People You’d Meet on the Lewis & Clark Trail

by Lacey Schweitzer, Longfellow Elementary School

Standard:

H.3_5.9 – I can explain how individuals and groups contributed to North Dakota.

Time

The unit will take 8-9 class periods, a total of 320 – 360 minutes. Each lesson requires 40 minutes.

Technology Needed:

Internet connection on a PC or Chromebook laptop, tablet, or phone. NOTE: The unit includes videos that are hosted on YouTube. If your school network blocks YouTube access for students, you may want to plan to show these from the teacher computer during class time.

Summary:

This Unit plan on Lewis & Clark will cover how individuals and groups contributed to North Dakota. These individuals and groups include: Corps of Discovery, Sacagawea, expedition, Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, Thomas Jefferson, Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara, Sioux, Chippewa, Metis, tribe, sovereign, treaty, reservation. Students will be able to describe the effects of the Lewis and Clark expedition in North Dakota history and be able to explain the contributions of Native Americans in North Dakota. Students will follow along by creating a Lewis & Clark journal, which will be based off of the readings completed in the Frontier Era of North Dakota textbook.

Lesson

Introduce the unit with the downloadable Google Slides presentation is available here and as a PowerPoint presentation here. This presentation helps students gain a perspective on the adventure that the Corps of Discovery went through. Students will also be introduced to Native Americans who contributed to the discovery and how they helped shape North Dakota. NOTE: Assigned pages refer to the specific textbook used in North Dakota fourth-grade classrooms. Teachers using a different textbook will need to revise the presentation to match the pages in their textbook.
Students watch the video: The Making of a Nation: Louisiana Purchase
Students create a journal they will use as they read about the expedition in their textbook. Instructions for journal entries are given in the introductory presentation (#1)
Students watch the video: Lewis and Clark: An American Adventure Story
Students read about the expedition in the textbook used at their school. Alternatively, students can read from The Frontier Era of North Dakota, available online.
Students read assigned pages on the Lewis and Clark and write in their journals. It is advisable to review each day’s assignment from the presentation.
Group assignment #1: Students work in groups to research a member of the Lewis & Clark Expedition.
Group assignment #2: Students meet in new groups and share the results of their research.

Game

For a review, students will play the game – “Math and Science on the Lewis & Clark Trail”.

Assessment

Students will take the post-assessment test. Teachers will be able to check for understanding, based on the data from the assessment.

What was life like in Lewis & Clark’s America?

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by Zoe Hodenfield, Longfellow Elementary School

Standards

North Dakota State Standards

G.3_5.8 Analyze patterns of human settlement in North America

G.3_5.6 Explain how United States regions are created from common physical and human characteristics

H.3_5.6 Describe multiple causes and effects of contemporary global events and developments in relation to the United States.

Time

45 – 60 minutes

Technology Required

Device with web-browser – Chromebook, laptop or desktop computer to play game.

Teacher will need either a projector/ smart board to show pictures OR will need to print the images to distribute OR share a link to students to see on their own devices.

NOTE: The slides presentation refers to a specific curriculum, TCI, which may not be available at your school, but alternate curriculum can be substituted.

Summary

Students observe and discuss changes in the geography and society of the U.S. through 1806. They read passages on the U.S. in the late 18th and early 19th century, discuss with a partner and brief knowledge checks. The lesson culminates with a game that teaches about scientific knowledge along the trail.

📚Lesson

Start with this Google Slides presentation which includes images for activities and instructions to students. It uses the TCI curriculum materials but the slides can be copied and modified. Template slides for drag and drop activities are included.

Anticipatory set: Set up the lesson by having students look at an image in the presentation, an artist’s representation of the expedition, and give their initial reactions.
Class discussion: Students look at two different maps and share their observations about each one.
Individual reading: Students read a passage on the United States in 1783.
Individual knowledge check: Students drag and drop events in order.
Partner activity: Students read a passage on the Lewis and Clark Expedition
Partner knowledge check: Students drag and drop events in order.
Individual interactive media: Students play the game: You Are Here: On the Lewis & Clark Trail. This game teaches about the scientific contributions made by Merriwether Lewis and William Clark, as well as the scientific knowledge of the Native American communities they visited along the trail.

Primary sources from Lewis & Clark with crop-it

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Standards

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.7
Integrate visual information (e.g., in charts, graphs, photographs, videos, or maps) with other information in print and digital texts.

NCSS Theme 3 – Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of people, places, and environments.

Technology required

Device with a browser for students to access crop-it activity. Teacher should have a computer with projector to give slides presentation, but if this is not available, students can see slides on their own device.

