HISTORY

UNIT
PLAN
5th Grade
Immigration History
1.
Lesson Plan Title: A Nation Grows
Concept / Topic To Teach:
Students will learn what was the push and pull factors that lead people to
immigrate to the United States in the 1800s. Students will learn the different modes of
transportation people used to move within the country.
Standards Addressed:
5.8 Students trace the colonization, immigration, and settlement patterns of the
American people from 1789 to the mid-1800s, with emphasis on the role of economic
incentives, effects of the physical and political geography, and transportation systems.
1. Discuss the waves of immigrants from Europe between 1789 and 1850 and
their modes of transportation into the Ohio and Mississippi Valleys and through the
Cumberland Gap (e.g., overland wagons, canals, flatboats, steamboats).
General Goal(s):
By the end of this lesson, students will know certain vocabulary, such as,
immigrant, overland, terrain, pioneer, steamboat, canal, and flatboat. They will be able
to use these words to describe a method of travel that was used by immigrants between
1789 and 1850.
Specific Objectives:
Students will analyze the different reasons people immigrated to the United
States.
Required Materials: Handout with the required readings. Notebook for taking notes.
Anticipatory Set (Lead-In):
Students will be given a list of vocabulary words including, immigrant, overland,
pioneer and terrain. They will be asked to write down what they think the words mean.
Step-By-Step Procedures:
Students will begin the lesson with a warm up that will ask them to write down
what they think certain vocabulary words mean. They will be able to ask a partner for
ideas on what these words mean. They will be given 5 minutes to discuss.
They will read the following expert1 while paying attention to the exercises that
ask them to note the push and pull factors that lead people to move to the United States.

1 Borrowed from a 5th grade history book “Our Nation” by Scott Foresman.
 After the reading, students will receive the following worksheet2.
Students will be able to see if their definitions were similar to the ones the book
uses. (Approximately 20 minutes)

2 Borrowed from a 5th grade history book “Our Nation” by Scott Foresman.
 Students will now use the information on push and pull factors to write a
narrative reflection on why people decided to immigrate. They will use the following
question “Why did you decide to move?” to guide their ideas. They will be given 20
minutes to write a short narrative to describe their choices.
After students are done writing their narrative, they will perform a “Travelers and
Talkers” activity. In this activity the class is divided into two groups, the traveling team
will go to the talkers. The talkers will stay in their seats and wait for a traveler to
approach them. Once they are paired up, the talkers will share their short narrative.
Students will have two minutes to talk, once their two minutes are up, the travelers will
then have a turn to share what their short narrative is. The activity will continue for
three rounds so students can hear from their peers the ideas they had about what items
were important. (Approximate time 10 minutes)
After the class is done with “Travelers and Talkers” they will return to their seats
and write a reflection about what they learned from the other travelers about the push
and pull factors that cause people to move.

Plan For Independent Practice:

Students reflections will show what they have learned in that day’s lesson. The
way they use the vocabulary at the beginning and the ending of the lesson shows how
they learned the new words.
- Closure (Reflect Anticipatory Set):
The last 5 minutes of class will be used to reflect on the push and pull factors that
cause people to move. This activity should include the new vocabulary they learned in
this lesson.
- Assessment Based On Objectives:
The reflection will be used to assess how they understood the context.
- Adaptations:
For students who are learning English, the travelers and talkers portion can be
done in their home language. Also, their reflection can be written in their home
language so that they are able to articulate their thoughts.
- Extensions (For Gifted Students):
The short narrative section of this lesson can be turned into a full essay that
students will be presenting in class. The readings guide students to understand the push
and pull factors that lead people to want to move, using this information they can
develop a character’s story that will lead them to create a full narrative essay.
- Possible Connections to Other Subjects:
 This lesson requires students to practice their reading and writing skills as well as
their communication skills.

