Target Audience: Grades 6-12
Subjects/Skills: U.S. History, Social Studies, Civics, Historical Thinking Skills
The PBS LearningMedia AMERICAN EXPERIENCE collection of educational resources from TV’s most watched history series brings to life compelling stories from America’s past that inform students’ understanding of the world today.
Featuring media from AMERICAN EXPERIENCE’s broadcast films and interactive experiences, educational resources in this collection include video clips selected for their alignment to standards and classroom topics, paired with essential questions, teaching tips, background readings, vocabulary, and student activities.
In addition to covering the key topics, central figures, and pivotal moments that have shaped this nation’s history, AMERICAN EXPERIENCE resources on PBS LearningMedia seek to expand and complicate traditional historical narratives by presenting diverse perspectives and voices of everyday people whose stories are often untold. This commitment to multiple perspectives, multi-layered storytelling, and complicated history, presents the opportunity for students to develop and hone historical thinking skills such as interpreting cause and effect, understanding the diversity of historical experience, and developing civic understanding and engagement while encouraging them to build historical empathy.
Some of the most popular resources and educator-facing workshops and conference presentations have come from The Pilgrims, The Great War, and Last Days in Vietnam, to name a few.
Reach/Impact
486 educators registered for the PBS LearningMedia webinar entitled The 100th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment, featuring Marcia Chatelain. One attendee reported:
I am very excited about these resources and the new connections you have made for me… I have always loved American Experience but this is above and beyond in the ways that you have brought together great teaching resources and great content. THANK YOU!
Contact Us: education@wgbh.org.