Teaching Center · Printable handouts

Classroom handouts

Ready-to-print worksheets for the five lesson units, across K-12. Every one shows a worked example first, so students can see exactly what to do, then gives them room to do their own. The first set works for grades 6-12; the Early grades (K-5) set follows. These worksheets are the practice space; the actual documents to use them on live in the primary-source sets, and a teacher answer key covers every sheet.

Teacher answer keys Primary-source sets ← Teaching Center

South Coast LGBTQ+ Museum

Unit 1 · How Do We Know?Name Date

The Confidence Ladder

How strongly does the evidence support a claim? Pick a rung and defend it.

The four rungs

Verified a primary source or strong scholarly consensus Corroborated two independent sources agree Oral remembered but not yet documented Unknown an honest gap

Worked exampleClaim: "Gerry Studds was the first openly gay member of Congress." → Verified, because U.S. House records and Studds's own statement on the House floor in 1983 both document it.

Your turn

Claim you are testing:

Which rung, and why? Name your source(s):

What new evidence would move it up a rung?

South Coast LGBTQ+ Museum

Unit 1 · How Do We Know?Name Date

Source Check

Four questions to ask before you trust any source.

Question	Example: a 1983 Congressional Record entry	Your source: __________
Who made it?	The U.S. House, as an official record.
When, how close to the event?	The same day it happened.
Why might they say it? (bias)	An official duty to record votes; little motive to distort.
Does an independent source agree?	Yes, newspaper reporting from 1983.

Finish the frame

This source is reliable / unreliable for telling us ____________ because

South Coast LGBTQ+ Museum

Unit 1 · How Do We Know?Name Date

Confidence Audit

The performance task: judge one claim from any exhibit, in four steps.

Worked example1. Claim: Babe Didrikson was "the first lesbian gold medalist." 2. Evidence: a biographer reads her 6-year relationship with Betty Dodd as romantic; Didrikson denied it her whole life. 3. Tag: Corroborated as interpretation, documented relationship, contested meaning. 4. To raise it: a first-person letter or statement in her own words.

Your turn

1. The claim

2. The evidence behind it (and its source)

3. My confidence tag, and why

4. What would raise the confidence

South Coast LGBTQ+ Museum

Unit 2 · Sent to WashingtonName Date

How a Bill Becomes a Law

Follow a real law through each step. The example is the 1976 fishing-limit law; then trace one of your own.

1. Problem: overfishing threatened New Bedford's fleet.

↓

2. Introduced (House): Rep. Gerry Studds is a lead author.

↓

3. Committee → 4. House vote → 5. Senate: studied, amended, passed by both chambers.

↓

6. Signed into law: the 200-mile limit, 1976.

↓

7. The effect: protected the port's fishing grounds for decades.

Your turn, trace a different law

Law:

Problem it solved:

Who it reached:

South Coast LGBTQ+ Museum

Unit 2 · Sent to WashingtonName Date

The Rights Cycle

Rights advance in a loop. Read the example, then fill the cycle with one of your own.

1. A community: LGBTQ+ voters of the South Coast.

↓

2. elects representatives: Studds, then Frank, for 40 years.

↓

3. who change the law: and fight laws like DOMA.

↓

4. courts test & extend it: the Supreme Court strikes down the federal part of DOMA, 2013, and the new right returns to the community.

Your turn

1. Community:

2. Representatives:

3. Law:

4. Court:

South Coast LGBTQ+ Museum

Unit 2 · Sent to WashingtonName Date

Civics Vocabulary

Define each word in your own way, then use it in a sentence about this unit.

Term	In your own words
Censure (example)	A formal vote of disapproval by the House, serious, but less than removing the member.
Constituency
Redistricting
Federalism
Judicial review

South Coast LGBTQ+ Museum

Unit 3 · Reading Between the LinesName Date

Stated vs. Implied

Separate what a coded work says outright from what it really means.

What it STATES (the surface)	What it IMPLIES (the code)
Ma Rainey, "Prove It On Me Blues" (1928): "They must've been women, 'cause I don't like no men."	She sings of desiring women and dressing in a man's clothes, just inside what a 1928 record could say.

