Teacher Workshops

America at a Crossroads is a series of documentaries that explore the challenges confronting the post-9/11 world — including the war on terrorism; the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan; the experience of American troops serving abroad; the struggle for balance within the Muslim world; and global perspectives on America’s role overseas.

Michael Wood explores the history behind some of the most well-known myths in the world in the television series In Search of Myths and Heroes. Lesson plans are available for each episode: The Queen of Sheba; The Search for Shangri-La; Arthur: The Once and Future King; and Jason and the Golden Fleece.

An educator's guide and/or lesson plans are an important component of every major television production by Ken Burns. Click on the program titles below to go to the teacher resources associated with each.

• Baseball
• Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio
• Frank Lloyd Wright
• Horatio's Drive: America's First Road Trip
• JAZZ
• Lewis and Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery
• Mark Twain
• Not for Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony
• The Civil War
• THE WAR
• The West
• Thomas Jefferson
• Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson

The lesson plans for the PBS series The Jewish Americans explore immigration, identity and the way Jewish life fits into U.S. history. The lesson plans also examine issues of assimilation, discrimination, and change in the immigrant experience. Four lesson plans are available.

To accompany the television series THE WAR, WETA PBS developed a lesson plan for history teachers called "In Their Words: Exploring World War II Through the Power of Story." The 26-page lesson plan is designed for grades 6-12 and can be downloaded below. (Also be sure to see the For Educators area of THE WAR website on for additional lesson plans, snapshot activities, a search and explore database, and more.)