Movements of the People

Our theme this year is “Movements of the People”. This is an expansion from our essential question from years past of “Why do people move?” This year students will be exploring historical moments of migration and immigration in the United States as well as moments of resistance, revolution, and social change.

• Geography: Make a wall map of a state with a checklist of facts.
• Migration and culture of the first people ~20,000 years ago.
• The real stories of Columbus and early colonizers.
• Forced migration and enslavement of Africans.
• English colonists, American revolution, and the drafting of the US Constitution 
• Westward expansion: Lewis and Clark, Trail of Tears, & Oregon Trail
• Transcontinental Railroad

Some favorite texts we pull from:

• A Different Mirror for Young People: A History of Multicultural America by Ronald Takaki and adapted by Rebecca Stefoff
• A Young People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn
• A History of US by Joy Hakim