Curated OER
For the Fun of It
Middle schoolers investigate author's purpose in autobiography by reading Amelia Earhart's autobiography entitled The Fun of It. Students examine character traits needed to fulfill personal goals.
Curated OER
Word Wall, If You Traveled West in a Covered Wagon
Third graders use vocabulary from "If You Traveled West in a Covered Wagon" to play a game.
Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Education: Lesson Plan: Black Wings: American Pioneer Aviators
With this resource, teachers can select the most appropriate academic level and download a lesson plan that contains images, Word documents and PDF resources for teaching about the history of black Americans in aviation. Excellent...
Other
The Design Museum: Lesson Plan: Redesign Your Own Kitchen
Before the pioneering work of Margarete Grete Schutte-Lihotzky, kitchens would contain furniture such as dressers and chests of drawers, much like a bedroom, but in 1926 Grete changed everything. Watch the video to learn about the...
Varsity Tutors
Varsity Tutors: Web English Teacher: Willa Cather Lesson Plans
Check out this informative resource to learn more about this famous author. This site features links to several other sites dedicated to Willa Cather's life and work.
Scholastic
Scholastic: Bring Hispanic Heritage Month to Life: A Collection of Resources
Celebrate diversity with this collection of ideas to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, including lesson plans, authors, pioneers, and more.
Curated OER
National Park Service: Adeline Hornbeck and the Homestead Act
This Teaching with Historic Places lesson effectively depicts the life of a pioneer woman and ways in which the Homestead Act impacted her life. The site includes lesson plans, inquiry questions, and photos that may be used in covering...
Smithsonian Institution
National Air and Space Museum: The Black Wings Story
This online story tells of how African Americans overcame enormous obstacles to break into aviation. Besides tracing the story there are primary sources, classroom activities, and teaching resources are included.
Wisconsin Historical Society
Turning Points Lesson Plans: Roles of Leadership
Discuss leadership of the past and today while learning about Indian chiefs Tomah, Black Hawk, Keokuk, and others. This website includes a link to the article "Indian Chiefs and Pioneers of the Northwest," group activity and game ideas,...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: If You Were a Pioneer on the Oregon Trail
Lesson plans that introduce the Oregon Trail to students and guide them into an activity where they create a personal narrative describing their journey out west. Provides a link to an excellent site that details many aspects of the...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: Pioneer Values in Willa Cather's My Antonio
The objective of this site is to guide students through a self-directed exploration of pioneer life in reference to the book, "My Antonio." Students will have an opportunity to work on combining the study of history and literature...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: Reading Writing & 'Rithmetic in the One Room Schoolhouse
Comparing and contrasting are skills that are utilized in this lesson plan. Teacher resources and detailed activities will help the learners learn about the schools in early America.
US National Archives
Nara: Teaching With Documents: Beyond the Playing Field: Jackie Robinson
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) provides several primary source documents pertaining to Jackie Robinson's period of civil rights advocacy, as well as corresponding lesson plans.
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Reader Response in Hypertext: Making Personal Connections
Students write a narrative of place, a character sketch, an extended metaphor poem and a persuasive essay then link all four texts to quotations they have selected from a novel.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement:pioneer Values in Willa Cather's "My Antonia"
This very detailed lesson includes a quiz, an essay assignment, online text links, and background resources.
NASA
Nasa: Re Living the Wright Way
Learn about the many inventions credited to Orville and Wilbur Wright! Lesson plans, activities, simulations, individual biographies, and links to related sites are all included in this expansive site from NASA.
Yale University
Yale: Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Journey of Discovery
This site features three novels and uses them to show students that reading can be fun and useful. Students and teachers will benefit from this informative resource.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: Life on the Great Plains
A detailed lesson plan that explores "the concept of region and how culture and experience influence the perception of regions." Site provides many excellent websites for students and teachers to explore during their study of the Great...
National Women’s History Museum
National Women's History Museum: Hedy Lamarr
Hedy Lamarr was an Austrian-American actress and inventor who pioneered the technology that would one day form the basis for today's WiFi, GPS, and Bluetooth.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: Go West: Imagining the Oregon Trail
A 2,000-mile trek across a continent-with no idea what awaits you on the other side. Tell your students to put on their traveling shoes and prepare for the journey of their lives! In this lesson, students compare imagined travel...
ClassFlow
Class Flow: Southwest Literacy Unit
[Free Registration/Login Required] This flipchart is a literacy unit based around a Southwest / Westward Expansion Theme. Native Americans, pioneers, and the old west is covered. 8 different literacy strategies are taught with FULL...