Free History Unit Studies and Lesson Plans

If you’re looking for free history unit studies and lesson plans, you’ve come to the right place! These free resources are perfect for piecing together your own history curriculum based on your children’s interests. They can also be used to supplement any history curriculum. Sometimes history textbooks just don’t go into enough depth on certain topics or may skip over other historical events entirely.

Free History Unit Studies and Lesson Plans

All Hands on Deck– This 13-lesson unit study covers the USS Constitution’s construction, crew, accomplishments in battle, and preservation.

American Battlefields Trust– This organization offers Civil War and Revolutionary War lessons, crash courses, videos, and more.

Civics Renewal Network– This organization offers lesson plans covering history, government, citizenship, and more.

Core Knowledge Foundation– Core Knowledge offers U.S. and world history and geography unit studies for kindergarten through 8th grade.

DIY Homeschooler– DIY Homeschooler has a large collection of unit studies covering historical events, geography, and civics.

DocsTeach– At DocsTeach, you can access thousands of primary source documents spanning the course of American history. There are lessons and activities using these documents for students in elementary school through college.

Doors to the World– Doors to the World provides unit study lesson plans for books that teach children about cultures around the world. Most of the books are written for early elementary-aged children.

Easy Teacher Worksheets– This website offers an extensive collection of printable worksheets covering historical events and figures, geography, government, and more.

EDSITEment– At EDSITEment, you’ll find an extensive collection of humanities lesson plans and teacher’s guides for every grade. There are resources for history, social studies, art, culture, and language arts.

Education World– This website provides history lesson plans, activities, and teaching ideas for every grade.

Fresh Plans– Fresh Plans offers a collection of lesson plans covering history, geography, and social studies. Most of the lessons can be adapted to use with a wide range of ages.

Fun, FREE Unit Studies– This website has collections of unit studies covering world geography, U.S. presidents, and the 50 states. These unit studies were created for elementary or middle school aged children. They also offer a collection of unit studies specifically for 8th grade American history.

The Hillsdale 1776 Curriculum– These curriculum units cover American history and civics. There are units for every grade.

History Teaching Institute– These lesson plans cover a variety of topics in U.S. and world history. Most of the plans are aimed at middle school or high school aged students.

Homeschool Helper Online– This collection of unit studies covers various topics in U.S. history, world history, and geography. Most of the units are designed for elementary or middle school, but high schoolers can use some of them.

Homeschool Lesson Plans– These lesson plans cover early American history, modern history, ancient history, and world geography. Most of the lessons were gathered and used in a homeschool co-op with kids ages 8 to 13.

Homeschool Share– Many of Homeschool Share’s literature-based unit studies include a history or geography component. Most of their unit studies are designed for elementary or middle school aged kids.

Little Patriots– This learning platform, created by the American Cornerstone Institute, teaches American history, civics, and values from a Biblical perspective to children in kindergarten through fifth grade.

PBS Learning Media– PBS offers an extensive library of resources for teaching government, history, economics, and more to all ages. There are lesson plans, interactive lessons, videos, and historical documents.

Peanut Butter Fish Lessons– This website offers unit studies based on books that cover historical events and people.

Practical Pages– This website provides printable paper dolls from various historical time periods.

Research Parent– Research Parent offers printable timelines, historical figure cards, and many hands-on activities.

Smithsonian Learning Lab– This website allows educators and students to access digitized assets from the Smithsonian’s museums, galleries, research centers, libraries, archives, and The National Zoo through targeted search or exploration.

Stanford History Education Group– Stanford’s Read Like a Historian lesson plans teach students how to investigate historical topics.

Teach American History– This website provides discussion questions, lesson plans, and other resources for teaching American history to high school students.

TeachingHistory.org– Here, you’ll find lesson plans, teaching guides, and other resources for teaching American history to all ages.

Teach with Movies– This website provides lesson plans for using movies to teach about American history, world history, and other subjects. You can search for recommended movies based on your child’s age.

Textbook Free History Planning Pages– These printable planning pages will help you put together your own multi-age textbook free history curriculum.

Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool Plus– Tina has created a large collection of unit studies and lapbooks covering various events in world and U.S. history. These materials can be used with a wide range of ages.

Woo! Jr. Kids Activities– Woo! Jr. Kids provides printable history lessons and worksheets. Most of the materials are for elementary aged children.

World History Encyclopedia– This organization provides lesson plans, activities, student handouts, quizzes, a media library, an online history encyclopedia, and more.

Additional Free History Resources

History and Social Studies Curriculum– Free curriculum for history, social studies, geography, and government.

History Timelines– Free printable and online timelines.

History Websites for Homeschoolers– Explore history with these informative websites.

Homeschool History with YouTube– Learn about history with these YouTube channels.

Virtual Field Trips– Explore the world, including many historical sites and museums, through virtual field trips.

Christmas Around the World Unit Studies– This Christmas unit study series explores other countries’ Christmas traditions, culture, history, and geography.

Note: This post was originally published on February 16, 2020 and has been updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.