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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The People of Kansas: Who Are They and Why Are They Here?

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students examine the settlement patterns of the Kansas Territory. In this Kansas history activity, students analyze primary documents from the pioneers in the territory. Students write letters or perform skits that feature their findings.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Cultural Lit. 19: Old Spanish Trail & Native Americans

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders name the American Indian people by tribe who lived in the lands which the Old Spanish Trail traversed. They investigate and describe some impacts of western expansion upon the American Indians.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Cultural Lit. 18: The Oregon Trail & Native Americans

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders name the American Indian people by tribe who lived in the lands which the Oregon Trail traversed. They investigate and describe some impacts of western expansion upon the American Indians.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Trial of Standing Bear

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students investigate the story of Standing Bear and his people as they defied the U.S. Governemt and returned to their homes in Omaha. Their arrest was followed by a trial which the Ponca people won.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Who is Who in the Old West?

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students consider the backgrounds of those who settled the Old West. In this Westward Expansion lesson, students participate in a simulation that requires them to role play miners, ranchers, Native Americans, Chinese, African Americans,...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Settlers are Coming, but the Natives are Here

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students examine interactions between Native Americans and settlers. In this Westward Expansion lesson, students participate in a classroom simulation and then write paper about how the Native Americans and settlers could keep the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Wagon's West

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students travel to the American West. In this Westward Expansion lesson, students discuss the Oregon Trail and then play the computer game of the same title. Students take on the roles of those who travelled the trail.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Wagons West

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students examine life on westward trails. In this Westward Expansion lesson, students analyze textbook passages about life on the Oregon Trail and the motivations of the people who settled Oregon.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Wagons West

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students prepare to travel west. In this Westward Movement lesson, students participate in classroom activities that require them to prepare for a trip west as pioneers.
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Lesson Plan
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Smithsonian Institution

Two Perspectives on the Battle of Little Bighorn/Greasy Grass

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Learners understand why historians conduct research and the importance of perception when it comes to studying history. The resource covers The Wars of Expansion and the Battle of Little Bighorn/Greasy Grass through group work, debate,...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The People of Kansas

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students investigate primary sources to experience first- hand accounts of Kansas pioneers. They write an historical fiction letter or skit based on territorial documents.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Las Vegas Mormon Fort

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Students use maps, readings, letters, photos and drawings to identify why Mormons came to the Las Vegas area and what they hoped to accomplish by establishing an outpost. They consider the roles of early women pioneers and outline their...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Industrial Revolution

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders examine the time period of the Industrial revolution in American history.  In this American History activity, 8th graders read the chapter on this time period.  Students create a presentation on this time period to teach...
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Lesson Plan
Alabama Department of Archives and History

Conflict in Alabama in the 1830s: Native Americans, Settlers, and Government

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
To better understand the Indian Removal Act of 1830, class members examine primary source documents including letters written by Alabama governors and the Cherokee chiefs. The lesson is part of a unit on the expansion of the United...
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Lesson Plan
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media

Westward Expansion: Image and Reality

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
As your young historians study Westward Expansion, practice in-depth primary source analysis with the documents and guidelines presented in this resource. They will examine a lithograph and excerpts from two letters written by a Nebraska...
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Lesson Plan
1
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National Endowment for the Humanities

The Question of an American Empire

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
As it rose to being the new super power, America had a choice: conquer other nations like its European predecessors, or stay home. Using primary source documents from those thinking about American foreign policy in the late 1800s,...
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Lesson Plan
2
2
Smithsonian Institution

Borders with the World: Mexican-American War and U.S. Southern Borderlands

For Teachers 8th - 11th Standards
The Mexican-American War created social borders—not just physical ones. Scholars learn about the effects of the Mexican-American War on the people living in the borderlands using text excerpts, maps, and partnered activities. Academics...
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Lesson Plan
2
2
Smithsonian Institution

Native Resistance: Native Resistance Then and Now

For Teachers 8th - 11th Standards
Native Americans lost so much—and gained so little in return. Scholars explore Native Americans' resistance to the United States government. The lesson uses primary sources to explore the different forms of protest and gives a voice to...
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Lesson Plan
Center for History Education

Transforming the West: Did the Reality Match the Expectations for Kansas Homesteaders?

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
They expected good soil and hearty crops ... but they found buffalo chips and grasshopper plagues. Using an advertisement encouraging famers to go west, budding historians examine primary sources including letters, photographs, and...
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Surviving Assimilation: American Indian Boarding Schools

For Teachers 9th
The boarding school era is "a history that all of us need to know about," says Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland. Here's a instructional activity that examines that history. High schoolers examine video interviews of Native Americans...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Teaching With Documents Lesson Plan: The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

For Teachers 8th - 10th
Students demonstrate understanding of the ideology of Manifest Destiny, the nation's expansion to Northwest, and the Mexican-American War. Students understand national foreign policy.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Pioneer Scramble

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students explore the concept of Manifest Destiny. In this Westward Movement lesson, students study why Americans emigrated west in the 1840s and 1850s. Students create interactive timelines, write exploration reports, and complete an art...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Trail of Tears

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students investigate the terms of the Indian Removal Act of 1830. They research the implications of the Indian Removal Act for Native American people. Students demonstrate an understand the impact of Manifest Destiny had on Native...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

That's the Spirit

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Is, as Walt Whitman contends, America’s “almost maniacal appetite for wealth,” the heart of the American dream? Class members grapple with this question as they read David Brooks’ article “The Commercial Republic,” and quotes that...

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