Curated OER
Manifest Destiny
Students identify the implications of Manifest Destiny. In this Westward Expansion lesson, students view a PowerPoint presentation on the topic and then respond to questions based on the details of the presentation.
Curated OER
End of the Line: What Happened to the Blue Ridge Railroad?
Sixth graders study the westward expansion and the role of railroad construction to the expansion. For this railroad history lesson, 6th graders complete KWL activity for the topic. Students view a PowerPoint about the growth of...
Curated OER
Manifest Destiny
Learners explore the concept of Manifest Destiny. For this Westward Expansion lesson, students discuss the impact of Manifest Destiny on different groups of people who inhabited the West. Learners create journals...
Curated OER
An Orderly Wagon Train Migration
Sixth graders work in small groups to organize a wagon train for a trek westward. They determine leadership responsibilities and rules needed to make a successful trek.
Curated OER
Going West: The Artist Who Painted the Way
Fifth graders study the artists and artwork of the Westward movement. For this Westward Movement lesson set, 5th graders examine the characteristics of the art of this era. They look at the lives of the artists and think about how the...
Curated OER
Wagons West
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.
Curated OER
Manifest Destiny Questions
In this Westward Expansion instructional activity, students respond to 7 short answer questions about America's vision of Manifest Destiny and its effects.
Curated OER
Manifest Destiny Lesson Plan
Learners examine how Americans justified Westward Expansion. In this American history lesson, your historians will watch a Manifest Destiny Powerpoint presentation and discuss each slide then participate in a class...
Curated OER
Whats so Different Between Them
Learners evaluate primary sources. In this Westward Expansion lesson, students will write essays that compare and contrast the differences and similarities between pioneers and Native Americans. Learners will engage in a wide variety of...
Curated OER
The Settlers are Coming, but the Natives are Here
Learners 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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Wounded Knee Massacre
Middle schoolers interpret historical evidence presented in primary and secondary resources. In this Westward Expansion lesson, students examine sources regarding the Battle of Wounded Knee from the perspective of Lakota...
Curated OER
Manifest Destiny
In this Westward Expansion activity, learners read assigned textbook pages which describe Manifest Destiny and respond to 33 short answer questions.
Anti-Defamation League
Viewing History from Multiple Perspectives
Celebration or protest song? The full text of Woody Guthrie's "This Land is Your Land" opens a study of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the Louisiana Purchase, and Western Expansion from various perspectives. Middle schoolers examine...
DocsTeach
Patent Analysis: Joseph Glidden's Barbed Wire
Barbed wire may have made cattle farming easier, but it brought to an end the free-roaming days of the plains. No longer could Native American groups continue their nomadic lifestyle, and the days of cowboys herding large groups of...
Curated OER
Westward Expansion
Eighth graders explore the components of the Westward Movement in the United States. Understanding the past and the linkages it has to the present is the intended goal of this seventeen day unit.
Curated OER
Wagons West
Students prepare to travel west. In this Westward Movement lesson plan, students participate in classroom activities that require them to prepare for a trip west as pioneers.
Curated OER
Wagon's West: Life on the Trail
Young scholars investigate what life on the Oregon Trail was like. For this Westward Movement lesson, students eat foods that were eaten by settlers on the trail as they read textbook pages about the trial. Young scholars then draw an...
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Pioneer Scramble
Young scholars explore the concept of Manifest Destiny. In this Westward Movement lesson, students study why Americans emigrated west in the 1840s and 1850s. Young scholars create interactive timelines, write exploration reports, and...
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The Growth of the United States
In this westward expansion worksheet, students fill out a graphic organizer of predictions and short answers of how land was acquired in the United States. Students do this for 6 land territories.
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African Americans and the Move West
Students examine the phases of westward migration in the United States during the 19th century focusing on the incentives that led many African Americans to make the move.
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The Railroads: The First Transcontinental Railroad
The move West was greatly effected by the first transcontinental railroad. Present your class with well-organized information regarding major causes, players, and effects the railroad had on the face of an expanding America. Note: A...
Curated OER
Cultural Lit. 18: The Oregon Trail & Native Americans
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.
Curated OER
Western Expansion and Native Americans
Fifth graders research the Oregon, Old Spanish, California, and Mormon trails, and the impact western expansion had on the Native Americans living on those lands.
Curated OER
Cultural Lit. 19: Old Spanish Trail & Native Americans
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.