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California As I Saw It - Library of Congress
Grades
6 to 12
tag(s): california (16), explorers (65), gold rush (15)
In the Classroom
This would be a very useful site for covering the Gold Rush in a US history classroom. Select several documents and images that could be used for a document-centered activity in your classroom. Assign students to groups, with each receiving a different document and/or image. Have students fill out graphic organizers about each document, with the intentions of rotating all until students have received every one. At the end of the activity, have a class discussion of what students found and what their answers indicate. A refreshing way to teach Gold Rush history without another lecture.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Archiving Early America - Varsity Tutors
Grades
7 to 12tag(s): colonial america (95), primary sources (116)
In the Classroom
Not only is this site excellent for finding primary sources, but there is a great quiz offered that would be useful during a lesson reviewing a unit about the Revolution through the New Republic. If using learning centers incorporate the site, OR post the site on your class wiki to allow students to access it in and out of the classroom to practice. Very useful for an American history class!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Rediscovering Jamestown - Virginia Historical Society
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): explorers (65)
In the Classroom
Use the map of Jamestown as a supplement to a lesson on the colony, and how early settlers lived. There is also information about the early settlement of Jamestown and the complications the recent immigrants faced while there. Beyond the map, students can use this site to find out information on James Fort and what these excavations are showing about life then. If in need of an activity, use this site in conjunction with several others, having students create a multimedia presentation detailing the Jamestown colony and what life was like then. After students have completed their research about Jamestown, have them create a multimedia presentation using PowerPoint Online, reviewed here. This site allows users to narrate a picture. Challenge students to find a photo (legally permitted to be reproduced), and then narrate the photo as if it is a news report about Jamestown. To find Creative Commons images for student projects (with credit, of course), try Pikwizard, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Welcome To The West - PBS
Grades
4 to 8This site includes advertising.
tag(s): westward expansion (39)
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Ghost Towns of the West
Grades
4 to 8tag(s): gold rush (15), westward expansion (39)
In the Classroom
This may not be the most valid information for your classroom, but it is a way to introduce students to frontier towns and discuss the results of the gold rush and the end of it. Save the game as a favorite on your computer desktop and use it as a learning center or station.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Gallery of the Open Frontier - University of Nebraska
Grades
4 to 8tag(s): westward expansion (39)
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Pony Express History
Grades
4 to 8tag(s): westward expansion (39)
In the Classroom
Save the "bunkhouse" portion of this site as a favorite and allow students to use it as a learning center. There are many sections student can research as well as a quiz section teachers can use to assess their participation in the webquest. This site would be a great supplement during a unit on Westward expansion.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Gold Rush - PBS
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): gold rush (15), westward expansion (39)
In the Classroom
Take advantage of the free lesson plans here that show you how to incorporate all the features of the site into a unit on the Gold Rush and Westward Expansion. Excellent resource for American history teachers, just be sure to save it as a favorite to allow for easy retrieval later on.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Fur Traders & Mountain Men
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): westward expansion (39)
In the Classroom
Use this site as a resource to find primary source material about the fur traders, as well as what life was like for the first American settlers on the west. This site would be useful during a unit on Westward Expansion, and primary sources can be used a variety of ways. Try finding a shorter letter or piece and projecting it on the board as students are first walking into your classroom. Have immediate directions posted on the board, instructing students to sit down and respond to a specific aspect of the piece in some sort of journal entry. This process not only sets the tone for the material to be covered in class, but it also gives you and students the time needed to settle down and get focused and ready to learn. Great resource for an American history teacher.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Lewis & Clark - PBS
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): explorers (65), lewis and clark (14)
In the Classroom
Such a great site! Use this site as a resource for anything and everything concerning Lewis and Clark. Use the interactive map over the projector to show students how far their travels extended, as well as to show the growing size of the United States at that time. There is also an interactive story that could be used as a learning center, primary sources that could be used in discussion, and various other activity ideas on this site. US history teachers will appreciate this one!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Klondike Gold Rush Stories - Smithsonian Institution
Grades
4 to 8In the Classroom
What a creative way to meld Literature and the history of the Gold Rush in this site! Use some of the resources and stories in this site in your classroom to teach about the Gold Rush in Alaska in a non-lecture format.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Along the Chisholm Trail
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): westward expansion (39)
In the Classroom
Use this PDF to teach about the "wild west," and how it was affected by the pioneers who settled it. Use this site as a learning center or station during a unit on the West and Westward Expansion. The information given would probably work best with a graphic organizer to accompany it. We recommend Graphic Organizer Maker.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Alamo
Grades
4 to 8tag(s): native americans (108), westward expansion (39)
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Turtle Tracks
Grades
4 to 8tag(s): native americans (108)
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Pre-Contact Native American Housing
Grades
4 to 8tag(s): native americans (108)
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Photographs of Edward S. Curtis - Library of Congress
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): native americans (108)
In the Classroom
Use the images on this site to create a "picture walk" in your classroom, introducing the topic of Native American cultures. Select 10-15 of the more powerful and diverse images, hanging them up in different locations around your classroom. Have students rotate around the classroom every 30-45 seconds, jotting down what they observe and infer about each image until the entire class has completed the circuit. After the class is back in their seats, have a class discussion based on what they observed and what this says about the specific tribes studied. A great way to get students thinking about the content in a way that's more personal and lecture-less!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Indian Peoples of the Northern Great Plains - Montana State University
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): native americans (108)
In the Classroom
Use this site as a point of reference in searching for primary sources and images of the Native American tribes from the Northwest. These images could easily be used to supplement a unit on the tribes themselves, Westward Expansion, and the tensions between the US government and the various tribes in that region. Useful resource for a US history or government classroom.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Histories of the First Nations
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): native americans (108)
In the Classroom
Use this site as an anticipatory set or "activator" to introduce a unit or lesson on a projector. The site has brief blips about many of the Native American tribes that existed pre-colonial America, although it varies in content. There are a lot of interesting details that students will find interesting.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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American Indians of the Pacific Northwest - University of Washington
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): native americans (108)
In the Classroom
Use this site as a reference point to search for primary source material concerning Native American tribes of the Northwest. These materials could easily supplement a unit on Native Americans, Westward Expansion, tensions between the US government and the various tribes, etc.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Living Pictures Representing the History of Black Dance - Yale University
Grades
7 to 8tag(s): africa (144), african american (110), dance (31)
In the Classroom
Take advantage of the free lesson plans offered on this web page. The focus is interdisciplinary, and although lengthy offers a lot of valuable information. Be sure to look at this thoroughly before you plan to use it with students. Though the resources are listed, you will need to obtain them yourself. Definitely take a look at this one!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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