Time

40 – 50 minutes

Lesson Summary

Students watch a video or play through the introduction of the You are Here game, including the levels on Lewis and/ or Clark. The teacher gives a presentation introducing the crop-it tool and students complete an assignment that requires answering questions using the map provided.

What is crop-it and how to use it

It’s a fun tool that lets your students zoom in on a section of a primary source. You have three options:

Use a crop-it activity from the gallery
Print out resources and do the activity using paper
Create your own crop-it

Lesson

Begin playing the game, You are Here: STEM on the Lewis & Clark Trail.)

Teacher tip: If you don’t personally have time to play the whole game, even though it’s fun and educational, you can prepare yourself by with watching the video “Why study Lewis & Clark? which plays in the first level.

Next, do a crop-it activity.

In this lesson, we’ll go with Option 3. Because occasionally, the government is shut down, the Library of Congress is offline or otherwise unavailable, I uploaded a map to the Growing Math site. While the image below is only 600 pixels in width, the image I uploaded for this exercise is 20 times this size.

Zoom in or Crop the Map

Here is the link of the crop-it I created for the map Lewis and Clark made that went as far as the area they named Cape Disappointmen t.

Here is a Google slides presentation showing your students step by step how to crop an image, add notes, save notes, zoom in and create a PDF showing their responses.

Differentiation

On the crop-it site, you can design your own crop-it activity with fewer questions or simpler images.

For a simpler crop-it, you can use this photo of a Hidatsa bull boat on the river.

Rural Artifact Project

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by Jennifer Rousey, Social Studies Teacher, Los Angeles Unified School District

Standards

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.7
Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, as well as in words) in order to address a question or solve a problem.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.9
Integrate information from diverse sources, both primary and secondary, into a coherent understanding of an idea or event, noting discrepancies among sources.

Technology required

Students will need a device to search the Internet. This lesson assumes students submit assignments on Google classroom but that is not a requirement.

Time

2 hours, including time for presentation, student research and completing assignment sheet.

Lesson Summary

Students learn definitions of artifacts and their use in understanding every day life during a historical period. Students conduct research on sites such as the Library of Congress and Smithsonian Institute to find images of four artifacts and write a discussion of each.

Lesson

Begin with this presentation explaining what is an artifact, the steps in completing the artifact assignment. The assignment requires finding four artifacts and writing a discussion of each. An example of a completed artifact assignment for one artifact, a butter churn, can be found here.

Allow students 30-60 minutes for research and an additional 30-60 minutes for completing the written assignment for each artifact. To maximize time on task, we recommend having students turn in their draft for at least one artifact by the end of the first class period. A second class period can be used for finding and describing additional artifacts.

Differentiated Instruction

For AP U.S. History and other advanced students, we recommend assigning this web-based lesson on artifacts from the Smithsonian Institute.

Students with writing or language difficulties may be assigned fewer artifacts to research and discuss.

The Codex in Latin American History and Math

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Standards

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.2 Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.6.RP.A.3 Use ratio and rate reasoning to solve real-world and mathematical problems, e.g., by reasoning about tables of equivalent ratios, tape diagrams, double number line diagrams, or equations

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.1 Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence.

Technology required

Device with a browser for AzTech Game. Printer for printing codex and related worksheet and activity pages.

Time

4-5 hours

Lesson Summary

This is an augmentation of a lesson from the Library of Congress uses a primary source – the Huexotzinco Codex – as a basis for document analysis, inquiry and applied mathematics. Students analyze pages documenting tribute paid to Spanish administrators, compute the tribute paid, read a one-page overview of the codex and analyze the codex. A presentation is given on connections between Aztec, Mayan and contemporary methods. Students begin or end classes playing a game that includes Mayan history and middle school mathematics.

Lesson

First, some background for the teacher. The Huexotzinco Codex was part of the evidence in a case brought by the Nahuas, Indigenous people of what is now Mexico, against the Spanish administrators, alleging excessive taxation (tribute). This case was won by the Nahuas. In this lesson, students do not learn the full story until the third or fourth class period.

Analyze Documents

Begin with this link to the Library of Congress lesson, “The Huexotzinco Codex”, and have students complete Activity 1, Document Analysis. This should take one class period- approximately one hour.

NOTE TO THE TEACHER: Allow at least 30 minutes before using this lesson the first time, to read through the Library of Congress lesson, download and print out documents for students.

Play a game

Have students sign in and begin the game, AzTech: Meet the Maya. Students should play for about 15 minutes.

Computation – How much was the tribute?

