned song, research the lyrics, discern the meanings/events, and then present to class their findings in several categories. These categories could include the year the song was written versus the year(s) of the events discussed; is the song pro-topic or protest music, and why; does the musician have any history with the subject matter; does the song tie into a larger era or event (e.g., Vietnam, Cold War, American expansion and labor issues, migration, etc.). After presenting to the class--by handing out lyric sheets, performing the song, and either leading a PPT presentation or poster--students would be tasked to find a song on their own that related to history or even to write lyrics for a song about a topic in the course that they found interesting, upsetting, surprising, etc.

Keeping it simple, I'd have students look in their fridges and freezers and see what sort of food they have at the ready. Are they and their families prepared for shortages in the case of war? Is it fresh food, canned, or dehydrated? How about donations? Need them? Going to make them?

Does the current situation compare to the troops of WW2 or Korea? How do the Japanese internees play a roll in this?

This assignment--given that students are learning a very broad overview about the beginning of Nazi/Axis aggression, Allied response, and actual WW--is exploring minutia, but it could be interesting to have them research the current state of these "war era instant" materials... I've had a lot of Nescafe coffee in Russia and eaten SPAM in Hawaii... what makes this real for students?