Students will be able to analyze an event that had an impact of the westward expansion of our country. Students will be answering a guiding question related to manifest destiny. Students will select a specific historic event from the mid-19th century to research in order to find answers to their guiding question and present their findings in multiple formats.
This is a collaborative lesson taught by both the classroom teacher and the school librarian. Get in contact with your school librarian early to discuss scheduling and teaching responsibilities.
This lesson plan is a guideline. If you need to make minor adjustments or changes to best suit the needs of your students or the resources in your building, please do so. If you have questions about the curricular requirements, please contact contact Lindsay Behne - Secondary Social Studies Teaching & Learning Consultant at (531) 299-6704 or lindsay.behne@ops.org.
At the completion of this lesson, you will need to send two student examples each of a level 2, 3, and 4 project to the person designated by Ms. Behne. This can be electronically or as a hard copy.
Teacher will work with students to revisit the guiding question during the Westward Expansion unit in class—How did (your topic) contribute to or was a result of westward expansion?
Teacher will assist students in picking a topic using the Topic Selection Sheet. Students can choose from: Transcontinental Railroad, Gold Rush (California), Homestead Act, Texas Annexation, Mexican-American War, Trails West: Oregon, Mormon, California, Santa Fe, Native American Displacement, or student choice pending teacher approval. Teacher will introduce the requirements for the project. (See Synthesis & Sharing)
Formative Assessment: Verify all information is recorded on student handouts (can be a visual check or graded assessment)
With direct instruction from the school librarian (with support from the classroom teacher) on search strategies within the recommended resources, students will locate one primary source document and two secondary source documents (one will be the textbook) related to an event.
For each document, students will record:
Description of the source
An explanation of the event
The impact of the event
Key people involved in the event
Possible Resources for finding Primary Source Documents:
Additional Library Resources:
Your librarian will use your school's direct links to the following district databases when working with students.
Formative Assessment: Consistent and frequent verbal and visual checks with student to assess if they are able to access quality resources.
Teacher will guide students through transferring information into a notes organizer. (Events Information Chart provided)
With direct instruction and support from the school librarian, students will create citations for their sources. Recommendation to use district subscription to Noodle Tools.
Formative Assessment: Visual checks for completion. And/or, individual conferencing with students to determine if ready to move on to synthesis and sharing.
Teacher will review the requirements for the final project and assist students as necessary.
Formative Assessment: Rough draft feedback.
Summative Assessment: Use provided rubric to grade final product.
Teacher will guide students as they complete the self-evaluation form containing teacher selected items from the form included below.
The self-evaluation can be as brief (one question) or as long as the teacher deems necessary. This can be a graded or non-graded activity.
Noodletools provides a format for creating research papers. It provides an area for notetaking, citation creation, and paper formation.
Guides for using Noodle Tools
This 20 minute video gives an overview on how to use NoodleTools.
This video shows how to create a new project.
This video shows how to check the format of your citation.
This video shows how to add a preformatted citation from a database or website.
Omaha Public Schools does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, disability, age, genetic information, citizenship status, or economic status in its programs, activities and employment and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. The following individual has been designated to address inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policies: Superintendent of Schools, 3215 Cuming Street, Omaha, NE 68131 (531-299-9822).
Las Escuelas Públicas de Omaha no discriminan basados en la raza, color, origen nacional, religión, sexo, estado civil, orientación sexual, discapacidad , edad, información genética, estado de ciudadanía, o estado económico, en sus programas, actividades y empleo, y provee acceso equitativo a los “Boy Scouts” y a otros grupos juveniles designados. La siguiente persona ha sido designada para atender estas inquietudes referentes a las pólizas de no discriminación: El Superintendente de las Escuelas, 3215 Cuming Street, Omaha, NE 68131 (531-299-9822).