Curated OER
My Daily Life in Kansas
Second graders use 'Read Kansas' cards to learn about the daily life activities of an Osage boy and a pioneer girl. In this similarities and differences instructional activity, 2nd graders write a paragraph and draw a...
Family & Children's Service
Children in Change
While children may not have the opportunity to directly affect the changes happening in their family life, help them develop necessary coping skills for expressing their emotions and dealing with those changes.
Curated OER
Pioneers Find Fun
Fourth graders investigate pioneer Studentss games. They research various games, play a pioneer game, and in small groups, create their own original pioneer game to teach to the class.
Crabtree Publishing
Remarkable Lives Revealed
Six lessons make up a unit all about biographies. Scholars read about a remarkable life while taking notes and identifying characteristics of the biographical genre. Readers examine the tale's obstacles, accomplishments, and sequence of...
Curated OER
Adventure Writing: Oregon's Landscape as a Setting
Students identify geographical features of different regions encountered by migrants on the Oregon trail. Students research how the Oregon landscape may have affected life and 19th century westward migration. Students write a narrative...
Curated OER
Occupations of Black Pioneers
Middle schoolers analyze Black Pioneers in Nova Scotia. They explore the many different occupations and tradtions that were continued in Nova Scotia. They examine their resourcefulness despite the poor opportunities at the time of...
Curated OER
Pioneering Children on the Move
Students inquire about life for pioneer children. In this pioneer period lesson, students analyze photographs of children, make information foldables, and create a covered wagon that was typical of the ones of the past. Students will...
Curated OER
Map Scale and the Pioneer Journey
Fourth graders, using a map, ruler and calculator, determine the distance the pioneers traveled from Nauvoo, Ill. to the Salt Lake Valley.
Biology Junction
Plant Structure and Function: Roots, Stems, and Leaves
Scientists found fossils of plants more than 420 million years old—but plants existed for up to 100 million years prior to these fossils. Learn about the importance of plants to the entire planet. Viewing a presentation helps scholars...
Reed Novel Studies
Little House On The Prairie: Novel Study
Laura Ingalls Wilder memorialized life in the American West with her Little House on the Prairie series. Readers explore the first book in the series using a novel study guide. Along with standard text-based questions, scholars...
TED-Ed
The Silk Road: Connecting the Ancient World Through Trade
Introduce learners to The Silk Road, the first world-wide web. The narrator of this short, animated video traces the pioneers of globalization and the impact they had on culture and economy. The Scythians, Darius the First, and Alexander...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
One Land, Many Trails: Challenge Activities (Theme 5)
Bring history to life through literature. The first in a series of three challenge activities designed to accompany Theme 5: One Land, Many Trails does just that through unique projects connected to historical fiction and nonfiction...
Curated OER
Pioneer Life: Food
Students investigate the types of food the pioneers ate, and how they prepared and preserved their meals. They explore websites, view video diaries from PBS Frontier Life, read recipes, and complete a crossword puzzle.
Curated OER
Frontier Life Story
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.
Curated OER
Pioneer Kitchen
In this pioneer learning exercise, students read a short passage about different ways of pioneer cooking. Students then find 12 given words in the word search provided.
Curated OER
Westward Expansion
Students locate California and New York on a map and explore available means of travel in the 19th century. Students explore the role of trade in pioneer America and simulate various barter transactions.
Curated OER
Pushing the Boundaries: The Pioneer Spirit
Eleventh graders recognize how social reform occurred at the turn of the century. Through a debate, 11th graders determine advantages and drawbacks of traveling west using original sources and descriptions of the attitudes, beliefs, and...
Curated OER
Pioneer Farm Cooking
Students explore pioneer farm life and the types of cooking and ingredients available. They recreate a pioneer version of a sno-cone and discuss why crushed ice was used more often than snow in this recipe.
Curated OER
African-Americans in California's Heartland
Students read and view video about the pioneers moving west. In this African American pioneer lesson, students become familiar with the problems faced by the pioneers and African-American pioneers. Students complete...
Curated OER
For the Fun of It
Middle schoolers view pictures of Amelia Earhart and discuss the social and historical context of her life. They read excerpts of Earhart's autobiography "The Fun of It" and analyze her purpose in writing it.
Curated OER
World War 1: A New Kind of War
Guide reading and enhance your students' understanding of WWI with this rich presentation. Topics covered are warfare, weapons, technology, government actions, women in war, and the effects of war on the home front and around the world....
Curated OER
Cassie's Timeline
Fourth graders read Cassie's Journey: Going West in the 1860's. In this pioneer literature lesson, 4th graders develop a timeline of the major happenings in the story by creating a timeline. Students discuss new discoveries about the...
Curated OER
Study History through Journal Keeping
Journal writing can be a fun way to bring history to life. Upper graders read a series of journals from the time of the westward expansion, specifically the pioneer journey along the Oregon Trail. They compose an ongoing journal from the...
Curated OER
Through The Looking Glass
Students examine the time period of westward expansion. In groups, they use the internet to research the reasons why people moved west during the 1800s. They write their own narratives playing the role of a member of a pioneer family...