It's no secret - teaching history in the elementary classroom can be a struggle.  Teachers are faced with the challenge of making people and events of the past relatable to young students who have a hard time even remembering or caring about the events and people of last week, let alone last century!

That's why making history come alive in your classroom is so crucial to making students care about what they are learning.

But - lucky for you - I love a good challenge! I've created a unit that will make you the hero in your next social studies lesson (bonus if it happens to be a lesson you're getting observed on!)

HOW IT WORKS:

Each lesson has 3 components to help you structure your instruction effortlessly.

• Introduction - During this portion of the lesson you'll review previously learned content and add on or introduce new concepts and content vocabulary that students will be working on that day. You'll start as a whole group using anchor slides before breaking out into small groups for hands-on practice.

• Lesson Activity - During this time of your lesson students will interact with you and each other as they explore history through varied hands-on activities, often in partners or small groups. They'll record their learning all in one place in their students activity packet.

• Lesson Reflection - Bring students back together at the end of the lesson to review, share, and discuss what they have learned during the lesson activity. Students reflect on what they've learned through journal questions right in their student activity packet.

CONCEPTS COVERED:

• What was Westward Expansion and when did it occur?

• The Louisiana Purchase and the expeditions of Lewis and Clark

• The War of 1812

• Indian Act Removal and the Trail of Tears

• New ways of communication and travel during the 1800's (national road, steam boat, steam locomotive, Pony Express, Erie Canal, transcontinental railroad, telegraph)

• Texas Revolution and the Alamo

• Oregon Trail

• The Gold Rush

WHAT'S INCLUDED

• Detailed Teacher Guide with everything you need for each lesson. All needed resources are downloadable directly from the guide making prep a breeze! The teacher guide includes a unit overview and detailed daily lesson plans. The lesson plans include easy-to-follow information about student objectives, materials needed, teacher preparation required, and the steps on how to conduct the lesson. You'll even find sample anchor charts and answer keys embedded right into the teacher guide.

• Student activity packet - Student activity pages to go along with the daily lessons (students resources are printable OR google classroom compatible.)

• 37 anchor slides to go along with each lesson. This anchor lessons are provided in PowerPoint, PDF, and PNG image files to meet your needs.

• A 39 (full-colored) piece bulletin board set to reinforce learned concepts

• 3 Originally written articles to teach about different concepts of Westward Expansion (google classroom compatible)

• Gallery walk posters for teaching about the War of 1812 and it's impact on westward expansion (google classroom compatible)

• Learning cards & small group poster activity to teach about new forms of communication and transportation that developed during the 1800's (google classroom compatible)

• Oregon Trail simulation game

• LINKtivity digital learning Guide on the California Gold Rush- The guide is an interactive PDF OR Google Slides file with clickable links throughout the file for students to explore the journeys in a fun way. Students learn about how gold was discovered, life of a 49-er, boom towns and ghost towns, people involved in the Gold Rush, and more! Students complete a flipbook to go along with the LINKtivity (google classroom compatible)

• End-of-unit choice board with activity sheets to help students review important concepts from the unit

• End-of-unit whole class book on westward expansion to help students review important concepts from the unit

• Formal unit assessment (google classroom compatible)

Here’s what other teachers are saying…

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "This resource is FABULOUS, I can not say enough good things about it! It is fool proof for teachers, the lessons are laid out step by step, and links to all the materials are in the lesson plans. This was so great to use for teaching this unit virtually with a great variety of student interaction through notes and other activities." - Rachel S. 4th & 5th grade teacher

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "If I could give a better review (more stars), I would! This unit is so well organized and resourceful. I literally want to purchase all your units now. I haven't even taught this unit yet but I couldn't wait to come and give my review. We will be using this right after our spring break next week and this unit makes me very excited to use it/teach. As a new teacher to 4th grade, I can already tell this will be a lifesaver for me. Kudos to you! You should train others how to organize their units so that they are easy for teachers to access." - Brittney, 4th grade teacher

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "This was the most well organized, easy to use resource I have ever purchased on TPT. Not kidding. The materials coincide perfectly with the Georgia Social Studies standards for fourth grade. It's informative and well written. I would highly recommend purchasing this product. - Scarlett W., 4th grade teacher"