Students will explore two NCSS Notable Trade Books and a newspaper advertisement to develop an understanding of what life was like for slaves in the nineteenth century. Students will use their understanding to write a narrative story about being a slave in the nineteenth century. Students will use the website MyStorybook to create and publish their stories. This lesson was created in partnership with the Alabama Department of Archives and History.

Help clarify the nature of symbols for your students as they study the Statue of Liberty, complete research on a national symbol, and use their research to communicate a message of their own.

This lesson will focus on American symbols. Students will identify American symbols and explain how they represent the United States of America. Symbols include the Liberty Bell, Bald Eagle, Statue of Liberty, United States Flag, Washington Monument, and the Lincoln Memorial. Students will work in pairs and conduct research about American symbols and create a digital story about a symbol of their choosing. This lesson was created as part of a collaboration between Alabama Technology in Motion and ALEX.

Using archival materials, re-creations, and classroom activities, help your students think about which aspects of everyday life have changed and which have stayed the same.

This lesson plan introduces students to Thomas Edison's life and inventions. It asks students to compare and contrast life around 1900 with their own lives and helps students understand the connections between the technological advancements of the early twentieth century and contemporary society and culture.

This lesson will focus on creating timelines. Students will use important dates from their lives to create a personal 5 event timeline. Students will use rulers to measure equal spaces for their timelines. This lesson will require two 1 hour sessions. The first lesson will include the lesson introduction, work on timelines and time for formative assessments as students work. The second session will be used to complete timelines, share projects, and complete exit tickets. Sample of completed timeline: Video sample of completed timeline: https://goo.gl/1JwF0I This unit was created as part of the ALEX Interdisciplinary Resource Development Summit.

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.

The unit has two parts. In each, students dive into inquiry to answer the compelling questions:

1. Who are some of our closest tribal neighbors, and what have they been their lifeways since time immemorial?
2. Why do people explore, and how does this lead to expansion?

Part 1 is focused on the examination of the northwest and some of the original inhabitants. Through these questions students will learn about the culture of some of their closest tribal neighbors, the Spokane Indians. The final project for Part 1 is a cultural investigation display, in which students will show what they know about the culture of the Spokane Tribe.

In Part 2, Students will also learn about forces that brought change to the northwest: fur trade era and exploration. Students will ultimately learn about the Corps of Discovery and the Oregon Trail and know the impact each had on the west. Students will finish Part 2 with a timeline activity that will reflect choice and build upon student strengths according to their skill set.

Finally, a lesson on a Tribe of the Columbia Plateau is offered as an extension, but it is strongly recommended that students get to experience this lesson.

Note that the emphasis here is on the Spokane Tribe as one of our closest tribal neighbors. In no way is this an exhaustive study nor should the tribal cultures be generalized to other tribes of the region. We understand that each tribe in our region and North America was and continues to be unique in its culture, practices, lifeways, and traditions.

The fourth grade social studies book for the MI Open Book Project introduces students to geography, economics, history, and civics all through their study of the United States of America. Explore the regions and physical geography of the united states, learn about important economic concepts, and delve into the history of Michigan post statehood. A PASST performance task has also been included as students study the problems associated with sharing the water in the Great Lakes.

This lesson plan addresses the ways people learn about events from the past and discusses how historical accounts are influenced by the perspective of the person giving the account. To understand that history is made up of many people's stories of the past, students interview family members about the same event and compare the ifferent versions, construct a personal history timeline and connect it to larger historical events, and synthesize eyewitness testimony from different sources to create their own "official" account.

In this lesson, students will define conflict as it relates to Native American land conflict during the early nineteenth century. Students will compare Native Americans' and settlers' perspectives on land. Students will write a narrative writing as a Creek Chief watching the settlers move into their territory, focusing on how this makes them feel and how these events will change the lives of his/her people. This lesson was created in partnership with the Alabama Department of Archives and History.

William Weatherford was a Creek leader during the Creek War of 1813-1814. This lesson explores who William Weatherford was as a person, as a Creek leader, and his role in the Creek War of 1813-1814. Students will view a PowerPoint, read an excerpt from an article about William Weatherford from the Encyclopedia of Alabama, share information with peers, and view the engraving of William Weatherford surrendering to Andrew Jackson. At the end of the lesson, the students will draw a conclusion about William Weatherford and support it with evidence from the lesson. This lesson should be done in conjunction with studying the Creek War of 1813-1814 so that his role in this historical event can be better understood. This lesson was created as a part of the Alabama Bicentennial Commission's Curriculum Development Project.

This lesson will provide students with two primary documents, a drawing of a postal stagecoach and a newspaper article outlining the difficulties of mail delivery. Students will complete a graphic organizer to provide evidence that details a specific perspective described in the documents. Students will examine the cultural and economic aspects of the early nineteenth century and will refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences. Students will be able to explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to support particular points of view. This lesson was created in partnership with the Alabama Department of Archives and History.

Students will analyze a primary document that details items purchased to celebrate the Marquis de Lafayette's tour of Alabama in April 1825. Students will create an invitation to the celebration, including the What, Where, When, Why, What to Bring, and R.S.V.P. Students will include details from the secondary source, as well as the primary document, to include on the invitation. The event will be explained utilizing the format of the invitation. This lesson is part of the SSC3 A+ College Ready training. This lesson was created in partnership with the Alabama Department of Archives and History.