Continue with the second part of Library of Congress lesson, “The Huexotzinco Codex”, and have students complete Activity 2, Computation. After students have completed one tribute sheet and corrected their answers, use this slide presentation to show the connection between the Aztec and Maya codices and our modern system of numbers and graphs. Optionally, have students complete one or two more tribute sheets from the linked lesson. This should take one to two class periods.

Play a Game

At the beginning of class, have students continue the AzTech: Meet the Maya game. Students should play for 15-20 minutes by which time some of the students should have reached the codex activity and explanation in the game.

Write a Narrative Explanation

Continue with the third part of Library of Congress lesson, “The Huexotzinco Codex”, and have students complete Activity 3, Narrative Explanation.

Assessment

Four types of assessments are included; observation of student understanding of historical document analysis in the class discussion, student self-corrected math computation, student written assignments (analysis sheet, observations and scenario outlines) and the math problems in the AzTech game which are scored automatically with data available in teacher reports.

Differentiated instruction (optional)

Advanced Students who complete their assignments early can continue with the AzTech: Meet the Maya game. If they complete this game, they can choose to play AzTech: The Story Begins or AzTech: Empiric Empire.

English learners can play the AzTech : Meet the Maya and AzTech: The Beginning games in English or Spanish.

Recommended Related Lesson

Counting ropes and rational numbers

Geometry and Ledger Art

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by Avis Prentice and AnnMaria De Mars

📖 Standards

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.7.G.A.2
Draw (freehand, with ruler and protractor, and with technology) geometric shapes with given conditions. Focus on constructing triangles from three measures of angles or sides, noticing when the conditions determine a unique triangle, more than one triangle, or no triangle.

⏰ Time

90-120 minutes, including time students spend on creating shapes, measurement and creating winter count artwork

📲 Technology Required

A computer with project/ smart board for viewing as a class or computer or mobile device for viewing videos at home is required. Art project can be done on Google Slides or PowerPoint or with markers and paper or construction paper, glue and scissors. Paper bags (optionally) can be used to simulate a hide background.

📃 Summary

Students begin by watching two videos that appear to be unrelated – on Native American ledger art and using a protractor to measure angles. These are explained in the presentation, that art can take many forms. Vocabulary and basic facts regarding angles are introduced. Students use an online app to create angles with different lengths of lines. After measuring lengths and angles of their shapes, students create artwork for their own event and a classroom ‘winter count’. Use of angles in computer animated art is explained. The session ends with assessment of students’ knowledge of measurement of angles.

📚 Lesson

Watch video on Native American Ledger Art

Watch to 5:07

Students will watch the video to the point of 5:07 , where the curator says to think of an event you really want to remember.

Watch video on using a protractor

Explain basic concepts and vocabulary of measuring angles

This 31-slide deck explains degrees as a measure of rotation, defines acute, obtuse and right angles and obtuse, acute and right triangles. Instructions are given for students creating their own ledger art. Available as Google slides here or as a PowerPoint Presentation here.

Students use an online app to create triangles from different lengths of lines.

In this exploratory activity, students should learn that a triangle cannot be created from any three lines. They will also get practice creating different angles and seeing the shapes of triangles with different angles. This activity is recommended but can be skipped if students do not have access to devices. Alternatively, the teacher or a student can create angles with result shown on a smart board/ projector.

Students create and measure shapes

As instructed in the presentation, students create lines, triangle and circles. They measure the diameter or radius of circles, length of lines and angles of triangles. Students write a description of their shapes using mathematical terms.

Students create their own artwork to commemorate an event

Students will use the shapes created in the previous activity to create original work. They will present their artwork to the class and explain its meaning.

Students watch a video on winter count

Emil Her Many Horses explains the creation and meaning of the winter count

Students combine their events to form a classroom record

Individual student events can be combined on poster board, included in a single Slides or PowerPoint document. Dr. Vivian Young recommends using large brown paper bags to simulate hides, crumpling and tearing around the edges to give more of a hide appearance.

End with presentation

Finish the slide presentation by informing students that their measurements are the first step a software developer would take in turning their artwork into computer animation for a game or website. They have been programming and did not even know it!

Assessment

An assessment of students’ knowledge of measurement of angles and types of triangles is included here as :

Google doc file for assessment

PDF version of assessment

ANSWER KEY FOR ASSESSMENT

Primary and Secondary Sources with Buffalo Hunting

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📖Standards

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.1
Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources.

⏰ Lesson Time

40-60 minutes

📲Technology

If you would like to incorporate the game, students will need access to computers with Spirit Lake installed on them.

In class: If you are teaching in person, you will need a laptop and projector for your slideshow presentation. If you want to include Spirit Lake gameplay, your students will need access to Mac or Windows computers that have Spirit Lake installed, along with their assigned usernames and passwords. Alternatively, Making Camp Dakota can be played on any device.

