My Town Tutors is a great resource for parents & teachers.
- US History Lessons
- U.S. History Primary Source Resources
- American Revolution Jokes
- Top U.S. History Jokes
- Social Studies Jokes
Good to use with Blankets for the Dead from Teaching Tolerance.
Manifest Destiny is a great activity for a U.S. History class. ICivics provides great resources to cover Manifest Destiny. These activites provide students with several differnent learning activities that focus on a variety of skills. All you need to do to have access to the lesson is register with ICivics.
Students or all levels seem to enjoy the variety of activities and engage enthusiastically in the activities.
Teacher’s Guide (page 1): This is a good starting point. It is very detailed and provides you with a guideline on how to present the material.
Active Silent Sustained Reading or Class Reading: (Pages 2-3) A teacher can photocopy and distribute the reading to the students. This reading provides some great background information about Manifest Destiny. For many of the Icivics lessons, creating a google slideshow or powerpoint can be useful. Teachers can create writing prompts, discussion questions, and more importantly find images that are included in the reading on the internet.
Analyzing Impages: Icivics does a fantastic job of connecting images with the reading content. Sometimes the quality of the image can be lost through the photocopying process. A teacher can locate the image on the internet and project it to a class individually or in a google slides / powerpoint presentation. Often these images are more detailed than the ones on the reading and will give the students a better chance to answer the questions accurately.
The reading is divided into eight sections. Each section has an image to support the text. Below are some images you could place in your google slideshow or power point presentation.
- Awesome Nation Seeks Growth Opportunity U.S. Constition
- We’re All About Those Rights (No image found)
- Destined to Grow? Napoleon Image
- Manifest Destiny image & YAWP primary source
- About That Whole “Taking Over” Thing… image
- Expanding Expectations (Library of Congress)
- Okay, Maybe We Do Mean Taking Over Patient Waiter are Not Losers (Library of Congress)
- A Not-So-Civilized Attitude Image
Informal Assessment: Manifest Destiny, Modern Times, or Both? (page 4) This section provides some great statements to start class discussion. A teacher can determine how much time to spend on this section. A teacher can also use all the statements or select a few to disccus. There is no need to create a print out for the students.
A. Expand that Land! (page 5, Activity p.1) This is a very good activity. Students are asked to shade areas of expansion for 1763, 1803, 1818, 1819, 1845, 1846, 1848, 1853. The sections to be shaded are clear. The actitivy requires the students to identify some of the major geography points in America. The “reference “map” identifies the Atlantic Ocen, Great Lakes (HOMES), Mississippi River, the Pacific Ocean, and, Mexico. It also provides a compass rose to help students identify the sections that need to be shaded. Each map gives a brief explanation of the land acquired. It is a great QUICK way to cover the concept of Manifest Destiny and Westward Expansion.
B. Technology Ho! (page 5, Activity p.1) A teacher can create the images to be shared in a power point. The slides are great for class discussion. Have students write the technology below each picture. DO AS A CLASS WITH GOOGLE SLIDES. A teacher can add other examples of continuity and change – like phones and cell phones,
C. That “Manifest Destiny” Attitude (page 6 – Activity p.2): This section includes three different excerpts from primary sources. The primary sources are “An Act Making Provision for Civilization of the Indian Tribes Adjoining the frontier Settlements.” (March 3 1819), President Jackson’s Message to Congress on Indian Removal (1830), The Home Missionary (1867), There are quality activities including a word search which is rarely done in class. There are 6 questions that help develop skills.
It is helpful to provide a word bank for the word search. Listing the words on a google slide is one option. Word Bank: agriculture, cities, towns, civilization, improvements, farms, industry, liberty, art, religion, government, education
D. Spoils of War (page 7 – Activity p.3) There are five great questions to answer. The questions are great starting points for class discussion. The questions are great for teaching students to support a position. (Library of Congress)
E. American Progress (page 8 – Activity p.4)
(Create a slide for better clarity) Excellent set of questions. (Picturing United States History)
Ballot Questions (page 9) Teachers can use this with the closing activity.
A. Expand that Land! & B.Technology Ho! ANSWER KEY (page 10 – Activity p.1)
C. That “Manifest Destiny” Attitude ANSWER KEY (page 11 – Activity p.2)
D. Spoils of War ANSWER KEY (page 12 – Activity p.3)
E. American Progress ANSWER KEY (page 13 – Activity p.4)