+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Taming the Frontier

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students examine paintings by Thomas Cole and Jasper Francis Cropsey as windows into American frontier life. They consider the pioneer's relationship with nature and the role of Native Americans in the pioneer's lives and settlements.
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

American Frontiers

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students study the settlement of the American frontier through literature. In this literature lesson, students read and discuss works by James Fenimore Cooper, Bret Harte, Mark Twain, Willa Cather, and Hamlin Garland. Students compare...
+
Interactive
DocsTeach

Indian Nations vs. Settlers on the American Frontier: 1786–1788

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Once Americans won the Revolutionary War, their quest to gain land did not end. An interesting activity focuses on Americans' expansion into the frontier following the war and how it conflicted with Native Americans living in the area....
+
Activity
Smarter Balanced

American West in the 1800s

For Teachers 8th - 12th
To establish a context for an assessment or a study of pioneers and the American frontier in the 1800s, groups examine photos and record observations about clothing, housing, and travel.
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Math for the Frontier

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Make history come to life by using the Frontier House series to engage students in the past. Your class will "prepare" for a trip to 1833 Montana. They will learn about homesteading, frontier life, inflation, and cost of living. Using...
+
Unit Plan
Annenberg Foundation

Taming the American West

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Have you ever seen a movie about the romance of the American West with its buffalo, horses, cowboys, and endless frontier? The 13th installment of a 22-part series on American history presents the myths associated with the American West....
+
Lesson Plan
PBS

Myth of the West: Kit Carson to the Rescue

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
There's nothing like the Wild Wild West! Scholars investigate the American Frontier through the eyes of Kit Carson. To complete the first installment of a three-part series, they use presentations, a short video, and primary and...
+
Unit Plan
1
1
Core Knowledge Foundation

Frontier Explorers Tell It Again!™ Read-Aloud Anthology

For Teachers 1st Standards
The last read-aloud anthology in the series showcases frontier explorers. First graders listen to texts about Daniel Boone, crossing the Appalacian Mountains, Lewis and Clark, dangers on the prairie, and more. After reading, pupils...
+
Lesson Plan
1
1
National Endowment for the Humanities

The Question of an American Empire

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
As it rose to being the new super power, America had a choice: conquer other nations like its European predecessors, or stay home. Using primary source documents from those thinking about American foreign policy in the late 1800s,...
+
Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

On This Day With Lewis and Clark

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Walk in the footsteps of Lewis and Clark as they discover the wonders, beauty, and dangers of the American frontier. After gaining background knowledge about Thomas Jefferson and the Louisiana Purchase, young explorers use primary...
+
Lesson Plan
Alabama Department of Archives and History

Settlement of Frontier Alabama

For Teachers 4th
What comes to mind when the class imagines settlers traveling out West? The lesson plan teaches pupils about the western frontier of Alabama and what life was like for people traveling West—in wagons with few possessions. Scholars write,...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Jews in America at the Time of Growth and Change: Forging New Frontiers

For Teachers 10th
Tenth graders examine the role of Jewish Americans in the 1900s. They examing the changes in industry and inventions. They also identify how Jewish Americans changed society and religious organization.
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Free Land

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Young scholars investigate the impact of the passage of the Homestead Act. In this Westward Expansion lesson, students visit selected websites to examine the lives of Americans who settled the American frontier.
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Westward Ho!

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Young scholars explore what life was like on the American frontier. They participate in a simulation of frontier life using Oregon Trail computer software, create an Oregon Trail newsletter, develop a timeline, and conduct interviews...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Frontier Life Story

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students undertake a similar (but not quite as drastic) adventure as that of Frontier House as they explore the day-to-day realities of frontier life through a Laura Ingalls Wilder story, and reflect on which time period suits them...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Frontier Life Story

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students explore American frontier life. In this history lesson, students participate in a series of activities that challenge them to discover what pioneer life was really like.
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Westward Expansion and the Frontier

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Students explore U.S. history by researching a historic map. In this westward expansion lesson, students discuss the mystery of the western U.S. in the early 1800's and the impact expansion had on Native Americans and agriculture....
+
Activity
National Park Service

Maltese Cross Cabin

For Teachers 4th - 8th Standards
The Maltese Cross Cabin, a frontier residence of Theodore Roosevelt, is a time capsule that commemorates Roosevelt's time in the Dakota territory. An explanatory video and response guide takes learners on a virtual tour of the wooden...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Demise of the Great American Frontier

For Teachers 6th - Higher Ed
Students are introduced to Frederick Jackson Turner and how early Census data, when combined visually with maps, effectively demonstrated the end of the frontier.
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Frontier Forts

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders study frontier forts. In this Kansas history lesson, 7th graders research the history and conditions of Fort Leavenworth, Fort Scott, Fort Riley, Fort Larned, and Fort Hays. Students write letters from the perspective of...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Conflict in the Frontier town of Deerfield

For Teachers 8th - 11th
Students use primary sources to investigate, explore and represent varying perspectives on the 1704 Deerfield Raid. They consider the reasons Deerfield was at the center of English, French and Native American conflicts in the early 18th...
+
Lesson Plan
PBS

African-Americans in the American West

For Teachers 8th - 10th
Secondary learners explore the westward movement of African Americans. Segmented into four time periods, the lesson provides an overview of how African Americans experienced westward expansion. Learners view PBS specials on the westward...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Policies that Relate to American Indians

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders demonstrate an understanding of the impact of the western settlement patterns on American Indians. They analyze the growth and division of the United States from 1820 through 1877 and examine the non-Indian concept of...
+
Unit Plan
Annenberg Foundation

Masculine Heroes

For Teachers 6th - 12th
What were the driving forces behind American expansion in the nineteenth century, and what were its effects? Scholars watch a video, read biographies, engage in discussion, write journals and poetry, draw, and create a multimedia...

Other popular searches