Students examine the settlement patterns of the Kansas Territory. In this Kansas history lesson, students analyze primary documents from the pioneers in the territory. Students write letters or perform skits that feature their findings.

Students investigate the impact of Manifest Destiny. In this California history lesson, students conduct research on the settlement of the state between 1849 and 1900. Students use their findings to create scripts that link primary...

Students examine primary sources regarding American movement to the west. In this westward expansion lesson, students create broadside posters based on the Homestead Act primary sources they research.

Fifth graders practice writing research papers by investigating U.S. history. In this Revolutionary War lesson, 5th graders identify the British and American roles in the historic war by researching the Internet. Students prepare a...

Eleventh graders utilize a work of art to explore the topic of westward settlement and removal of the Native American from the settlement. They analyze the U.S. Government's policy toward the Native Americans.

After observing a map of trails that settlers took in the 1800s, your class will write a journal with the perspective of a settler. In their journals, they must describe the trail they traveled, geographical features they saw, states and...

Third graders describe some of the factors that brought early settlers to Ann Arbor. They read Narrative-A Trip from Utica, New York, to Ingham County, Michigan in 1838. As an added challenge, 3rd graders can use maps to track Silas...

In theory, at least, indentured servitude and slavery were two different practices in the American colonies. Class groups conduct a close reading of two primary source documents, one written by a slave and one by an indentured servant,...

Fifth graders study maps of the Chicago area looking at defining characteristics and place names. They investigate settlement patterns by looking at the maps.

Learners analyze the role that gunfighters played in the settlement of the West and distinguish between their factual and fictional accounts. Using internet research, students explore the life of Billy the Kid. They write an essay on...

Students analyze Quakers including their beliefs.  In this religious tolerance lesson students predict the future effects of the colonies. 

Pupils examine websites and video clips to become familiar with tenets of the Homestead Act, challenges faced by settlers and misconceptions about settlers. They role-play colonists on the Planet XR-38 and make choices similar to western...

Fifth graders research bartering. In this bartering lesson, 5th graders investigate bartering as a way to trade for goods and services. Students experience bartering first hand while playing a game.

Second graders increase their baseline knowledge of primary and secondary sources and the likenesses and differences of them with regard to a selected historical event.

Fourth graders assess primary sources to analyze the effects plantation life and slavery had on Colonial Virginia. They study the issues of slavery, rural life, movements, colonization and revolution. Each student makes predictions,...

Sixth graders write a historical fiction narrative. In this interdisciplinary lesson, 6th graders read the historical fiction Henry Spelman: The Powhatan Indians' English Boy. Students write a piece from the point of view of the main...

Pupils discover the political and cultural conflicts that led to the Battle of Horseshoe Blend, Alabama, and evaluate historical maps of the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. They research American Indian cultures that were located in their own...

Sixth graders locate and identify the major bodies of water and waterways in the United States. Through a simulation activity, they describe how early explorers would have described their surroundings. Working in groups, they create...

Learners create an advertising campaign to persuade the Founding Fathers to adopt a particular political philosophy. Working in groups, they conduct research about a certain political philosophy. Students create a pitch to be made to...

Sixth graders examine the different aspects of life in Colonial America. At home, they make traditional colonial recipes to share with the class. In groups, they read a book about the purpose and act of quilting and create their own...

We all know about Christopher Columbus, but who else explored the Americas, and specifically, the future United States of America? Learners find out these answers and more in a resource that includes four different reading sections,...

Supplement your social studies instruction with a reading passage about the Eastern Woodlands. After reading the passage, learners respond to five related questions.

Complete with maps, photographs, and historical documents, this presentation would be a great resource throughout a unit about mid-19th century America. Manifest Destiny, Texas Independence, the Oregon Trail, and the Mexican War are...

To further their understanding of the basis of the conflicts between the Pocumtucks and the English settlers, class members research the religious beliefs and attitudes of the Puritan farmers that settled in Deerfield, Ma.