Students will gather information regarding the cultural and economic interactions between Europeans and American Indians during Westward Expansion. Students will work in groups to analyze several primary sources and create a visual representation depicting the Native vs. European perspectives of westward expansion. 

Before the 13th Amendment officially ended slavery in the United States, free and enslaved African Americans fought for their liberty, society’s recognition of their humanity, and the promise of equality. A variety of methods were used by enslaved African Americans to resist the conditions they experienced while in bondage. In this lesson plan, students will learn about three individuals whose actions are a representation of the bravery of African Americans who fought for their freedom and equality. 

Create a museum exhibit that will explore a specific historical time period or event through the display and analysis of historical artifacts and primary sources.

In this lesson, students will create a ‘Museum of Westward Expansion Inventions’ using the platform twinery.org. This tour will include multiple types of links that will be written in code two different ways and citations to photos to prove the veracity of the images students provide. In the end, students will have their own little piece of history with artifacts (images) that are properly cited and linked.

A collection of resources for lesson planning and learning more about Native Americans, past and present. This resource was created through a partnership between CodeVA and the Virginia Tribal Education Consortium (VTEC). 

Fifth grade students in Michigan begin their study of American history with American Indian peoples before the arrival of European explorers and conclude with the adoption of the Bill of Rights in 1791.

In this lesson students will learn how enslaved people used lyrics in songs to help them follow the path to freedom, in the time period before and during the Civil War. 

Students will demonstrate an understanding of westward expansion and reform in America from 1801 to 1861 by explaining and creating images that depict the impact of settlers moving westward.