2.
Lesson Plan Title: Manifest Destiny
Concept / Topic To Teach:
Students will learn about the purpose for America’s expansion to the West by
analyzing a painting. Through the painting, students will be able to see the different
methods of transportation that was available for travelers of the time.
Standards Addressed:
5.8.4. Discuss the experiences of settlers on the overland trails to the West (e.g., location
of the routes; purpose of the journeys; the influence of the terrain, rivers, vegetation,
and climate; life in the territories at the end of these trails).
General Goal(s):
Students will know what Manifest Destiny means, and will learn the different
methods of transportation that were used at the time.
Specific Objectives:
Students will be able to analyze a painting and find the representations of
American Westward expansion.
Students will be able to analyze short texts that explains a concept, and construct
a visual aide that reflects the information they read.
Required Materials: Projector and Computer with PowerPoint Presentation, Copies
of handouts, chrome books with internet access, post-it notes poster board and markers,
exit ticket slip.
Anticipatory Set (Lead-In):
Students will be shown an image and using “Think, Pair, Share” will write about
their thoughts on the painting.
Step-By-Step Procedures:

To begin class, we will examine the painting “American Progress” by John Gast. I
will not give the students any background information so I can hear from students what
their thoughts on the painting are. (Approximate time five minutes)
Students will “Think, Pair, Share”. In this activity, I will give them time to look at
the painting and decide what they think the painting is portraying. After examining the
picture for a few minutes, they will write down that they think is happening in the
painting. After writing, students will be instructed to share with an elbow partner what
they have written. After sharing with each other, I will ask them to share with the class
what they, or their partner has shared.
“Think, Pair, Share” will lead us into a class discussion. Now that students have
been introduced to the painting portraying the expansion to the West, I will help them
break down some of the visuals portrayed in the painting by providing some background
information. “American Progress” by John Gast was painted in 1872 and it is used to
represent Manifest Destiny, which is the idea that is the right of Americans to expand to
the west.3
Looking at the painting we will examine the different methods of transportation
that were portrayed in the painting. This will lead us to our next activity. (Approximately
25 minutes)
Students will be divided into four groups; each group will have one of the
following handouts4, and will be given a post-it notes poster board and a set of markers.
Each group will read about one of the following methods of transportation and will write
about it on the poster board, they will use their chrome books to research images that
they can draw on their poster boards so that they may show the rest of the class how this
method of transportation worked. One group will read about turnpikes and plank
roads, another group will read about steamboats, another group will read about
railroads, and the last group will read about canals.

3 Wikipedia page of “American Progress”.

4 http://www.connerprairie.org/education-research/indiana-history-1800-1860/travel-and-
transportation
 After creating their poster boards with the information about the modes of travel,
students will display their boards and begin a “Gallery Walk”. In the “Gallery Walk”
students will walk around the room and view other students’ work and learn more about
the different methods of travel. (Approximately 25 minutes)
After the “Gallery Walk” is over, students will return to their seats and on the
board will be displayed the following question “Now that you have learned the different
methods of transportation, write down which one you would prefer to take”. I will pass
out Exit Slips to the students. They will write their answers on their Exit Slip and that
will be their ticket out the door. (Approximately 5 minutes)
Plan For Independent Practice:
The poster boards the students use will be a display that shows how students
learned the different ways of travel.
- Closure (Reflect Anticipatory Set):
Exit Slips will allow students to reflect on what they learned in that day's lesson.
Writing about the different transportations they saw and how they would use them
allows students to creatively make decisions based on the knowledge they gained on that
day.
- Assessment Based On Objectives:
The poster boards and their Exit Slips will be used to assess how students learned
the methods of travel.
- Adaptations:
For students that are learning English, the Gallery Walk can serve as a visual
aide. If they do not know certain vocabulary, they will be able to see visuals of the
information which will aide them in learning the new words.
- Extensions (For Gifted Students):
Exit Slips can be turned into homework for students that are ready to write more
about what the different methods of travel were. They can use the information they
learned during the gallery walk to write an analyses on the different methods of
transportation and which would be more adequate to use.
- Possible Connections to Other Subjects:
Students will have reading and writing involved in their lesson. They will be
writing the important points about transportation and displaying them on a poster
board. Again, they will be writing an Exit Slip that will let me know what they learned
about the methods of transportation and how they will use them.

3.
Lesson Plan Title: Louisiana Purchase
Concept / Topic To Teach:
This lesson would show students how the United States grew after the purchase
of the territory known as the Louisiana Purchase. Examining the new land will also
show students how new land meant more people started to move out of the east coast of
the United States and started moving west.
Standards Addressed:
5.8.3. Demonstrate knowledge of the explorations of the trans-Mississippi West
following the Louisiana Purchase (e.g., Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, Zebulon
Pike, John Fremont).
General Goal(s):
By the end of this lesson, I want my students to recognize what land was gained
by the United States through the Louisiana Purchase. Students will also who Meriwether
Lewis and William Clark were.
Specific Objectives:
Students will locate the territory that is the Louisiana Purchase.

