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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Native Indian Culture: Plains Indians in Montana

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students examine the culture of the Plains Indians. In this Montana history instructional activity, students view a PowerPoint presentation regarding the social, religious, and traditional life of the Plains Indians. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Songwriter Not Silenced - Lesson 2

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students discuss how a musician's message can influence society and government. They debate if political viewpoints should be publicized in music.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Hardships of the Maine-land

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders examine the design of the Maine quarter reverse and identify the objects depicted. They compare the settlement at Popham, Maine with that at Jamestown, Virginia.They write journal entries and draw pictures about the Maine...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Liberia and the U.S.: Historic Ties and Policy Decisions

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students discuss and analyze factors affecting U.S. foreign policy toward Liberia. They role-play various groups during 1900 who were concerned with the relationship between United States and Liberia as a "colony"
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A New Profession Takes Seed

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students analyze a quote written on the board by John Muir. They brainstorm ideas from the quote and discuss the interpretation of the quote and answer questions regarding the Forest Service as a Profession.
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Primary
Library of Congress

Loc: American Memory: Touring Turn of the Century America

For Students 9th - 10th
This collection contains thousands of photographs from the Detroit Publishing Company and gives viewers the opportunity to explore America from the period of 1880 to 1920. Images include rural America, city life, men and women at work,...
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Primary
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Primary Source Set: Exploration of the Americas

For Students 9th - 10th
This collection uses primary sources to explain the early exploration of the Americas.
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Website
Other

Radford University: Prelude to European Settlement of Virginia

For Students 9th - 10th
This site traces the early voyages of explorers from Portugal and Spain who were trying to find new resources.
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Website
Library of Congress

Loc: Parallel Histories: Exploration and Early Settlement

For Students 9th - 10th
Read about the Spanish conquistadors who explored what was to become Spanish America. Included are links to digital collections from the Library of Congress and the National Library of Spain.
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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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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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Website
Library of Congress

Loc: The Atlantic World: America and the Netherlands

For Students 9th - 10th
Available in both English and Dutch, this Library of Congress and Library of the Netherlands collaborative project offers over 11,000 digitized images relating to the Dutch in America. Includes a letter describing the purchase of...
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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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Website
Mariners' Museum and Park

Mariners' Museum: The Ages of Exploration: Age of Discovery

For Students 4th - 8th
This Age of Discovery page presents naval artifacts and explorers of the 15th century to the early 17th century. It looks at European explorers who journeyed to North and South America, the search for the Northwest Passage, and...
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Lesson Plan
The Newberry Library

Newberry: Exploration and Encounter: Map 3, Captain Cook and Hawaii, 1778

For Students K - 1st
Map and primary source information provide first-hand account of exploration and encounters between Europeans and Hawaiians. Includes lesson plans for k-12, links to reference material and supplemental resources, and curators notes.
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Lesson Plan
Alabama Learning Exchange

Alex: Life in Colonial America

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
This lesson presents an explanation about who the early colonists were and why they came to America. Students will explore their lives and the economy by navigating the Internet. Students will conclude the lesson by completing a WebQuest...
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Lesson Plan
Huntington Library

Early English Exploration and Settlement of the Colony of Virginia

For Teachers 5th
In this lesson, 5th graders learn about the individuals and groups who first founded the different colonies in America and what their motivations were. Students participate in a reader's theater activity, create a poster that would...
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Unit Plan
Annenberg Foundation

Annenberg Learner: American Passages: Race and Identity in Antebellum America

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
This unit features authors of Antebellum America and how they portray the American identity through their literature. Click on the tabs to explore the various resources available to enhance this unit.
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Primary
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Living the Revolution: America, 1789 1820: Religion

For Students 9th - 10th
Primary resource material on post-Revolution America, 1789-1820, which explores the topic of religion and national identity in the early republic. Includes questions for discussion and links to supplemental material.
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Website
PBS

Pbs: They Made America

For Students 9th - 10th
Companion site to the four-part series on looking at America through inventors. Focuses on inventors from the early days of the country to modern day. From Robert Fulton and Samuel Colt, to Ted Turner and Russell Simmons, this site...
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eBook
Teaching American History

Teaching American History: From Bullets to Ballots Chapter 3

For Students 9th - 10th
An Anxious Confidence, The Anxieties of a New Republic, Chapter 3 of From Bullets to Ballots by John Zvesper explores the energy throughout the new nation as the democracy evolved.
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Handout
University of Groningen

American History: Outlines: Early Settlements

For Students 9th - 10th
The early 1600s saw the beginning of a great tide of emigration from Europe to North America. Spanning more than three centuries, this movement grew from a trickle of a few hundred English colonists to a flood of millions of newcomers....
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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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Primary
Other

On the Lower East Side: Observations of Life in Lower Manhattan

For Students 9th - 10th
Links to contemporary essays about life on the Lower East Side of New York City in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These essays cover a range of topics and are well worth exploring to find out what problems writers were exposing...