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Lesson Plan
Alabama Learning Exchange

Alex: Early American Explorers

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
During this project-based lesson, students will become detectives looking for information about early American explorers. Students will have the opportunity to navigate the Internet to locate important facts about these explorers....
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Unit Plan
Wisconsin Historical Society

American Journeys: Eyewitness Accounts Early American Exploration/settlement

For Students 9th - 10th
A collaborative project of the Wisconsin Historical Society and National History Day, this site contains over 18,000 pages of primary source, eyewitness accounts of North American exploration starting with the Vikings.
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Lesson Plan
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: America in Class: Early Visual Representations of the New World

For Teachers 9th - 10th
A instructional activity that examines how Native Americans were portrayed by artists in the sixteenth century, whose aim was to convey their appearance to a European audience, and thereby encourage investment in future New World...
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Handout
Texas State Historical Association

Texas State Historical Association: Early European Exploration and Development

For Students 9th - 10th
A chronological timeline of early European exploration and development in Texas spanning from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries.
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Handout
State Library of North Carolina

N Cpedia: John W. Kinchelo, Iii: American Indians at European Contact

For Students 9th - 10th
Native Americans inhabited the New World long before European explorers began establishing settlements on the land. This entry addresses the challenges the natives had to face upon Europe's arrival, trials in relationships, and how...
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Handout
University of Groningen

American History: Outlines: The First Europeans

For Students 9th - 10th
The first Europeans to arrive in North America -- at least the first for whom there is solid evidence -- were Norse, traveling west from Greenland, where Erik the Red had founded a settlement around the year 985. In 1001 his son Leif is...
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Website
University of Groningen

American History: Essays: Europe's North South Conflicts Reach the Americas

For Students 9th - 10th
An essay detailing early English and French exploration and settlement in the New World to challenge Spanish control.
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Activity
Library of Congress

Loc: America's Story: Daniel Boone First Saw the Woodlands of Kentucky

For Students 3rd - 8th
Explore the wilderness of Kentucky with Daniel Boone. Here is a brief summary of his travels. Also features a portrait of Boone, a photograph of his cabin, and a beautiful engraving of Cumberland Gap.
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Handout
BBC

Bbc: History: The Story of the Conquistadors

For Students 9th - 10th
A well known historian tells the story of the early Spanish explorers known as "conquistadors". He discusses their motivation, what effect they had on the native American societies and much more. Archived.
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Lesson Plan
Alabama Learning Exchange

Alex: Native Cultures in the Americas

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
This lesson is part of a project-based, hands-on unit in which children discover the native cultures that existed in the Americas prior to the arrival of explorers. The young scholars will "become" part of their assigned culture through...
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Article
A&E Television

History.com: Hispanic History Milestones: Timeline

For Students 9th - 10th
The American Hispanic/Latinx history is a rich, diverse and long one, with immigrants, refugees and Spanish-speaking or Indigenous people living in the United States since long before the nation was established. America's Hispanic...
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Website
Texas State Library and Archives Commission

Texas State Library and Archives Commission: Native American Relations in Texas: Introduction

For Students 9th - 10th
How did a Spanish explorer become a "medicine man and the first European trader in Texas"? Who authored the "first ever written description of Texas Indians"? Read this brief article to begin learning about the early relations between...
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Website
Discovering Lewis & Clark

Discovering Lewis & Clark: David Thompson, Lewis, Clark, Jefferson

For Students 9th - 10th
This web site is a group effort devoted to Lewis and Clark, the explorers. This section of the site describes David Thompson's role in their expeditions.
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Website
Other

Northwest Journal: Life of David Thompson

For Students 3rd - 8th
An overview of the life of David Thompson, arguably Canada's greatest explorer.
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Website
Ducksters

Ducksters: Wisconsin State History for Kids

For Students 9th - 10th
Kids learn about the history and timeline of the state of Wisconsin including early explorers, Native Americans, pioneers, Northwest Territory, and the Black Hawk War.
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eBook
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: French and Dutch Exploration in the New World

For Students 9th - 10th
Outline text explaining how the French, Dutch, and English explorers began to make inroads into the Americans in the late 1500s and early 1600s.
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Lesson Plan
Alabama Learning Exchange

Alex: Extra, Extra!! Mary Rowlandson's Captivity Newscast

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This lesson will be an interdisciplinary lesson that involves both English Language Arts and Social Studies (History). The lesson will be primarily technology-based and also project-based that will have the students performing historical...
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Website
Ducksters

Ducksters: Alabama State History for Kids

For Students 1st - 9th
Kids learn about the history and timeline of the state of Alabama including early explorers, Native Americans, the Civil War, and Civil Rights.
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Website
Other

Historical Museum of Southern Florida : The Spanish Colonization of Florida

For Students 3rd - 8th
Follow the early colonization of Florida. From explorers to settlers to trades between England and Spain, and finally to the emergence of the American territory of Florida.
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Website
Ducksters

Ducksters: New Hampshire State History for Kids

For Students 1st - 9th
Explore the history and timeline of the state of New Hampshire including early explorers, Native Americans, early settlers, colonization, and the American Revolution on this website.
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Website
Ducksters

Ducksters: New Jersey State History for Kids

For Students 1st - 9th
On this website, students can learn about the history and timeline of the state of New Jersey including early explorers, Native Americans, early settlers, colonization, and the American Revolution.
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Website
A&E Television

History.com: Amerigo Vespucci

For Students 5th - 8th
Amerigo Vespucci was an Italian-born merchant and explorer who took part in early voyages to the New World on behalf of Spain around the late 15th century. By that time, the Vikings had established settlements in present-day North...
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Website
Ducksters

Ducksters: Minnesota State History for Kids

For Students 3rd - 8th
On this webpage, students learn about the history and timeline of the state of Minnesota including early explorers, Native Americans, early settlers, and the Twin Cities.
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Website
Ducksters

Ducksters: Mississippi State History for Kids

For Students 3rd - 8th
Study the history and timeline of the state of Mississippi including early explorers, Native Americans, early settlers, and the Civil War on this page.