Unit 3: Early Settlements of the United States 

Driving Question: 

• What challenges and successes did early Americans experience as they settled major regions of the nation?

Essential Questions: 

• What causes conflict among people?

• Why do people move?

• How are cultures alike and different?

Supporting Questions: 

• Why caused conflict between American Indians and Europeans settlers?

• How did American Indians use the resources of their environments?

• How did Europeans modify and use the land where they settled?

• How have push and pull factors influenced major migrations and settlements of the United States?

• What challenges did early settlers face in developing the resources of major regions? 

Prior Knowledge 

Measure students’ prior understandings of earlier migrations to and settlements in the United States by engaging students in a Word Splash (Concept Connections) exercise. Encourage students to demonstrate what they may already know about key individuals, groups, and concepts from the Word Splash Organizer, sharing statements which explain relationships between terms. Ask students to revisit their statements throughout the unit of study in order to assess the accuracy of their preconceptions. 

Launch Task 

Encourage students to consider how the Columbian Exchange changed the world and its people. Ask students to create a "Before and After" T-chart to note their observations, using information from The Columbian Exchange in Maps. Encourage students to add to their T-charts any facts gathered from the videoclip, The Columbian Exchange, provided by Khan Academy, if classrooms have access to digital devices. Invite students to create their own Columbian Exchange Pizza, using ingredients from both North American and Europe which were part of the exchange of native plants and animals. 

Instructional Strategies 

• Suggested strategies for reinforcing the Social Studies Practices.

• Correlations to Social Studies Practices of the Oklahoma Academic Standards.

Objective Analysis and Instructional Resources 

Analysis for each grade-level's content standards and learning objectives is provided in a manner to support deep understanding of goals and expectations for the teacher and student. Following each Objective Analysis are links to Instructional Resources providing recommendations for lesson ideas, inquiry-based tasks, primary and secondary resources. 

Collaborative Engagement Ideas

• Out of One Many: Culture Diversity
  A 5E lesson from the K20 Center at the University of Oklahoma, which asks students to explore how different cultures have contributed to the United States of America. 

•  America's Native Peoples
  An Inquiry Design Model lesson from the Oklahoma Curriculum Frameworks Writers, which examines the characteristics of culture, including the distribution and complexity of the regions of the United States, and compares the cultural characteristics of different regions of the United States, including how the environment affects the ways in which people live. 

• Immigration
  An Inquiry Design Model lesson developed by the C3 teachers of New York, which challenges students to investigate the experiences faced by immigrant groups who traveled through ports such as New York City (Ellis Island) and examine the cultural diversity of the nation.

• Voyager Stories: Age of Exploration
  A collection of inquiry-based digital expeditions from PBS, engages students in tracing the paths of major European explorers, the goals of expeditions, and the consequences of empire-building. Students apply information from primary sources and videoclips to analyze the lasting impact of European explorations on North America. 

• Spanish Conquistadors
  An inquiry lesson from the Oklahoma Alliance for Geographic Education, challenges students to identify and distinguish among important Spanish conquistadors, examining their exploration routes and the cultural, social, and economic effect of each on migration on North America.

• New France
  An Inquiry Design Model lesson from the C3 Teachers which asks students to consider the impact of French claims to North America and the legacy of French culture in the modern United States. 

Following each Objective Analysis are links to Instructional Resources providing recommendations for lesson ideas, inquiry-based tasks, primary and secondary sources. 

Evidence of Learning: Formative Assessment Ideas

• Measure student understanding of European territorial claims in North America by using a sample multiple-choice question related to a map of European claims. Challenge students to explain the depth of their knowledge regarding goals of European nations and interactions with indigenous people. (Oklahoma Academic Standard 4.3.1) FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT PROBE

• Assess students’ understanding of the extent of American Indian homelands prior to the arrival of Europeans to North America by asking students to use information and draw conclusions from the Native Americans: Tribes and Regions assessment. Encourage students to note their observations, using a Shape Up! graphic organizer. (Oklahoma Academic Standard 4.3.1B) 

•  Measure student understanding of the relative location of major American Indian homelands at the time of early interactions with European immigrants by using a sample multiple-choice question and challenging students to explain how indigenous people and settlers interacted with each other. (Oklahoma Academic Standard 4.3.1)  

• Evaluate student knowledge of the relationship of. American Indians to their environments by asking students to match images of traditional homes to Indian cultural regions. Conclude the assessment by asking students to explain how Indian cultures in each region used nearby natural resources to construct homes. (Oklahoma Academic Standard 4.3.1B) FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT PROBE

• Assess student understanding of differing viewpoints toward the land and its resources by asking students to compare primary and secondary source excerpts from Chief Seattle and Hernan Cortez. Encourage students to recreate a brief dialogue, using the Talking Texts strategy. (Oklahoma Academic Standard 4.3.1B)

• Following classroom instruction using resources such as the Esri Story Map Reasons for European Exploration, assess students’ understanding of the motivations of European expeditions.  Ask students to note their conclusions on a Three-Column Chart, comparing the similarities and difference between English, French, and Spanish goals. (Oklahoma Academic Standard 4.3.1C)

• Assess student understanding of the concept of push and pull factors of migration, using examples of stories such as Meet the Young Immigrants. Ask students to  identify and note on Post-It notes details from the stories that “pushed” these families from their homes or “pulled” them to the United States. Ask students to categorize their Post-It notes onto designated “Push Factor” and “Pull Factor” wall posters, checking for accuracy and mastery of the concept. (Oklahoma Academic Standard 4.3.1D)

• Following student learning about the Columbian Exchange, using such resources as The Columbian Exchange classroom presentation, assess student understanding of the historic and lasting changes to both Indian and European cultures. Ask students to compose a letter, using the R.A.F.T. writing strategy,  select their choice of role and audience, and describe the significance of this exchange between cultures. (Oklahoma Academic Standard 4.3.1E) FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT PROBE 

Unit Closure Idea 

Using ideas from the article American Culture  and the lesson America Home for Everyone, provided by the Kennedy Center, ask students to brainstorm traits they might identify with an "American" culture, noting their ideas on the graphic organizer.

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