Browse lesson plans

20th-century warfare: Unique contributions of American Indians

In this lesson, high school students will assess the importance and contributions of the American Indian in the United States' twentieth century wars. They focus in particular on the Navajo Code Talkers.

Format: lesson plan (grade 11–12 Social Studies)

By John B. Jones.

Along the Trail of Tears

A part of history is often forgotten when teaching younger students. This is the relocation of the Cherokee Indians when the white settlers wanted their property. The US Government moved whole groups of Indians under harsh conditions. This trip became known as the Trail of Tears. Using this as a background students will explore and experiment with persuasive writing as they try to express the position of Cherokee leaders.

Format: lesson plan (grade 4–5 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

By Glenda Bullard.

Cherokee relocation

Students will use primary sources to investigate the boundaries of the Cherokee lands set for North Carolina after the Revolutionary War.

Format: lesson plan (grade 8–10 Social Studies)

By Donna Hernandez.

A comprehensive study of North Carolina Indian tribes

Students will apply their research skills of gathering and validating information to study the eight state-recognized American Indian tribes of North Carolina in order to create an Honors U.S. History Project. Students then will create a comprehensive study of those tribes to be compiled into a notebook to be copied and shared with the eighth grade teachers of North Carolina History in our county.

Format: lesson plan (grade 11–12 Social Studies)

By Wanda Taylor.

Language families

In Intrigue of the Past, page 4.7

Students will identify and locate the three language families of contact period North Carolina and calculate the physical area covered by each language family.

Format: lesson plan (grade 4 and 7–8 Mathematics and Social Studies)

Measuring pots

In Intrigue of the Past, page 2.7

Students will use an activity sheet or modern pottery rim sherds to compute circumference from a section of a circle and construct analogies based on their own experience about possible functions of ancient or historic ceramics.

Format: lesson plan (grade 7–8 Mathematics and Social Studies)

Native American music: Two North Carolina tribes

In this lesson plan, students will listen to songs from two North Carolina tribes. Students will learn about the music through listening, analyzing, singing, moving, and playing instruments.

Format: lesson plan (grade 4–5 Music Education and Social Studies)

By Merritt Raum Flexman.

Native Americans and Jamestown

Using primary sources, students will investigate the role of Native Americans in the successes and failures of Jamestown. Students will identify and analyze inaccurate portrayals of Pocahontas and Powhatan by comparing historical facts with literary fiction.

Format: lesson plan (grade 11–12 Social Studies)

By Jennifer Ricks.

North Carolina Cherokee Indians: The Trail of Tears

In this two week unit, students will study the Cherokee by participating in literature circles, learning about Native American story telling, writing a letter to Andrew Jackson to protest against the Creek War, and more.

Format: lesson plan (grade 4–5 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

By Gina Golden.

North Carolina maps

A collection of lesson plans for grades K-12 centered on historic maps of North Carolina

Format: lesson plan (multiple pages)

Reading Amadas and Barlowe

In Two worlds: Educator's guide, page 4.2

In this lesson, students will read about Amadas and Barlowe's 1584 voyage to the Outer Banks, and will practice thinking critically and analyzing primary source documents.

Format: lesson plan (grade 8 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

By Pauline S. Johnson.

The relocation of the Cherokee in North Carolina

In North Carolina maps, page 2.8

In this lesson, students will analyze maps to learn more about the movement of the Cherokee population in North Carolina. Students will show the geographical changes of Cherokee land from the 18th to the 19th centuries through an understanding of maps, writings about the tribe, and the Treaty of 1819. This lesson should precede instruction on the Trail of Tears.

Format: lesson plan (grade 8–10 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

By Jennifer Job.

The removal of the Cherokee Indians

This lesson allows students to assess the influence of the Trail of Tears. Students will read a brief history of the Cherokee Indians, past and present. They will watch the Unto These Hills video and read excerpts from Native Americans and government officials during the Indian Removal. Students will write an essay supporting or opposing the Indian Removal Act.

Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 Social Studies)

By Amy Oxendine.

Shadows of North Carolina's past

In Intrigue of the Past, page 4.2

Students will infer past Native American lifeways based on observation, construct a timeline of four major culture periods in Native American history, and compare these lifeways and discuss how they are different and alike.

Format: lesson plan (grade 8 Social Studies)

The Trail of Tears

In The Walking Classroom, page 11

In this lesson for fifth grade language arts and social studies, the Walking Classroom kids discuss the history of the Trail of Tears and its aftermath.

Format: lesson plan

A visit to colonial North Carolina

This lesson extends student learning about the colonial period in North Carolina history by incorporating primary sources from the Documenting the American South collection. After reading first-hand accounts of travelers to colonial America, students will create their own travel brochure advertising North Carolina.

Format: lesson plan (grade 8 Social Studies)

By Meghan Mcglinn.

A walk of betrayal: The Trail of Tears

In this lesson plan for fourth and fifth grade students will read various resources and watch videos about the Cherokee. They will trace the history of the Cherokee, discuss the outcomes of the impact of the white man, and determine how that intrusion led the Cherokee to the Trail of Tears. The students will examine the survival of the Cherokee and explore their accomplishments into the 21st century.

Format: lesson plan (grade 4–5 Social Studies)

By Mary Towles.

The Walking Classroom

Lesson plans and podcasts aligned to the fifth grade curriculum.

Format: lesson plan (multiple pages)

Walking the Trail of Tears

Students will read accounts and learn about what happened on the Trail of Tears. They will discuss the causes of removal, explore the trail, and understand the effects it had on the Cherokee.

Format: lesson plan (grade 4–5 Social Studies)

By Marsha Davis.

Resources on the web

American prehistory: 8000 years of forest management

In this lesson from the Forest History Society in Durham, North Carolina, students study the evidence of 8000 years of Native American prehistoric land use practices. By analyzing images of Native American material culture, students will understand how... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 5–6 and 8 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

Provided by: Forest History Society