Lesson Plan
HotChalk

Hot Chalk: Lesson Plans Page: Trail of Tears

For Teachers 6th - 8th
This detailed site has students recreating what the Native Americans went through during the Trail of Tears. This lesson plan allows for critical thinking, collaboration, acting/role-playing, and writing.
Handout
Missouri State University

Delaware Town: Trail of Tears

For Students 9th - 10th
Read details about the history of the Cherokee Trail of Tears in Missouri, a major event in U.S. history.
Primary
Digital Public Library of America

Dpla: Cherokee Removal and the Trail of Tears

For Students 9th - 10th
The sources in this primary set uses documents, images, and music to reveal the story of Cherokee removal, which is part of a larger story known as the Trail of Tears. Includes teaching guide.
Lesson Plan
Volunteer Voices

Volunteer Voices: On the Trail of Tears [Pdf]

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
In this lesson, learners work with primary source documents to recapture the experience of traveling on the Trail of Tears.
Activity
Constitutional Rights Foundation

Constitutional Rights Foundation: Indian Removal: The Cherokees, Jackson, and the "Trail of Tears"

For Students 9th - 10th
Collaborative and consensus building activity on U.S. policy and treatment of Native Americans. Lesson provides an in-depth look at government Indian removal and provides a list from which students choose and defend a Native American...
Activity
Other

Cherokee Messenger: Brief History of the Trail of Tears

For Students 9th - 10th
This website gives details about the events that led up to the displacement of the Cherokee Indians and the "Trail of Tears."
Handout
Wikimedia

Wikipedia: Trail of Tears

For Students 9th - 10th
This site from Wikipedia provides a description of the Trail of Tears. Also given is some background information that led to the removal of the Cherokees from northern Georgia as well as information on the actual removal process.
Website
Curated OER

National Park Service: Trail of Tears National Historic Trail

For Students 9th - 10th
National Park Services provides an overview of the Trail of Tears, a nine state wide stretch of America the Cherokee Indians were pushed across by the Federal government in the 1830s.
Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: The Trail of Tears: The Indian Removals

For Students 3rd - 8th
The Cherokee were not the only Native Americans affected by the Indian Removal Policy. Read about the Sac and Fox Indians in Illinois, and the Seminole in Florida. In addition, read about the many attempts, including a law suit filed by...
Handout
Other

Collector's Guide: Indian Territory: Phoenix Rising From the Trail of Tears

For Students 9th - 10th
A discussion of the art forms preserved by the Native Americans who were resettled by the U.S. government in the Indian Territory.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

National Park Service: Trail of Tears and Forced Relocation of Cherokee

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This Teaching With Historic Places unit, designed for young scholars in grades 5-12 is about the conflict between American settlers and the Cherokee Nation. Students will outline events leading up to the forced relocation of the Cherokee...
Interactive
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Trail of Tears: The Cherokee Fight Against Removal

For Students 3rd - 8th
Students are introduced to the Cherokees' struggle to remain on their land in the early 1800s. They will learn about how the Cherokees assimilated parts of the culture of the white American South and whether this helped them to keep...
Website
Other

Kids Konnect: Trail of Tears

For Students 3rd - 5th
Features ten 'fast facts' pertaining to the Trail of Tears.
Article
Siteseen

Siteseen: American Historama: Trail of Tears

For Students 9th - 10th
The article provides facts and information about the tragic journey of the Cherokee tribe and other members of the Five Civilised Tribes called the "Trail of Tears" with key dates and a map.
Primary
Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian: National Museum of the American Indian: The Removal Act

For Students 9th - 10th
At first, the Trail of Tears only described the Cherokee removal of 1838. Later it included the removals of all southeastern Native nations. Take a close look at these primary sources from the Smithsonian which include a reproduction of...
Website
Other

Crystalinks: Trail of Tears

For Students 9th - 10th
Detailed information on the Trail of Tears which refers to the forced relocation of the Cherokee Native American tribe to the Western United States in 1838-39. This tragic event resulted in the deaths of an estimated 4,000 Cherokee...
Activity
Library of Congress

Loc: America's Story: Trail of Tears

For Students 3rd - 5th
Use this site to learn more about the Cherokee's journey from their home and why it's called the Trail of Tears.
Lesson Plan
Alabama Learning Exchange

Alex: Move the Cherokee People

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
During this instructional activity, students will explore facts about the Cherokee people, their history, their culture, and their future. This instructional activity will help students begin to realize how the actions of our...
Lesson Plan
Other

Teach Us History: Indian Removal

For Teachers 9th - 10th
A lesson unit that looks at the efforts of the Cherokee Nation in Georgia between 1817 and 1827 to establish their own system of governance and to keep their lands from being ceded. Even though the Supreme Court ultimately ruled in their...
Lesson Plan
Lin and Don Donn

Mrdonn.org: Daily Life in Olden Times: Southeast Cherokee Indians

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Lesson and resources on the history of the Cherokee Indian tribe.
Lesson Plan
University of California

History Project: The Removal of the Cherokee Nation

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Lesson on U.S. white-Indian relations and domestic Removal Policy in which students read and analyze primary source material then, based on questions provided, write a narrative evaluating the events leading to the Trail of Tears.
PPT
Virginia History Series

Virginia History Series: Indians of Virginia [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th
Amazing visual presentation about the history of Indians in Virginia. included in this comprehensive slideshow are startling pictures and maps tracing the Native American culture from prehistoric times through the 1600's.
Handout
Georgia Humanities Council and the University of Georgia Press.

New Georgia Encyclopedia: Cherokee Removal

For Students 9th - 10th
Reveals the story behind the forced removal of the Cherokee Indians from Georgia to Indian Territory in present day Oklahoma.
PPT
PBS

Pbs: Virtual Field Trip: Cherokee Nation

For Students 9th - 10th
The Cherokee Nation virtual field trip affords an in-depth look at the lives of the Cherokee Indians, from their first encounters with Europeans to events, such as the Gold Rush and the signing of the Indian Removal Act by Andrew...

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