Then answer

Why did the maker have to code this meaning instead of stating it?

South Coast LGBTQ+ Museum

Unit 3 · Reading Between the LinesName Date

Symbol Key

Decode an encoded work. The example is Hartley's Portrait of a German Officer (1914), a hidden love letter to a man killed in the war.

Symbol in the work	What it really stands for
The initials "K.v.F."	Karl von Freyburg, the man Hartley loved.
The number 4 / the number 24	His regiment / his age when he died.

Then answer

Put it together: what is the whole hidden message?

South Coast LGBTQ+ Museum

Unit 4 · RememberingName Date

Memorial Design

Plan a memorial concept for a public figure, a community, or an idea, never a private person without consent.

Choice	Example (a panel for the Memorial Quilt)	Yours
Symbol	A favorite shirt's fabric.
Material	Hand-sewn cloth, soft, personal.
Scale / where	Grave-sized, laid on the ground.
Message	This was a person, not a statistic.

Artist's statement

I made these choices because I wanted people to feel

South Coast LGBTQ+ Museum

Unit 5 · Hidden in Plain SightName Date

Site Dossier

Research one local place. Find at least two independent sources before you draw conclusions.

Source	Example: a neighborhood bar	Your site: __________
Deed / assessor record	Who owned it, and when.
City directory	What business was listed, year by year.
Newspaper archive	Ads, events, an obituary.
Photo / the building itself	Old signage; later changes.

Then write

The story this place tells, and what you still don't know:

South Coast LGBTQ+ Museum

Unit 5 · Hidden in Plain SightInterviewer Date

Oral History, Consent & Ethics

Complete before any interview. The narrator's wishes always come first.

Example consent statement"My name is ___. I'm recording this for a school history project. With your permission, your words may be used in a class exhibit. You can review it, change it, or ask me to remove anything, at any time. I will never share your name or identity without your okay."

Before I begin, I have:

explained who I am and how this may be used
gotten consent (in writing if possible)
offered the right to review, redact, or withdraw
promised not to out anyone, identity is theirs to share
planned to listen more than I talk

My five open questions

South Coast LGBTQ+ Museum

Unit 5 · Hidden in Plain SightName Date

Coverage Map of My Town

Like the museum's dashboard: mark what's known, what's thin, what's missing, and why.

Topic / era / place	Strong / Thin / Missing	Why might it be thin?
Local gay bars, 1980s	Thin	Records were never kept; owners have passed.

Then propose

One gap my class could help fill, and a first step:

Early grades · K–5

Big-print, hands-on versions of the same skills for the youngest learners. Sharing is always optional; keep it warm.

South Coast LGBTQ+ Museum

Unit 1 · K-2 · Fact DetectivesName Date

Fact Detective Sort

How do you know? Put each one where it belongs.

I SAW IT	SOMEONE TOLD ME	I'M GUESSING
My shoe is untied.	It will rain tomorrow.	Dinosaurs were green.

Draw or write

One thing I know because I saw it:

South Coast LGBTQ+ Museum

Unit 1 · K-2 · Fact DetectivesClass

My Thumbs Card

Show how sure you are. Color it in and cut it out.

👍 Thumb UP	👎️‍ Thumb SIDE	👎 Thumb DOWN
Sure! I know this.	Kind of. Maybe.	Not sure. I should check.

Practice

"There are ___ windows in our room." My thumb is: 👍 👎️‍ 👎 Now we check: there are

South Coast LGBTQ+ Museum

Unit 2 · K-2 · Who Speaks for Us?Class Date

Our Class Vote

A fair way to decide together. Make one tally mark for each hand.

Choice	Tally	Total
Read the dinosaur book (example)	\|\|\|\| \|\|	7

Finish the sentence

The choice with the most votes was

South Coast LGBTQ+ Museum

Unit 2 · K-2 · Who Speaks for Us?Name

Who Helps?

Some people are chosen to speak for a whole group. Draw a line to match.

