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Organizer
Curated OER

Trails West Map

For Students 5th - 12th
In this United States historical map learning exercise, students examine the trails that settlers of the Western United States took during the period of Western Expansion.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Wagon's West: Life on the Trail

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Students investigate what life on the Oregon Trail was like. For this Westward Movement lesson, students eat foods that were eaten by settlers on the trail as they read textbook pages about the trial. Students then draw an Oregon Trail...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Role of Slavery in Early Arkansas Settlements

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students investigate slavery in the development of pre-Civil War Arkansas. They study the influence of the French, Spanish, and American settlers on the establishment of slavery and create a timeline of events associated with events.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

American Thanksgiving Through Time

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Students explore five web sites in order to identify the various ways Thanksgiving has been celebrated in the past and how it is celebrated today. They consider the diversity of United States and this affects celebrations of the day.
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PPT
Curated OER

The Settlement of the Chesapeake

For Teachers 8th - 11th
Focusing on the Virginia and Maryland settlements in the 1600's, this presentation is a complete and thorough resource during a unit on Colonial America. It includes pictures, maps, and interesting discussion points for you to address...
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Worksheet
Reading Through History

Early History and Exploration Unit

For Students 8th - 12th Standards
We all know about Christopher Columbus, but who else explored the Americas, and specifically, the future United States of America? Learners find out these answers and more in a resource that includes four different reading sections,...
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Worksheet
Read Works

First Thanksgiving Meal

For Students 4th - 5th Standards
Cranberries, oysters, lobster, deer, and cabbage were just a few of the foods found on the table at the First Thanksgiving. After reading a two-page passage about the historic meal, class members respond to 10 reading response questions. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Photography and the National Park Service

For Teachers 9th - 12th
During the 1800s the United States was expanding westward; land was there for the taking.  Kids explore how some early photographers used their photography to influenced the US Congress to save areas like Mirror Lake. They complete a...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Town Growth and Immigration

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders describe how Michigan has changed and stayed the same over time. They explain reasons why people settled/settle in Michigan, then explain the role of geography on the settlement of Michigan.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Homestead Act

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders analyze the Native American's viewpoint of the Homestead Act. Using one Native American group who lived in Nebraska, they write a letter to the editor of a local newspaper discussing the Homestead Act and how it affected...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Exploring Life in Jamestown Settlement

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders examine life in early colonial settlements. Students investigate what settlers ate and create a menu for a fictitious restaurant in a settlement.
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Lesson Planet Article
Curated OER

Pilgrim Immigration Lesson Plans: Then and Now

For Teachers 1st - 4th
Pilgrim immigration lesson plans offer more than a study of these early settlers. It gives students an insight into modern immigration.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

William Penn's Peaceable Kingdom

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explain the methods Penn used to attract settlers to his colony. They compare and contrast Penn's account with Daniel Pastorius' account. Students evaluate the effectiveness of Penn's ability to attract settlers to the colony....
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Inference By Analogy

For Teachers 4th - 12th
Students infer the use or meaning of items recovered from a North Carolina Native American site based on 17th-century European settlers' accounts and illustration.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Dark Days on the Prairie

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders research the location and causes of the Dust Bowl in 1935. In support, they interpret photos from that period in Oklahoma history, They also compare/contrast the American Dust Bowl to the dust storms that occurred in...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

German Immigrants:Their Contributions to the Upper Midwest

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Learners study how contemporary lifestyles/cultures/traditions are influenced by the contributions of the settlers of that region; and use their prior knowledge of German to discuss photographs of people.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Tapokadooa: How the Dawes Act Affected Northern Paiute Children's Lives

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students investigate the Dawes Act and understand its effects on the Paiute Indians. In this Paiute lesson, students recognize that many Native Americans lost their land and money after the Dawes Act. Students dissect a worksheet for...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Learning to Respect Each Other

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Discover how important Martin Luther King Jr. is to our society. In this civil rights lesson, investigate how Dr. King was an advocate for nonviolence and how he fought for civil rights for all Americans. Read and analyze Dr. King's "I...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mapping Colonial New England: Looking at the Landscape of New England

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students understand the similarities and differences between English and Native American conceptions of the land and town settlement. They understand how the colony of Massachusetts developed and expanded. Students understand the...
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Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Don't Fence Me In

For Teachers 3rd - 6th Standards
Ensure that your class has a well-rounded understanding of new inventions, in this case barbed wired. Class members, after researching the history and development of barbed wire, assess its impact on cattle and the development of the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Traditional Tribal Homelands of Washington's Plateau Nations

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Learners investigate the Plateau tribes. In this Native American lesson, students use a political map of Washington state to identify the location of the Plateau tribes. Learners brainstorm the needs and wants of the tribes and use an...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Negotiating Treaties

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders recognize the interaction between early settlers and indigenous people in the U.S. They recognize the impact of the Indian Removal Act on displaced Natives in the early West and the impact on Native attitudes today.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Influence of Geography on the Migration of Virginians

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders study how geography influenced the westward migration of Virginians. They review the settlement patterns of early Virginians before discussing reasons why people move away from an area. Looking at maps, they determine how...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Comparison of Political Life

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students research and compare and contrast the political leadership of three cultures.

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