Remote: Students need internet connections to see your presentation, watch the videos, and view and enter answers on their worksheets.

📃 Summary

Discover why primary sources are important with a story about Dakota buffalo hunting. Have your students watch the following two videos back to back within the downloadable slideshow. These two videos together are great resources for a lesson on the value of primary sources. Included are questions for discussion and critical thinking. Students can do a primary sources scavenger hunt at the Library of Congress (LOC) website. Included in the slides are two curated museum videos about American bison.

Example usable to teach with primary sources: Black and white video of galloping buffalo

📚 Lesson

Present the lesson Buffalo Hunting – Primary and Secondary Sources. The slideshow comes with several examples of primary and secondary sources from the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian museum, and YouTube.

Videos with Primary and Secondary Sources

Two videos about the Dakota buffalo hunters are presented within the presentation for your students to compare and contrast. The first video contains primary sources, and the second is an interpretation of the narration using animation as a secondary source.

If you want to go directly to the two videos included in the Google slides presentation, these are linked below.

Video with Primary Sources

Video with Secondary Sources

Questions included within the Google Slides presentation

These can be discussed together in class or assigned to students to answer individually.

Reflect: Which video did you like better? What did you like about it?
Compare and Contrast: Was there any information you could get from the first video that you did not see in the second?
Explain: Do you think both videos are equally accurate?
Analyze: The first video used photos and paintings. The second video used animation to help tell the story. Both were made about the buffalo hunt. Which source did you think was more trustworthy? Why?
Synthesize: Imagine if you could add some more facts to the video using primary and secondary sources. List one primary source you would add. List one secondary source.

Differentiated Instruction

Note: For differentiated instruction, you can have students select one or two of the questions to answer. In more advanced classes, you may wish to discuss how the oil painters could be biased in their representation of their subjects, and how even photos could be biased in the subjects photographers chose to capture.

Virtual Scavenger Hunt

Review the copy and paste functions with your students as learning a key introductory component of online research using the LOC. Enclosed are instructions for students to help walk your students through.
Have students research primary sources at the LOC website. Click the following link for downloadable graphic organizers to distribute to your class. One answer model has been filled out. Students will copy and paste URLs for six primary sources from the LOC site and label three of them.

Game

Spirit Lake is an adventure game with multiplication, division, and geometry practice that plays on Mac or Windows computers. This is tied in with Dakota culture and history. You can have your students play for 20-30 minutes, hunt rabid wolves, and hunt buffalo. Look out for primary and secondary sources!

Don’t have a Mac or Windows computer? Making Camp Dakota can be played on the web and also includes content with buffalo hunting, as well as examples of primary and secondary sources.

Assessment

To check their data, you need your Spirit Lake teacher data reports username and password and your students’ usernames and passwords roster added to your account for Spirit Lake.

Related Lesson

Primary and secondary sources

Primary and Secondary Sources

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📖Standards

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.1
Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources.

⏰ Time Required

40 minutes

📲Technology Required

Students must have access to laptops, desktop computers, or tablets with an internet connection. Students also need a camera for taking pictures of their primary and secondary sources to email to the teachers.

📃 Summary

This history lesson for Grades 5-6 introduces primary and secondary sources as it relates to history.

This 40-minute lesson begins with a 7-10 minute presentation on sources with some formative assessment using manipulatives. Students can learn about secondary sources through the telephone game presentation. Students then delve into two different types of sources: primary and secondary sources. Students can do a KidCitizen online module about Primary Sources. The lesson provides a summative assessment activity where students generate two primary sources and one secondary source about an event in their lives.

📚 Lesson

Introduce the Lesson
The lesson slideshow, Primary and Secondary Sources, begins with the telephone game. Students will gain more understanding of why sources are important to keep track of.

Critical Thinking

Students think, “Why are sources important for studying history?” Question words are included in the slides: “Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How?”

KidCitizen Module

The link for the Primary Sources interactive module is included in the slideshow. Students undergo a self-paced but short online module to understand primary sources. Also, you can click here to explore the module and copy the URL.

Assessment

This activity, which does incorporate writing, is included in the slideshow, but is also written below. Just copy and paste the text into your Google classroom or other LMS.

You are living history! Tell the class about an event that happened in your life using primary and secondary sources. You may change the number of sources they submit to you.

THINK: What resources do you need?
SELECT two primary sources in your home about yourself and one secondary source. Label your sources as Primary Source and Secondary Source.
Take a picture of your two primary sources and of your secondary source. Email it to your teacher.
Write a paragraph about your historical life event in your own words using your sources as proof of what happened.