Build an understanding of the social, economic, and cultural changes that were incited by the American Industrial Revolution. Learners will research the historical context of the Ragtime Era, and compose an oral presentation in the...

Learners investigate the theory versus the reality of US government reservation policy in the mid to late 19th Century by watching a video. They design a time line that shows how the individual tribes surrendered to the reservation...

Young scholars analyze the massive immigration after 1850 and how new social patterns, conflicts, and ideas of national unity developed amid growing cultural diversity, and how the Progressive movement influenced different groups in...

Seventh graders consider how the majority sometimes enforces unjust laws upon the minority. In this Indian Removal activity, 7th graders research Internet and print sources regarding the Indian Removal Act of 1830 and discuss its...

Learners investigate the history of education for Native Americans. The roles of adults is the focus and how they delivered instruction to upcoming generations. Students focus upon the skill of oral tradition and write a summary of the...

Learners investigate primary sources from Carlisle Indian School including letters and photographs.  In this investigative lesson students answer questions about their research.

Eleventh graders write a two to three page paper addressing one of the following topics: Analyze the values and beliefs of the two conflicting cultures. Explain which values seem to dominate within the conflict and why. They brainstorm...

Students discuss the Indian Allotment Act. In this social studies lesson, students research a selected tribe and write a report on their selected tribe.

Students understand the meaning of a tradition and know how it is maintained. They have a general knowledge of the environment, history and culture of the Tlingit, Lakota, and Cherokee

Eleventh graders write about one reason immigrants came to the United States in the late 1800's. They take a test that focuses upon past concepts and then an introduction is given by the teacher for the concepts of Imperialism and The...

Students read about the life of Jim Thorpe and answer focus lessons about the book.  In this Jim Thorpe lesson, students celebrate the American Indian culture and learn of the hardships Jim Thorpe overcame.  Students find...

Students study how three ethnic groups were introduced to urban, industrialize, northern cities. They examine how these groups were greeted and accepted be the 'native born' Americans and how successful they were in assimilating with...

Students see how to use primary and secondary sources to investigate history. Whether it is a photograph, book, map, letter, postcard, newspaper, or official document, students can use sources to reconstruct and relive history.

Fifth graders carefully analyze the artwork, Les Emigrants, and explore the reasons that people emigrated to the United States, and what life was like for new arrivals. They discuss what things immigrants were able to bring with them and...

Students compare and contrast the lives of Hopi children that attend boarding school and those that attend day school. In this schools lesson plan, students understand changes over time as they look at these schools chronologically.

Students listen to an audio program aired on Nation Public Radio that presents a journalists report of the Blackfeet immersion programs taking place in Browning, Montana. They take notes on the program. Students discuss how immersion...

Eighth graders create their own cane flute. They use a model flute to gain the correct measurements and use the scientific method to construct the flute to have sound quality and pitch accuracy.

Learners explore how their community has also had various waves of immigration over the years. It asks students to visit a local cemetery and examine the names and dates on the headstones to find evidence of who lived in the community...

Pupils read primary and secondary sources to find jobs as a Chinese immigrant. In groups they create a chart listing jobs for Chinese and write a letter about employment and living conditions to a Chinese friend.

Students use the internet to research how immigration patterns changed after 1880. Using this information, they create a pie chart to organize it effectively and discuss how immigration changed Europe and the United States. They also...

Learn about the impact of US government policies of assimilation, relocation, and urbanization on Native American identity and culture in this series of videos from the American Masters film Words from a Bear: N. Scott Momaday. Years...

This scholarly project from California State University analyzes the effect of the Dawes Act, or General Allotment Act, which divided Indian lands into individual holdings to promote assimilation by deliberately destroying tribal...

In this activity, students will analyze primary sources to determine the role and activities the federal government undertook in an attempt to 'Americanize' or assimilate Native Americans.

Several articles and essays about the federal government's attempt to assimilate Native American children into the dominant American society in the late 1800s through the establishment and use of Indian schools.