Curated OER
The Oregon Trail
Fourth graders discover the significance of the Oregon Trail in Idaho history. In addition, 4th graders conceptualize the Oregon Trail in relation to their own lives. They engage in a wide variety of curricular activities, culminating in...
Curated OER
Lake Tahoe Then and Now
Students investigate the differences in Lake Tahoe from the past to the present. In this geography instructional activity, students read the book Washoe Seasons of Life and identify the descriptions of the land and lake. Students create...
Curated OER
Hispanic Immigration: America in the Year 2000
Students investigate the underlying reasons for immigration, focusing on five major trends: political, economic, family, career and educational. They examine the immigration of Spanish speaking groups.
Curated OER
Westward Ho-- With Multiple intelligences
Young scholars acquire knowledge and literacy (through multiple intelligences) in social studies, language arts, science and math as we study the Oregon Trail. This type of lesson is strong in its attempt to be accessible to all learners.
Curated OER
Oregon Trail Art
Students describe events that happened on the Oregon Trail and in the daily lives of Native Americans by writing a narrative essay of a family traveling through Nebraska based on Thomas Hart Benton's paintings.
Curated OER
Townsite Era
Students learn about the Townsite Era and are able to explore who they were and how they lived at that time. In this Townsite Era students create their own map of the Loma Linda are, design their own community and use a computer...
Curated OER
The Freeman School: Building Prairie Communities
Students examine this one-room school in Nebraska and consider the important role it played in the community during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They compare their educational experience with those of rural students of...
Curated OER
Fort at No. 4 History
Learners examine the history of Fort No. 4 in New Hampshire before visiting the site. They identify key events and people that occured at the fort as well. They complete questions and teach them to their group.
Curated OER
Country Music Mourns A Legend's Passing
Students investigate the history of country music. They explore various websites, identify the different types of country music, read about members of the Country Music Hall of Fame on their official website, and answer discussion...
PBS
Wnet: Thirteen: Texas Ranch House
What was it like to be a cowboy in 1867? Visit the Cooke Ranch and explore a cowboy's working and dwelling quarters. Play the interactive games to learn about the many aspects of daily life in the American West. (Click "Interactive...
PBS
American Experience: Buffalo Bill
This 1-hour documentary presents a portrait of William Cody, also known as Buffalo Bill. A western frontier legend in the 1880s, his Wild West Show travelled the globe making the American West into the American story.
Have Fun With History
Have Fun With History: American West
Learning module with videos and multi-media resources for students and teachers exploring the west and the pioneering spirit of America in 1804.
Canadian Museum of History
Cmc: The Last Best West: Advertising for Immigrants to Western Canada
Government claims to lands in Western Canada was one matter but maintaining sovereignty over these lands was quite another. Sir John A Macdonald's approach to maintaining sovereignty in western Canada by not losing the land to American...
Nebraska Studies
Nebraska Studies: African American Settlers
This presents an overview of African Americans moving and settling in the West.
Library of Congress
Loc: Teachers: Journeys West
A series of lessons utilizing primary texts, including narratives, photographs, and maps, through which students explore the following question: "What motivated thousands of people to journey west during the 1800s?"
Read Works
Read Works: Heading West
[Free Registration/Login Required] Students read about every-day life for American pioneers. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in comparing and contrasting.
University of Groningen
American History: Outlines: The Frontier, "West" and the American Experience
Outline of the American frontier and pioneer experience during westward expanison in the 1800s.
University of Groningen
American History: Outlines: Movement South and Westward
Following Eli Whitney's invention in 1793 of the cotton gin -- a machine that separated raw cotton from seeds and other waste -- the cotton market boomed. Planters in the South bought land from small farmers who frequently moved farther...
Curated OER
National Park Service: Adeline Hornbeck and the Homestead Act
This Teaching with Historic Places instructional activity effectively depicts the life of a pioneer woman and ways in which the Homestead Act impacted her life. The site includes lesson plans, inquiry questions, and photos that may be...
Curated OER
Cbc.ca: Taking the West Pioneers Head West
After Confederation, Canada focused on settling the vast lands to the West. They hoped to avoid the problems already faced by the Americans in western expansion by establishing peace and law before the settlers arrived.
Library of Congress
Loc: America's Story: Westward Expansion and Reform
Part of a longer time line describing the history of the American West, this section covers the period 1829 to 1859 with hyperlinks to stories and people of this time period.
PBS
Pbs Teachers: Moving West, Natural Disasters
Assign reasons from Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs to explain pioneers' migration to and return from the American plains in the 1800s. Research, write and produce a newspaper dedicated to a natural disaster such as the 19th-century drought.
A&E Television
History.com: Why This Pioneering Hopi Soldier Has a Mountain Named After Her
Lori Ann Piestewa was the first woman to die on the front lines in Iraq and the first American Indian woman to die serving the U.S. Armed Forces. Piestewa has became synonymous with patriotic Native American sacrifice. In 2008, a...
Blackdog Media
Classic Reader: "Two Pioneers" by Elia W. Peattie
Elia W. Peattie wrote about life in the West. "Two Pioneers" recounts the tale of a priest who makes friends with a "lady of the night". Read the full text on this site.