Erie Canal: Journey Back in Time

If you happen to live in Indiana, or a neighboring state, and are planning a field trip to the Whitewater Canal State Historic Site, then this lesson plan will suit your needs quite well. In it, suggestions for activities before, during,...

While canals are not the way to travel today, in the first half of the nineteenth century, they were sometimes the best way to move goods and people. Scholars examine primary sources, including maps and pictures, to investigate the role...

While cities had only a small fraction of the population in colonial America, they played a significant role in pre-revolutionary years, and this was certainly true for the largest city in the North American colonies: Philadelphia. Your...

And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country. And so begins your invigorating, innovative learning experience in the JFK Challenge app! Learners choose from two "missions" and...

After reading Elvira Woodruff's George Washington's Socks, young readers and writers embark upon writing their own historically based story, with a focus on developing ideas and details throughout the piece. In small groups, class...

Following the book, Marco Paul's Travels on the Erie Canal, readers complete an activity for each chapter, take part in discussions, and respond to several questions. To show what they know, scholars create an alphabet book using primary...

What better way to conclude a reading of George Washington's Socks than by writing original historical fiction narratives. After choosing interesting events from the past, young writers perform research to gather key facts to include in...

Fourth graders read the provided documents about the Erie Canal to discover the impact that this transportation systems had on the New York community. In this history lesson, 4th graders first analyze the documents and answer the...

In this language arts worksheet, young scholars will write about traveling back in time. Students will use the prompt of a "time machine" when writing this short essay.

Meant to be used with the article, "In Florida, the Natives Are Restless" (included here), this is a great source of high-interest, nonfiction reading. A fill in the blank vocabulary activity and an activity focusing on reading...