Curated OER
Crossing the Oregon Trail
Students become familiar with the sacrifices that the migrants endured crossing the plains to the west. They experience some of the problem solving that the pioneers faced and pay the natural consequences of their choices.
University of Wisconsin
Rain Garden Maintenance
Maintaining a garden is an ongoing responsibility. This resource follows a series of activities in a unit that resulted in the planting of a rain garden. What you will find here are general instructions for watering, weeding, pruning,...
Curated OER
Bears and Panthers Aplenty: Early Settlers Make a Home in Arkansas
Young historians research the Southwest Trail, which ran through Arkansas back in the 19th century. Pupils are divided into four groups. Each group researches a pioneer who blazed the Southwest Trail. Then, the group presents an oral or...
Curated OER
Salt of the Earth: A Caddo Industry in Arkansas
Middle schoolers explore the history of the Caddo Salt Industry found in Arkansas. Along with learning about how salt deposits formed in Arkansas, learners study the process of salt production and how valuable salt is as a natural...
Wish for the Future
Wish for the Future
What would be your class's ideal world 30 years in the future? What about 100 years? Use a series of activities to discuss globalization, sustainability, scientific contributions to society, and the global community of which your...
Curated OER
Going West
Students examine the lives of early pioneers who traveled west for better opportunities. They listen to story "Josafina and the Story Quilt", and discuss hardships encountered by traveling families. Students then complete research and...
Curated OER
Be a River Pioneer!
Students role-play as pioneers in Illinois river towns. They research and choose a home town and participate in the development of the town. They present their simulation in either a written report or visual presentation.
Curated OER
Cassie's Timeline
Fourth graders read Cassie's Journey: Going West in the 1860's. In this pioneer literature lesson plan, 4th graders develop a timeline of the major happenings in the story by creating a timeline. Students discuss new discoveries about...
Curated OER
Air Is All Around Us!
Students design an instrument to show that air is all around. In this air lesson plan, students research, construct, and present a design that proves that air is all around, even though they can't see it or touch it. A teacher and self...
Curated OER
From Airmail to Airlines
Students explore changes in air transportation from 1920 to the present. In this air flight lesson plan, students are introduced to the history of air transportation. This lesson plan contains three different activities that will...
Curated OER
From Ada to Grace to Sandy - Women Have IT
Explore the significant contributions women have made in the field of information technology with an instructive lesson plan. Through class discussion and research, students discover how women have aided in the growth of the field of...
Curated OER
My Name is America
Students read My Name is America about the Donner Party journey and create a scrapbook of what they read. In this Donner Party lesson plan, students also map out the journal they read about.
HISTORY Channel
Westward Expansion of the United States
How did early American pioneers decide what to take with them on their journeys, and what was their traveling experience like? Here you'll find a collection of activities to help you explore Westward Expansion with your young learners.
Curated OER
Apple: Seed to Tree
Students grow seeds of an apple and learn about Johnny Appleseed. In this apples lesson plan, students map Johnny Appleseed's travels, learn how he got his name, compare different Johnny Appleseed books, and grow apple seeds themselves.
Curated OER
Speedy Succession
Fifth graders identify how a pond can change into a grassland. An ecosystems lesson where learners identify pioneer and climax species, and recognize that ecological succession can take up to 100 years or more. Some excellent activities...
Scholastic
Connecting with Ruby Bridges
When Ruby Bridges entered an all-white school in New Orleans in 1960, she also entered history. Scholars consider what the experience must have been like for the young girl using two books that document her experience as well as a double...
Curated OER
John Fitch: Pioneer Steamboat Inventor
Students explore the transportation revolution brought about through the use of steam power to move boats over water. They practice note taking skills by taking notes from an article.
Curated OER
Sadorus Lesson Plan: The American Farm as Portrayed by Artists
Students describe how artists painted American farms in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. They identify idealized, nostalgic, and realistic views of farming through discussion, bringing into play their own knowledge of farms today.
Curated OER
Where Were Your Ancestors in 1871?
Here is a nicely designed lesson plan on ancestry and family history. In it, learners read an article entitled, "Where Were Your Ancestors in 1871?" Then, they make up a series of questions to profile their family and their community 100...
Curated OER
American Frontiers
High schoolers study the settlement of the American frontier through literature. For this literature lesson, students read and discuss works by James Fenimore Cooper, Bret Harte, Mark Twain, Willa Cather, and Hamlin Garland. High...
Curated OER
Wagons West!
Through learning about the Oregon Trail and Nebraska, learners evaluate the elements of historical fiction. Coming with a comprehensive bibliography, this lesson plan has your class learn about settlers traveling along the Oregon Trail,...
Curated OER
Push or Pull?
Utilizing the Nebraska State Quarter, pupils learn about the pioneers who had wagons that were pulled across Nebraska by oxen during the westward movement. Excellent worksheets are embedded in the plan that guide them through this fine...
Curated OER
Making Corn-Husk Dolls
Second graders create corn husk dolls. In this pioneers lesson, 2nd graders use corn husks, thread, scissors and simple cloth to create corn husk dolls. They discuss how the pioneer children used these toys, this discussion is intended...
Curated OER
Games Children Play
Help your middle schoolers recognize the similarities and differences between the games they play and those played by pioneer children. Using the Internet, they research a game of their choice and discover how it has evolved over time....