PBS
Myth of the West: The Battle of the Washita
Go West, young man! Scholars use PBS video clips, slide shows, and interactive materials to create a picture of Manifest Destiny in the American West. Using a variety of primary and secondary sources, young historians learn about the...
Curated OER
Indigenous Peoples’ Day Lesson Plan
Indigenous Land Guardianship, Settler Colonialism, Racial Capitalism. While the terms may be new to some, they feature in a lesson plan designed for Indigenous Peoples' Day. Young scholars investigate four concepts: Land...
Curated OER
Native American Project
Young scholars 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.
Curated OER
Lesson 6: Native Americans in the West
Young scholars recall their knowledge of Native American people who lived in the West and reflect on how their perspectives differed from pioneers and argonauts of the 19th century.
Curated OER
State of Affairs Between the Native Americans and the European Settlers
Students examine relationship and contact between Native Americans and European Settlers, using primary sources.
Curated OER
Agriculture Shapes Kentucky History
Students explore the lives of early American Indians and settlers in Kentucky. They describe the agricultural practices of Indians native to Kentucky and develop a supply list for a group of settlers coming to the state to establish...
K20 LEARN
The Spiro Mounds Builders: Oklahoma History
Long before European settlers arrived on the shores of what is now the United States, pre-contact Native American cultures thrived. Young scholars investigate the Spiro Mounds Builders' history and learn how archaeologists put together...
Curated OER
The American Wilderness? How 19th Century American Artists Viewed the Separation of Civilization and Nature
The attitudes of European settlers toward the American wilderness, as reflected in art and literature, is the focus of this resource packet designed for teachers. Included in the unit overview you will find lists or paintings and...
Curated OER
Who are the Women of the Pacific North West: 1830-1870?
Learners view a picture from the Vancouver National Historic Reserve and discuss the people in the picture. They locate Cromwell's Map and discuss the villages located close to Fort Vancouver. Students read information regarding the role...
Memorial Hall Museum
Problems and Events Leading Up To the Attack of 1704
Groups read primary and secondary sources detailing the ambush at Bloody Brook on September 18, 1675 and the attack on The Falls in May of 1676. After examining the results of each attack, groups reflect on the language...
Curated OER
Food: Early American Food Cycles Web Quest
Learners complete a Web Quest on ways that Native Americans hunted for, harvested, stored, and prepared food and what types of natural foods were eaten. In this early American food cycles lesson, students discover many of the ways...
Curated OER
English-Indian Encounters in Early 17th Century Virginia
Young scholars participate in a three part lesson in which they examine the initial encounters between the English and the Indians, the different ways in which the colonist and Indians interacted and why English settlers and Native...
Curated OER
More Than Tipis and Feathers
Fourth graders research Native American People of the plains, the forest, the northwest coast and the desert. They compare how their lives were similar and how they were different. They make a model of one type of dwelling.
Curated OER
The Fall and Rise of the White-tailed Deer Population: Conservation Success Story?
Pupils analyze the problems that have come along with the conservation movement and the fall and rise of the white tailed deer population. In this conservation lesson plan, students see how important the deer were to the Native Americans...
Curated OER
Making Treaties and Weaving Wampum
Students are exposed to the cultural and artistic importance of wampum belts and the importance of the belts in American history as markers of relations between the Native Americans and European settlers.
Curated OER
Cherokee Indians and the Trail of Tears
Students investigate U.S. history by reading American Indian stories. In this Cherokee Indian activity, students identify the cruelty inflicted towards Native Americans by the European settlers and the "trail of tears" that were left....
PBS
African-Americans in the American West
Secondary learners explore the westward movement of African Americans. Segmented into four time periods, the lesson plan provides an overview of how African Americans experienced westward expansion. Learners view PBS specials on the...
Curated OER
The Depletion of the Buffalo
Seventh graders consider different cultural viewpoints. In this Kansas history lesson, 7th graders examine the depletion of buffalo as a contention point between Native American and European settlers. Students read diary entries to gain...
Curated OER
Voyage to the New World
Students examine the exploration of the New World. They write a descriptive account of the first encounter between Europeans and Native Americans, analyze and label maps, plot Columbus's journey on a map, and write a chapter summary.
Curated OER
Ghost Canoe
Fourth graders are read the book "Ghost Canoe" by their teacher. Using a map, they locate the physical characteristics of Washington State and describe how people adapted to their environment before statehood. They discover how people...
Curated OER
Native American and Colonial Literature Debate
Students compare the tone, purpose, point of view, etc. of traditional Native American poems and creation myths to traditional Colonial American literature. they debate which is the right way of thinking/living.
Curated OER
Ann Arbor Growth & Immigration
Third graders describe some of the factors that brought early settlers to Ann Arbor. They read Narrative-A Trip from Utica, New York, to Ingham County, Michigan in 1838. As an added challenge, 3rd graders can use maps to track Silas...
Curated OER
The Railroads and Settlement of the Great Plains
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...
Center for History Education
Transforming the West: Did the Reality Match the Expectations for Kansas Homesteaders?
They expected good soil and hearty crops ... but they found buffalo chips and grasshopper plagues. Using an advertisement encouraging famers to go west, budding historians examine primary sources including letters, photographs, and...