The American West - Homesteaders | Cowboys | Native Americans - Unit Bundle

This unit plan contains standards-aligned and engaging student-centered lessons relating to the American West. Students will learn about the real complexity of the American West in the late 1800s. They will examine the land acquisitions that transformed the lives of Native Americans, the impact of the Homesteading Act and the railroads, and the real western experience of cowboys, Mexican Americans, Black Americans, and ranchers. The west wasn’t just “wild” and this unit seeks to explore this idea through compelling and critical thinking lessons. As a summative assessment, they will identify three adjectives that better describe the west and use evidence from the unit to support their claim. There is also review and two versions of a critical thinking test included.

Within each product:

• Classroom handouts for each lesson and the Unit assessment (PDF, PowerPoint, and Google Slides link)
• A Google Slides version of the lesson that can be assigned in Google Classroom (Google Slides link). (The Homestead Act assignment has digital links, but the lesson much be used in an in-person classroom.)

This bundle also included a pacing guide to help you plan out the full unit!

Included with this bundle:

Myths of the American West - Students will analyze myths about the American west and debunk them using historical evidence through an interactive slideshow.

Groups in the West - Stations Activity - Students will analyze the different types of people living in the west during the late 1800s through a stations activity.

The Homestead Act and Populism - Students will follow the life of a homesteader for 5 years as they attempt to "prove up" their claim. Then, they'll make connections between homesteading and Populism.

Native Americans in the West - Students will learn about the major events involving Native Americans in the west in the late 1800s. This lesson focuses specifically on the Sioux Native Americans and those tribes that were allied with the Sioux. Teachers may choose to incorporate this lesson with A Cheyenne Odyssey - a free online Mission-US game - however, this lesson can be utilized with or without gameplay.

The West Word Wall - This resource includes 27 word wall terms related to the American West, vocabulary review strategies, and a review puzzle to support student learning.

The West - Summative Assessment Project - With this assessment, students will evaluate the events they discussed relating to the West in the late 1800s, generate three adjectives to better describe the west than just “wild,” and then use evidence from the unit to describe their reasoning on a one-page assessment. 

The West - Review and 2 Test Assessments - This includes two different versions of an assessment for the 4 lessons in my American West unit and a review worksheet for the entire unit.

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