Required Materials: Map handout, coloring pencils, chrome books with internet
access, handouts with required readings
Anticipatory Set (Lead-In):
Students will receive a map5 of the United States in which they will color in
territory made up the Louisiana Purchase. Map will be in black and white but students

5https://www.ndstudies.gov/gr8/content/unit-ii-time-transformation-1201-1860/section-1-louisiana-
purchase
will follow the key on the bottom left to color the map accordingly. (Approximately 5
minutes)

Step-By-Step Procedures:
Students will receive a map and using the information on the key, they will color
in the land that makes up the Louisiana Purchase. (Approximately 5 minutes)
Students will read the following passage6.

6 Borrowed from a 5th grade history book “Our Nation” by Scott Foresman.
 After reading the passage students will do the activities listed on page 191 which
asked them to identify the other explorers, besides Lewis and Clark. They will also do
the activities on page 192 which ask for them to identify information by underlining it.
(Approximately 20 minutes)
Using chrome books, the class will work on an interactive activity
(http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/lewis_clark/) that shows the travels that Lewis
and Clark went on. The activity contains different locations with a timeline of the
important events. Students will be give 20 minutes to review the online activity.
Students will write a reflection where they choose one of the locations and dates
in the timeline of the online activity to write about. They can choose to write why they
found this specific event important or why they found it interesting. (Approximately 5
minutes)
Plan For Independent Practice:
Students reflections will show what they learned from the interactive map. Their
reflection will portray what they found most interesting about Lewis and Clark’s
journey.
- Closure (Reflect Anticipatory Set):
Students will write a reflection in which they will discuss what they found to be
most interesting or most important.
- Assessment Based On Objectives:
 The reflection students write will let me know how they understood the
interactive map, by telling me what they found to be most important or most interesting
I will know what they learned from this activity.
- Adaptations:
Students learning English will be able to write their reflections in their home
language to better articulate their thoughts.
- Extensions (For Gifted Students):
The online map activity can be used to write a bigger analysis. Students will be
assigned a specific location on the map and asked to write about the important events
that occurred in this specific location.
- Possible Connections to Other Subjects:
Students will have reading and writing in their lesson.

4.
Lesson Plan Title: Oregon Trail
Concept / Topic To Teach:
Students will learn how people moved west towards Oregon. They will learn the
ways early Americans traveled.
Standards Addressed:
5.8.4. Discuss the experiences of settlers on the overland trails to the West (e.g., location
of the routes; purpose of the journeys; the influence of the terrain, rivers, vegetation,
and climate; life in the territories at the end of these trails).
General Goal(s):
Students will learn about the ways of travel on the Oregon Trail. Students will use
their knowledge of the ways of travel to determine how they would prepare for a similar
trip.
Specific Objectives:
Students will assess the different types of transportation that was available to the
people on the Oregon Trail.
Students will design their own wagon to represent the travelers of the Oregon
Trail.
Students will investigate the issues travelers had when moving west.
Required Materials: Oregon Trail worksheet, Pack Your Wagon worksheet,
Anticipatory Set (Lead-In):
Students will warm-up with a lead-in question asking them what they will take
with them if they had to move somewhere new.
Step-By-Step Procedures:
Students will be asked “If you had to move to a new state tomorrow, what will you
begin packing today?”. They will have time to think and using the “Ink, Pair, Share” they
will share their ideas with the class. In “Ink, Pair, Share” students take the time to think
about the question, they then write down their answer on a piece of paper which they
will share with an elbow partner. Asking students to write down their answers allows
them time to think and time to articulate their thoughts. (Approximate time 5 minutes)
After sharing with the class what they will bring on their travels, I will give them a
handout7. Using the information on the handout students will be able to revise their
answers to the warm-up question if they felt like perhaps they were missing some
important items on their packing list. (Approximate time 15 minutes)

This reading will take us to our next activity. Students will be given the following
worksheet8.
Working independently or with a partner, students will decide what materials are
worth bringing with them on the Oregon Trail. Students will think critically about what
items would be more important in their travels, for example, medicine may be a more
important item then Granny’s Clock. Students will be given 15 minutes to choose their
items and add them all up to make sure they do not go over the weight limit.

