Curated OER
Los Californios
Fourth graders research the culture of Los Californios through primary sources. They examine maps and draw timelines of California historical dates. They investigate deeds and s of ranches and simulate property transactions.
Curated OER
Children in the Fields: The Life of the Hispanic Child Laborer During California's Agriculture Explosion
Fourth graders examine the agriculture explosion in California in the late 1800's to the early 1930's. They analyze primary source material putting themselves into the shoes of a child laborer. They also gain an understanding of...
Curated OER
The Texas Revolution: Exactly Who Were The Texans?
Middle schoolers examine the Texas Revolution. In groups, they use the internet to research who the Texans really were and the reasons behind the revolution. They discuss the need to discover the world outside of school and work with...
Curated OER
Savvy in Sacramento
Young scholars take a field trip to the state capital, Sacramento. Using the Internet, they explain the physical and human geographic features of the area and discuss interactions between the people of California between the time of...
Curated OER
The Kanaka Village at Fort Vancouver: Crossroads of the Columbia River
Students study the interaction between Native American and European cultures in the Pacific Northwest in the 1800s. They focus their study on the Hudson's Bay Company and Fort Vancouver.
Curated OER
Planning a Railroad
Students use a topographical map to plan a route from Doknner Summit to Truckee, then compare it to the route selected by Theodore Judah.
Curated OER
African Masks
Fourth graders create three-dimensional paper African masks. They analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of Africa. they discover that masks were worn for various ceremonies.
The Newberry Library
Newberry: Political and Military History: Map 14: u.s. Mexican War, 1845
Lessons for learners in K-12 depicting North America prior to the United States and Mexico War, 1845. Students explore the mid-century political and cultural context in which the U.S. experienced growth and expansion.
US National Archives
National Archives: Lesson Plans Congress, the President, and the War Powers
Examine the power of Congress to make war by studying primary source documents from various wars throughout U.S. history. Students will analyze how the balance of authority between the legislative branch and executive branch has changed...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Us History: 1844 1877: The Mexican American War
A quick comprehension check over the Mexican-American War.
Stanford University
Sheg:document Based History: Reading Like a Historian: New Deal and World War Ii
[Free Registration/Login Required] An inclusive unit on the New Deal and World War II with lessons about Social Security, the Zoot Suit Riots, the Dust Bowl, Mexican migration in the 1930s, the atomic bomb, Japanese internment, and the...
iCivics
I Civics: Mexican Cession (1848)
Students explore the causes and effects of the Mexican-American war. They will learn about the land was obtained as a result, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the Gadsen Purchase of 1853, and the new international borders.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: Woodrow Wilson and Foreign Policy
A thorough review of Woodrow Wilson's foreign policies in these four lessons offered by EDSITEment. Learn the origins of "Wilsonianism," Wilson's views on relations with countries in Latin America, Wilson's decision to enter World War I,...
Curated OER
National Park Service: Californio to American: A Study in Cultural Change
This site has a instructional activity about the ranching industry, creation of California towns and the changes over time. Contains information, inquiry question, historical context, maps, readings, and images.
Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Learning Lab: The Expansion of the United States, 1846 48
This online lesson plan shows students through primary sources how the borders of the U.S. changed in just a few years. They are asked to analyze maps and use map skills. All maps and worksheets are included as well as additional resources.
Stanford University
Sheg: Document Based History: Reading Like a Historian: Zoot Suit Riots
[Free Registration/Login Required] Like other big cities, Los Angeles has had its share of unrest, even riots in some instances. In this lesson, the Zoot Suit Riots of 1943 are investigated to figure out what caused the event.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Us History: 1844 1877: Annexing Texas
Quickly following Texan independence, the United States admitted Texas into the republic as a slave state.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Us History: 1844 1877: The Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 acted as a band-aid over the growing wound of sectional divide.