Curated OER
Urban Growth in Industrial America
Students examine the correlation between urbanization and industrialization. In this 19th century American history lesson plan, students investigate census data from the late 1800's to find out how urbanization and industrialization in...
Curated OER
The Civil War 1850–1865
For this online interactive history worksheet, students respond to 10 short answer questions about the American Civil War. Students may check some of their answers on the interactive worksheet.
Curated OER
The West in Brochures
Young scholars explore the daily life of the American Cowboy in the 1800's and compare it to the life of the Native Americans.
Curated OER
The History of Rock and Roll: Part 8 - The 70's Have a Nice Day - Lesson 2
Students identify the characteristics and elements of large scale rock productions. They examine the similarities between the American Vaudeville shows and the large-scale rock theater productions of the 1970's.
Curated OER
Intellectual/Social/Cultural Movements: 1870s - 1914 (5)
In this online interactive American history worksheet, students answer 12 matching questions regarding late 1870's-1914 America. Students may submit their answers to be scored.
Curated OER
History in Literature - The House of Dies Drear
Hook your learners with a great project. They research the underground railroad and civil rights movement through literature, view the video The Underground Railroad: Escape from Slavery, and read the book House of Dies Drear in their...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Jacob Lawrence's Migration Series: Removing the Mask
Describe, analyze, compare and contrast poets from the Harlem Renaissance. Critical thinkers analyze the imagery, characterization, tone, symbolism, and historical context of Jacob Lawrence, Helene Johnson, and Paul Laurence Dunbar. A...
Stanford University
Prohibition
Prohibition banned the selling of alcohol in America—but why? Designed for high school pupils, the lesson explores the causes of Prohibition including the Temperance Movement. The lesson pairs a PowerPoint presentation with worksheets...
Curated OER
Political Reform in the Late 1800s
Eleventh graders examine the type of political reform in the 1800s. In groups, they analyze the Pendleton Civil Service Act and two other economic acts. To end the lesson, they take a quiz and discuss the impact of the acts on the...
Curated OER
Caught Between Worlds: Frontier Life as Reflected in Captivity Narratives
Young scholars analyze captivity narratives written between the 1600's and 1800's. In this narrative lesson, students think critically about the interaction between Native peoples and the settlers to understand the cultural beliefs held...
Curated OER
Westward Expansion: Chief Joseph's Words Of Surrender
Students explore westward expansion in the United States as it relates to Native Americans and the novel Holes. Students read a passage from Holes and discuss how westward expansion affected the Native Americans. Students compare and...
Curated OER
Persistent Paths: Trails, Tracks and Turnpikes Across the Alleghenies
High schoolers study maps to determine barriers associated with the Pennsylvania mountains and the Native Americans. In this investigative lesson plan students study the routes used by Native Americans, explain physical features of the...
Curated OER
The Rise of Segregation
Eleventh graders describe the foundation for legal segregation in the South and identify three key African American leaders' responses to discrimination. They also find and copy the definition of sharecropper and answer a variety of...
Curated OER
Immigrants to Kansas: Why Did They Come
Students explore U.S. History by researching Kansas. In this immigration activity, students discuss the benefits of immigrating to a state like Kansas in the 1800's while writing their thoughts and research in a reporter's notebook....
Curated OER
Victorian America: Reflections of Life in Death
Students, after viewing a video and researching the changes in society during the Victorian period, assess a prediction-confirmation guide to consider how changes in burial customs in the late 1800's reflect the changes in society as a...
Curated OER
Field Trip to Living History Farms
Students tour "Living History Farms" in Iowa. In this field trip preparation lesson, students observe ways Native Americans began growing crops in the 1700's as well as how the farm changed in the 1800's. Upon their return from the trip,...
PBS
Myth of the West: Lonely But Free I’ll Be Found
Tumbling tumbleweeds! Scholars work with video clips, primary and secondary documents, and song lyrics to uncover life in the Old West. They examine song's lyrics to uncover myths told in the 1930s about life in the Wild West.
Curated OER
Mapping the New World Lesson Plan
Young scholars compare two maps of the same area from different time periods. In this American History lesson, students look at two maps of the English colonies from 1636 and 1651. They discuss why the maps changed and predict maps from...
Curated OER
Matthew Henson
Discuss the work of Matthew Henson, an African American who traveled to the North Pole with Robert Peary. After reading the story "Matthew Henson" by Maryann N. Weidt, learners answer questions by drawing inferences and conclusions,...
Curated OER
Westward Expansion and the Frontier
Young scholars explore U.S. history by researching a historic map. In this westward expansion lesson plan, students discuss the mystery of the western U.S. in the early 1800's and the impact expansion had on Native Americans and...
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...
Curated OER
The Kanaka Village at Fort Vancouver: Crossroads of the Columbia River
Young scholars study the interaction between Native American and European cultures in the Pacific Northwest in the 1800s. They focus their study on the Hudson's Bay Company and Fort Vancouver.
Curated OER
The Changing Union
Fourth graders analyze a document and make assessment and historical prediction based on the text. In this establishment of American government activity, 4th graders analyze a poem and discuss the climate of the Union in the early...
Curated OER
Introduction to Reform Movements of the 1800s
Eleventh graders consider the impact of reform movements of the 19th century. For this Progressive Reform lesson, 11th graders examine documents and images associated with women's suffrage, prohibition, and labor reform. Students respond...