7 ReadWorks.com
8 Oregontrail.blm.gov
 After choosing the items they choose to travel with, we will have an activity called
“Travelers and Talkers”. In this activity the class is divided into two groups, the traveling
team will go to the talkers. The talkers will stay in their seats and wait for a traveler to
approach them. Once they are paired up, the talkers will share what items they chose to
take with them on their travels, they will have two minutes to talk, once their two
minutes are up, the travelers will then have a turn to share what their chosen items
were. We will continue this activity for three rounds so students can hear from their
peers the ideas they had about what items were important. (Approximate time 10
minutes)
Students will return to their seats; their exit activity will be a written reflection
about their choice items. After hearing how other students chose to pack their wagon,
students will have a chance to reflect on what items they will take with them and why.
Plan For Independent Practice:
Students will use their prior knowledge to decide what they will pack in their
wagon. By sharing their Pack Your Wagon worksheet during Travelers and Talkers, they
will be able to articulate their ideas and strategies for packing their wagon.
- Closure (Reflect Anticipatory Set):
 Students will self-reflect on what items they found important for traveling on
their journey west. This reflection will allow them to review the information they
learned about the trail itself, how long it was and how the terrain made it more difficult.
- Assessment Based On Objectives:
Student’s reflections will let me know if they understood the limitations early
American travelers had to deal with when moving west.
- Adaptations:
The Pack Your Wagon activity can be translated so that students who do not
know English can still know the items and participate.
- Extensions (For Gifted Students):
Students can take the information they learned when packing their own wagon to
write a narrative essay about a migrant moving towards the west of the United States.
The narrative essay will include information about their travels.
- Possible Connections to Other Subjects:
The “Pack Your Wagon” activity requires students to do math. Students have to
be careful not to add too many items because the wagon does have a weight limit,
therefore, they have to be careful with how many items they choose to bring along with
them.

5.
Lesson Plan Title: Geographic Features of the New Land
Concept / Topic To Teach:
Students will learn about the new geographical features the United States gained
when it started to expand West. Students will be able to identify the new land and label
the geographic features.
Standards Addressed:
5.8. 2. Name the states and territories that existed in 1850 and identify their locations
and major geographical features (e.g., mountain ranges, principal rivers, dominant plant
regions).
General Goal(s):
Students will learn about the land the United States gained.
Specific Objectives:
 Students will be able to identify the new land the United States gained and know
more about its geographic landscape.

Required Materials: Hand out with required readings.

Anticipatory Set (Lead-In):
Students will have a warm-up activity that will ask them to recall the information
they learned in the pass lessons. Students will be asked to recall the geographic
landmarks that made traveling west more difficult.
Step-By-Step Procedures:
Students will have a warm up activity that will ask to think back to their older lessons
that spoke about the difficulties people had traveling west, because of the methods of
transportation and also the geographic features that made it more difficult. (5 minutes)

Students will read the following passages9.

9
Borrowed from a 5th grade history book “Our Nation” by Scott Foresman.
 Students will have 20 minutes to read the passages on pages 186 and 187.
Students will also do activities 1 and 2. The first activity will have them located
information about how quickly the United States grew. They will use the map on page

186 to see when the different states became a part of the United States. The second
activity will have students identify the different mountain ranges that early Americans
had to conquer in order to make it all the way to the Pacific Ocean. This activity will
show them the difficulty people had when traveling to the west. (Approximate time is 20
minutes)
Answer the questions on page 188 will serve as the students’ Exit Slips. Students
will spend 15 minutes answering the questions on page 188. The questions on this page
use a map to show the geographic features and have students identify different things on
the map. These questions ask them to identify geographic features, such as mountains,
on the map that is provided. The activities also ask students to mark the regions of
vegetation, and where certain states are.

Plan For Independent Practice:

Students will be working with activities that go along with the readings. Students
will be able to find the answers to the activities they are doing by following along in their
readings.
- Closure (Reflect Anticipatory Set):
Students Exit Slip will be page 188 that has a review of the different information
that was learned in this lesson.
- Assessment Based On Objectives:
Students Exit Slip will help assess what they learned in the lesson, by accurately
identifying the geographic features.
- Adaptations (For Students with Learning Disabilities):
n/a
- Extensions (For Gifted Students):
Students can write a reflection about how they think the early travelers were able
to overcome these geographical features to make it all the way to the Pacific Ocean.
- Possible Connections to Other Subjects:
This lesson contains reading and writing as well as some geography of the United
States.