LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Goal 3

The learner will examine the roles various ethnic groups have played in the development of the United States and its neighboring countries.

Objective 3.02

Examine how changes in the movement of people, goods, and ideas have affected ways of living in the United States.

Resources aligned to this objective

Civil Rights Wax Museum Project
In this lesson plan, students will choose African Americans prominent in the Civil Rights Movement and research aspects of their lives. They will create timelines of their subjects' lives and a speech about their subjects, emphasizing why they are remembered today.
Format: lesson plan (grade 5 English Language Arts and Social Studies)
By Sabrina Lewandowski.
In the Spirit of... (Museum Visit)
This is an integrated unit that focuses on masks in cultures as reflections of individual spirits. This lesson focuses on students' observations of masks while visiting a museum.
Format: lesson plan (grade 5 English Language Arts, Visual Arts Education, and Social Studies)
By Shannon Kelly.
In the Spirit of...(pre-visit)
This is an integrated unit that focuses on masks in cultures as reflections of individual spirits. In this pre-visit lesson, students will explore the cultures of the Western Hemisphere.
Format: lesson plan (grade 5 English Language Arts and Social Studies)
By Shannon Kelly.
Tobacco bag stringing: Elementary activity three
In this activity for grades 3–6, students will read and evaluate primary source letters from the Tobacco Bag Stringing collection. This should be done after Activity one, which is the introductory activity about tobacco bag stringing.
Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 Social Studies)
By Pauline S. Johnson.

Lesson plans on the web

Capturing history
Students study the political and economic reasons for the African-American migration to Northern cities between the World Wars. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 5–8 Visual Arts Education and Social Studies)
Provider: The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Geographic groceries
Students explore the regions of their grocery store to see which foods hang out together and why. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 1–7 Social Studies)
Provider: National Geographic
Go west: Imagining the Oregon Trail
Students compare imagined travel experiences of their own with the actual experiences of 19th-century pioneers. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts and Social Studies)
Provider: National Endowment for the Humanities
Historical fiction: Using literature to learn about the Civil War
Students use a book from The American Girls Collection® to learn about the characteristics of historical fiction and slavery during the Civil War. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 5 Social Studies and English Language Arts)
Provider: IRA/NCTE
I Hear the Locomotives: The Impact of the Transcontinental Railroad
Students analyze archival material in order to make connections between the arrival of the railroads and many of the changes that occurred subsequently in the United States and its territories. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 5 English Language Arts and Social Studies)
Provider: National Endowment for the Humanities
Lewis and Clark: Native American Contributions
Using handouts and maps, students learn about specific instances in which Native Americans helped the Lewis and Clark expedition overcome obstacles. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 5 and 8 Information Skills, English Language Arts, and Social Studies)
Provider: National Geographic
Lewis and Clark: Same Place, Different Perspectives
Students write about several encounters between the Lewis and Clark expedition and various Native American groups from the viewpoint of an expedition member or one of the Native Americans. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 3 and 5 Information Skills, English Language Arts, and Social Studies)
Provider: National Geographic
Native Americans today
In this lesson, teachers use children's nonfiction books and the Internet to help their students develop accurate, substantive information about Native American people in the present day. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts and Social Studies)
Provider: IRA/NCTE
Quilting: The story of the Underground Railroad
Students use the Internet to research the dangers that escaping slaves faced along the Underground Railroad and the factors that helped the slaves make it to freedom. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts, Visual Arts Education, and Social Studies)
Provider: National Geographic
Searching for gold: A collaborative inquiry project
Students develop inquiry skills and content area knowledge in this collaborative project that focuses on the Gold Rush. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 5 Social Studies and English Language Arts)
Provider: IRA/NCTE
The United States at night
Students look at a map of Russia as seen at night, showing the lights that indicate settlement patterns. They will then look at United States maps to figure out what the U.S. might look like at night, and they will draw U.S. maps illustrating their findings. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 5 Social Studies)
Provider: National Geographic
What they left behind: Early multi-national influences in the United States
Students make connections between European voyages of discovery, colonial spheres of influence, and various aspects of American culture. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 5 English Language Arts and Social Studies)
Provider: National Endowment for the Humanities
What was Columbus thinking?
Students reflect on the motivations behind Columbus's explorations, his reactions to what he found and the consequences, intended and unintended, of his endeavor. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 5 English Language Arts and Social Studies)
Provider: National Endowment for the Humanities