Lesson Plan Native American Cultures and the Impact of the Boarding Schools 3, 4, 5 Click to download this four-lesson unit.
Lesson Plan Rise of the Populists and William Jennings Bryan 9, 10, 11, 12 Historical Background As the United States evolved into an industrial powerhouse in the decades following the Civil War, the growing strength of the railroads and the banks particularly, coupled with the impact of mechanization on...
Lesson Plan Celebrating Labor Day Government and Civics 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 Essential Question To what extent have the conditions of American workers improved over the past 100 years? Background After the Civil War, the United States witnessed an accelerating movement of people westward, a rapidly increasing...
Lesson Plan The Transcontinental Railroad in Images and Poetry Art, Literature, Science, Technology, Engineering and Math 4, 5, 6 Unit Objectives Students will analyze a variety of primary sources related to the completion of the transcontinental railroad. investigate celebratory images and a poem to discover some of the key outcomes that arose from the ability...
Lesson Plan All Aboard: Making Connections with the Transcontinental Railroad 5, 6, 7, 8 LESSON 1 Objectives Students will Read and understand primary source writings from two key documents that encouraged settlers to go west and that established congressional support of what would eventually become the transcontinental...
Lesson Plan Late 19th- and Early 20th-Century Immigration and Migration: Pairing Text and Visual Materials Art 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 Click to download this five-lesson unit.
Lesson Plan Immigration in the Gilded Age: Using Photographs as Primary Sources Geography, Government and Civics 6, 7, 8 Aim / Essential Question How successful were photographs in demonstrating the conditions of immigrants during the Gilded Age? Background The latter portion of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century witnessed the start...
Lesson Plan June 25, 1876: An Interpretation of an Historical Event Government and Civics 6, 7, 8 Essential Question How should events from the Indian Wars be commemorated by the federal government? Background The Battle of Little Bighorn was one in a series of conflicts that occurred during the American attempt to remove native...
Lesson Plan The Pony Express: The Fastest Delivery of a Message across America Science, Technology, Engineering and Math 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Background The inauguration of a new service, the Pony Express, on April 3, 1860, promised the fastest communication ever from the Missouri River to California. How long did a Pony Express message take to go from its starting point in...
Lesson Plan The Great Chicago Fire of 1871: A Story of Human Tragedy and Triumph 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 Background Ask anyone what the greatest disaster in Chicago was and probably no one will say, "The Great Iroquois Theatre Fire of December 30, 1903." Six hundred three souls perished in that fire. They probably won’t say, "The sinking...