Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The First Americans

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders explore American history by researching Native Americans. For this American settlers lesson, 3rd graders research the Native American Woodland Indians and define the actions they took when faced with the European settlers....
Lesson Plan
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media

What Brought Settlers to the Midwest?

For Teachers 3rd - 5th Standards
Drawn by promises of fertile land, thousands of settlers poured West because of the Homestead Act of 1862. By examining images of the ads that drew them westward, learners consider the motivations for movement. They also consider how the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The American Wilderness? How 19th Century American Artists Viewed the Separation of Civilization and Nature

For Teachers 9th - 11th
The attitudes of European settlers toward the American wilderness, as reflected in art and literature, is the focus of this resource packet designed for teachers. Included in the unit overview you will find lists or paintings and...
Activity
Smarter Balanced

American West in the 1800s

For Teachers 8th - 12th
To establish a context for an assessment or a study of pioneers and the American frontier in the 1800s, groups examine photos and record observations about clothing, housing, and travel.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The American Dream

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students discuss the American dream and explain what the American Dream consists of. In this American Dream lesson, students listen to music about America for the reasons people love America.  Students create a list of wants and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Native American Culture

For Teachers K - 3rd
Students read a variety of Native American Literature and discuss the main idea by answering critical thinking questions about the poem. Students use context clues to understand the feeling of the Native American culture about the Earth....
Lesson Plan
University of Southern California

Coming to America After the War

For Teachers 10th - 12th Standards
As part of their exploration of the American dream, class members examine primary source materials to compare immigrant experiences of those arriving early in our country's history to those arriving in the US after World War...
Worksheet
DePaul University

Settlement

For Students 3rd - 5th Standards
Early settlers in the American Midwest experienced constant struggle. This reading passage describes for young learners the hardships of homesteaders as they journeyed west and sought to start a new life. When finished, students identify...
Unit Plan
Annenberg Foundation

Utopian Promise

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Scholars learn all about the Puritans in the third installment of a 16-part lesson series. After watching a video, they read and discuss biographies of Puritans and Quakers from American history, write journal entries and poetry, and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Agriculture Shapes Kentucky History

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Young scholars explore the lives of early American Indians and settlers in Kentucky. They describe the agricultural practices of Indians native to Kentucky and develop a supply list for a group of settlers coming to the state to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Railroads and Settlement of the Great Plains

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Enhance your American literature unit with this resource, in which readers access the Nebraska Studies website and read about "Railroads and Settlement." They search for a photograph of some aspect of the railroad from the Prairie...
Lesson Plan
PBS

Myth of the West: The Battle of the Washita

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Go West, young man! Scholars use PBS video clips, slide shows, and interactive materials to create a picture of Manifest Destiny in the American West. Using a variety of primary and secondary sources, young historians learn about the...
Lesson Plan
PBS

Myth of the West: Kit Carson to the Rescue

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
There's nothing like the Wild Wild West! Scholars investigate the American Frontier through the eyes of Kit Carson. To complete the first installment of a three-part series, they use presentations, a short video, and primary and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sharing Their Stories: Native American Literature and Culture in 19th Century America

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Young scholars investigate Native American culture reading and writing about early Native American authors. They listen to an expert to extend their understanding of the culture.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Native American Philanthropists

For Teachers K - 2nd
Students demonstrate how Native Americans were philanthropic. In this philanthropy lesson, students read Squanto's Journey and brainstorm ways that the Native Americans were helpful towards the Pilgrims. Students reflect on the long-term...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Wagons Ho! Hard Times! Hard Choices!

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
You have just hit the lesson plan jackpot! This isn't just a instructional activity, it's a ten-day unit covering westward expansion, pioneer life, and the Oregon Trail. Activities include baking, model building, role-play, newspaper...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Regional Landforms and Native People

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders study the Native American tribes of Maidu and Miwok by studying Internet artifacts, culture, language, music, storytelling, architecture, food, clothing, crafts and geology.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Voice of Dreams

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Learners explore, analyze and study novel reflections on the American dream that the United States has held the promise of unlimited possibilities. They describe the concept of the American dream, listen to and record real stories of...
Unit Plan
Curated OER

James Welch's Fools Crow

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Learners explore the history of Montana's Native Americans by reading James Welch's Fools Crow. Set shortly after the Civil War, the novel focuses on a young Blackfoot Indian and his tribe. Over the course of several weeks, class members...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Bison on the Plains

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders explore U.S. geography by reading assigned text about American Indians. In this migration lesson, 5th graders identify the differences between Native Americans and European settlers who traveled through middle America in...
Worksheet
ReadWriteThink

Compare and Contrast

For Students 4th - 6th Standards
Read about the ways that different cultures set up homes with a set of reading activities. Learners read short paragraphs that cover one or more different ideas, and answer four questions about what they have read, including whether or...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Cherokee Indians and the Trail of Tears

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students investigate U.S. history by reading American Indian stories. In this Cherokee Indian lesson, students identify the cruelty inflicted towards Native Americans by the European settlers and the "trail of tears" that were left....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Native American Project

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Learners explore the influences that geography has on a Native American tribe's culture and lifestyle. They examine how the first encounters with Europeans affected that tribe.
Worksheet
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K12 Reader

Escaping Persecution

For Students 4th - 5th Standards
Pilgrims, puritans, and Pennsylvania are all featured in a reading comprehension worksheet that asks kids to read a short passage about these early settlers and then to answer a series of questions based on the article.

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