Traveling Across America

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...

Did you ever wonder how early sailors were able to navigate their way across the seas? Groups access an article about mapmaking and the New World that details the methods and technologies early explorers used to guide them on their...

Despite the difficulty of travel, the US expanded significantly between the 1800s and the early 1900s. To prepare for a performance task assessment on the rapid expansion of the US in the 1800s, class members engage in a write-pair-share...

America was founded by dreamers, and the American dream still resonates in our country today. Track the American dream from its Puritan beginnings to its optimistic descendants with a lesson that focuses on speeches by John F. Kennedy...

How did the founding of the American colonies lead to a revolution? Use the essential question and sample activities to guide learners through a series of history lessons. Additionally, the packet includes effective strategies to...

Bring a time machine into your classroom with this writing lesson plan, in which young writers project themselves back in time and have a variety of choices from that point forward. They either write a conversation with a historical...

The story of Sacajawea's incredible role as the guide in the Lewis and Clark expedition across America is captured in this engaging, animated video. Learn about the efforts she took to support the explorers, including translating,...

Young scholars discuss meaning of symbols associated with Statue of Liberty, read and analyze Emma Lazarus' sonnet, "The New Colossus," and write persuasive letter to a nineteenth-century audience to gain support for bringing statue to...

Students share experiences of places they have visited or would like to visit. They create travel guides for trips to take in the United States based on themes from their studies, incorporating both historical and current data about...

Eighth graders study the situation of workers in America before Unionization using historical content in songs, reading and discussion.