Students investigate freedom. In this character development and U.S. history lesson plan, students participate in role playing in which the teacher assigns recess restrictions including whom they play with and what they play. Students...

Students compare the cultural customs of people from European descent and African Americans between 1900 and 1940. Next students listen to interviews about life during the time of Jim Crow laws, and determine how life might be different...

Students demonstrate an understanding of the immigrant experience in their state. For this immigrant lesson, students listen to immigrant speakers to their state and what their lives were like. Students write brief reports or complete...

Young scholars examine the experiences of immigrants coming to America from China. They create cultural profiles for themselves and others. They identify the reasons why people immigrate to another country.

Students examine the similarities and differences between modern day immigrants and pilgrims. They listen to stories, discuss their ancestors' origins, and create a native costume for a paper doll for where their ancestor is from.

Third graders develop an appreciate for the various cultures that are present in their local community. Through reading and research, they explain how various culture came to live in their area. At the conclusion of the unit, 3rd...

  Did you know that 50% of all Americans can trace a relative who traveled through Ellis Island? Relive these journeys with your class and then provide sentence strategy templates for them to use to compose their own informative...

Nonfiction texts about people on the move provide young readers with an opportunity to examine not only the problem-solving strategies employed by immigrants, but to also find examples of figurative language these writers use to tell...

Five brief readings with questions support practice with various literacy skills. In some cases, learners identify whether underlined words are spelled correctly. Other times, they answer reading comprehension questions about the text or...

Young scholars discuss the pre-reading focus questions. In this reading lesson, students discuss and explore the book cover and title. Young scholars predict what they will learn from this book. Additionally, students read to find out...

Life in the great, wide-open spaces of the West! Scholars analyze the reasons behind the vast movement to the Great Plains after the passing of the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the Homestead Act. Using photographic, document, map, video, and...

Students investigate the history of America with the help of children's literature. The story is structured as a timeline that begins at the time of Columbus and progresses to the present. The teacher reads the story with the class and...

Students research the main reasons for the colonists moving to the Pennsylvania colony. They analyze maps, label a bubble map, list similarities/differences of immigrants then and now, and create a colonial newspaper advertisement.

Learners research the importance of the railroad to Texas cities and American life. They identify the pros and cons of railroads, locate railroads in Texas cities using the Texas bird's-eye view website, and write a newspaper article.

Third graders explore the multi-ethnic nature of America's citizens and examine the symbolism of the Statue of Liberty. In this Molly's Pilgrim lesson plan, 3rd graders discuss the poem "The New Colossus," examine vocabulary...

The stated goal of this resource is to provide learners with basic facts about and build empathy for Iraqi refugees. To do so elementary classes develop a plan for how to welcome refugees to their classroom. Middle schoolers read...

Young scholars gain insight into how historians record events by engaging in an oral history project. In preparation, class members brainstorm open-ended interview questions and take part in and debrief a mock interview simulation....

Third graders are introduced to the concept of ancestry. Using their own family, they gather information related to the family roots. In groups, they locate the countries on a map and discuss the concept of migration. They identify...

Students work in groups in order to perform research about the different aspects of immigration. Once they have completed the research a comic strip is created regarding the findings.

Students interview immigrants of Central Florida and photograph them to learn their oral history and life stories. In this immigration lesson plan, students discover where people come from, and write about the life story of this person.

Students investigate Japanese culture by creating origami.  In this Asian heritage lesson plan, students utilize the Internet to view origami tutorials which they use to create birds and other animals.  Students discuss what...

Students study the westward movement through examining stamps. In this westward movement lesson plan, students draw conclusions, determine cause and effect relationships and examine the westward movement of the United States by...

Students complete a Web quest about Biddy Mason's journey Westward to California as a slave and her ultimate rise to one of the wealthiest and generous woman of the Westward Movement. They present an exhibit of their research.

Use this U.S. History unit plan as a template for creating your own! Simply download the resource and edit the text fields with your own customized unit plan. This is a great jumping-off step, especially for newer teachers.