Find lesson plans, student activity sheets, interactive resources, classroom videos, and free professional development resources to expand your knowledge of westward migration.
Source: John Senex, A Map of Louisiana and of the River Mississippi, London, ca. 1719–1721. (The Gilder Lehrman Institute, GLC06090)
Grade Level: 3–5
Recommended Time for Completion: Three 45-minute class periods
Over the course of three lessons students will analyze primary source documents that present examples of both the romanticization and the cruel realities of American westward migration during the 1800s. Students will read and analyze different types of documents not only to comprehend the language of the text but also to infer the subtler meanings. Students will use textual evidence to draw conclusions and present arguments as directed in each lesson. Finally, students will participate in a mock debate drawing on the primary sources.
Students will examine primary sources including letters, a patent, photographs, and diagrams to identify and describe the invention and development of the telegraph.
Students will read a range of primary sources to learn about the passage and implementation of the Indian Removal Act.
The Hamilton Cast Read Along videos feature cast members of the musical Hamilton reading award-winning children’s books that explore complex topics in American history. These videos can be integrated into your classroom to initiate student conversation.
Becoming the United States: Colonial America to Reconstruction (based on a traveling exhibition of the same name) is a collection of short narrated videos that will give your students an overview of key events and figures related to American history.
Read along with Hamilton cast member Julius Thomas III as he tells the story of Junius G. Groves, a formerly enslaved man who moved to Kansas and rose to become the “Potato King of the World.”
Video 04 will give your students a general introduction to the American West.
Course Features:
Led by Virginia Scharff, Emeritus Distinguished Professor of History, University of New Mexico
This course examines the development of the West and explores the tragic paradoxes between the violent displacement of Native Americans and the expansion of land, rights, and freedoms for White settlers.
In these lectures, geared toward elementary and middle school teachers, scholars focus on the people, ideas, and events that made America into a cultural, social, and political reality.
Lecture by Denver Brunsman, Associate Professor of History, The George Washington University
Resources referenced in the lecture
Lecture by Denver Brunsman, Associate Professor of History, The George Washington University
Resources referenced in the lecture
Lecture by Christopher Bonner, Associate Professor of History, University of Maryland
Resources referenced in the lecture
