Third graders explore American history by researching Native Americans. In this American settlers lesson, 3rd graders research the Native American Woodland Indians and define the actions they took when faced with the European settlers....

Cranberries, oysters, lobster, deer, and cabbage were just a few of the foods found on the table at the First Thanksgiving. After reading a two-page passage about the historic meal, class members respond to 10 reading...

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...

Young scholars 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...

Fifth graders become familar with the pilgrims and first Thanksgiving through essays about important people of the time.  In this Thanksgiving lesson, 5th graders choose an important figure from the time of the Pilgrims and write a...

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...

Free Trade and Sailor's Rights! Pupils dive into America's first declared war, the War of 1812. They analyze the presidencies of Jefferson and Madison through diary entries and historical reasoning. To conclude the lesson, they use their...

Read about the tumultuous beginning to the United States with an informational text passage about Colonial America. As young researchers peruse an article about the arrival of the Mayflower, the settlers' relationship to the neighboring...

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...

You have just hit the lesson plan jackpot! This isn't just a lesson, it's a ten-day unit covering westward expansion, pioneer life, and the Oregon Trail. Activities include baking, model building, role-play, newspaper writing, science...

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.

Fourth graders recognize and can describe the settlers of Early America. For this American colonies lesson, 4th graders research using primary and secondary sources, Native Americans, Europeans, and African Americans role in the...

Students calculate how much coal they use based on their electric power usage. In this environmental science lesson, students trace the history of coal mining in US. They write a letter to USPS to encourage them to create coal mining...

Fourth graders research the location and causes of the Dust Bowl in 1935. In support, they interpret photos from that period in Oklahoma history, They also compare/contrast the American Dust Bowl to the dust storms that occurred in...

Students investigate the Dawes Act and understand its effects on the Paiute Indians. In this Paiute lesson, students recognize that many Native Americans lost their land and money after the Dawes Act. Students dissect a worksheet for...

Learners write from an animal's perspective. In this writing lesson plan students explore the landscape of San Francisco prior to the arrival of the explorers. Learners research animals indigenous to the area.

Fourth graders work to solve one of the major problems facing the Jamestown settlers, the best location to settle upon arrival in Jamestown. Students discuss and review the past European and American events that lead to the...

Students investigate the history of literature in America by looking at the types of genres first read in the United States. They look at the foundations of how the original colonists had the intention of transmitting religious and moral...

High schoolers examine the language and cultural differences that were encountered by the Indians and the Dutch leading to disaster for the first European settlement in Delaware.

Fourth graders complete a variety of activities as they study the European exploration of the Midwest, focusing on Indiana. They map the path explorers took, comparing the British with the French. They research why the explorers stopped...

Fifth graders complete an analysis of the Revolutionary War through literature. After "My Brother Sam Is Dead," students create a time capsule containing items that would be relevant during the Revolutionary War. They identify key...

Students read articles relating to Jackie Robinson's breaking of the racial barrier in professional baseball. This leads to a deeper exploration of racism in the United States. They use a variety of worksheets imbedded in this plan to...

Young scholars research nonprofit organizations. As they research, they learn how those living in the colonial period formed community organizations to provide for the common good of their society. Each pupil chooses one organization to...

In this Thanksgiving reading worksheet, students read for information and answer true and false comprehension questions. Students answer six true and false statements.