This helper…	…does this job
Line leader	Speaks for our town
Class representative	Leads the class line
Mayor	Carries the class's ideas to the teacher

Your turn

One helper who speaks for me:

South Coast LGBTQ+ Museum

Unit 3 · K-2 · Secret MessagesName

Symbols: Match & Make

A symbol is a picture that stands for an idea. Match each one, then make your own.

Symbol	Stands for…
❤️ Heart	Stop
⛔ Stop sign	Love
♻️ Recycle arrows	Reuse it

Make a symbol

My symbol for friendship (draw it in the box):

South Coast LGBTQ+ Museum

Unit 4 · K-2 · People We LoveName

My Memory Square

Decorate a square about something or someone special and happy. We'll sew the squares into a class quilt.

Tell us

My square is about

South Coast LGBTQ+ Museum

Unit 5 · K-2 · History Where I LiveName

Then & Now

Things change over time. Draw or write our place long ago, and today.

THEN (long ago)	NOW (today)

One thing that changed

South Coast LGBTQ+ Museum

Unit 5 · K-2 · History Where I LiveTake me home!

Ask an Elder

Bring this home. Ask a grown-up you love about the old days. Say please and thank you!

1. When you were my age, what did you do for fun?

2. What is one thing that is different now?

3. What is a happy memory you want me to know?

Who I asked:

South Coast LGBTQ+ Museum

Unit 1 · 3-5 · Fact from GuessName Date

The Confidence Ladder (3-5)

How sure are we? Put each statement on a rung and say why.

Sure strong evidence from the time Pretty sure sources agree Heard it a story, not yet checked Don't know yet we can't tell

Worked exampleStatement: "New Bedford was a great whaling port." → Sure, the city's records, the whaling museum, and old newspapers all show it.

Your turn

Statement:

Rung, and why:

South Coast LGBTQ+ Museum

Unit 1 · 3-5 · Fact from GuessName

Source Sort

From the time, or told later? Both are useful, for different jobs.

FROM THE TIME (primary)	TOLD LATER (secondary)
A photo of the harbor in 1850.	Our textbook page about 1850.

Then decide

My two sources agree / don't agree, so I am Sure / Pretty sure / Not sure because

South Coast LGBTQ+ Museum

Unit 2 · 3-5 · How Rules Get MadeName

How a Rule Becomes Law (3-5)

Follow the steps with the example, then trace a rule you would change.

1. Idea: we need a longer recess.

↓

2. Proposed: someone writes it down for the group.

↓

3. Debated → 4. Voted: the group talks it over and votes.

↓

5. Becomes the rule: a leader makes it official.

A rule I would change

South Coast LGBTQ+ Museum

Unit 2 · 3-5 · How Rules Get MadeName

Represent Us

Plan a proposal and how you'll make the case to the people who decide.

What I want to change
Why it's fair / helps
Who decides this
My best reason

South Coast LGBTQ+ Museum

Unit 3 · 3-5 · Saying It Without Saying ItName

Stated vs Implied (3-5)

What does it SAY, and what does it MEAN? Some messages hide their meaning, for fun, for privacy, or for safety.

It SAYS (the words)	It MEANS (under the words)
"It's raining cats and dogs."	It is raining very hard.

Then think

A reason someone might not say a thing straight out:

South Coast LGBTQ+ Museum

Unit 4 · 3-5 · How Communities RememberName

Memorial Design (3-5)

Plan a memorial for a community or an idea (not a private person). Every choice should mean something.

It remembers…
Shape / symbol
Where it goes
The message

Why these choices honor it

South Coast LGBTQ+ Museum

Unit 5 · 3-5 · Community HistorianName

Site Clues

Read a place like a detective. What clues tell its story?

Clue I notice	What it might tell me
Old painted sign under the new one	A different business was here before.

I still wonder

South Coast LGBTQ+ Museum

Unit 5 · 3-5 · Community HistorianName

Interview with Permission

Before you ask, get permission. Listen, and say thank you. Never share someone's story without their okay.

I asked permission first
I will listen more than I talk
I will say thank you
I will only share their story if they say okay

My three kind questions