U.S. History
Unit 1, Activity 1, Key Concepts Chart
Key Concepts Chart (Western Expansion)
Key Concept
Assimilation
+ ?
-
Explanation
Extra Information
The process in which a minority
group adopts the beliefs, ways of
life, attitudes, and culture of the
dominant population
Native Americans were forced
to give up their beliefs and
way of life to assimilate into
the white culture of the United
States.
Dawes Act
Enacted in 1887, this act tried to
“Americanize” or assimilate
Native Americans.
Chinese
Exclusion Act
Enacted in 1882, this law
prohibited the immigration of
Chinese to the United States.
Broke up reservations and
gave each Native American
adult head 160 acres for
farming or 320 for grazing
their livestock.
Exceptions to the Chinese
Exclusion Act were students,
teachers, merchants, tourists,
and government officials.
Exodusters
Battles with
Plains Indians
Dispersal of the
Plains Indians
Ghost Dance
Boom and bust
nature of mining
towns
Effects of the
Homestead Act
End of the open
range
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Unit 1, Activity 1, Key Concepts Chart
Key Concept
+ ?
-
Explanation
Extra Information
Transcontinental
trade from the
railroad
Agrarian
Movement
•
•
People’s Party/Populist
Party
bimetallism
Patrons of
Husbandry/the
Grange
Populism
Free Silver
William
Jennings Bryan
“Cross of Gold”
speech
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Unit 1, Activity 1, Primary Sources
Date:
Topic: Western Expansion Primary Sources Activity
What is the title of the
document?
Why was the document
written?
What words or phrases
were used that would be
considered uncommon
today or would mean
something different?
How would you explain
the document to someone
who was completely
unfamiliar with it?
When would it be more
useful to use primary
sources in analyzing
historical events?
When would it be more
useful to use secondary
sources in analyzing
historical events?
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Unit 1, Activity 2, Dawes Indian Act Perspectives
Native American Perspective
•
•
Loss of beliefs and way of life to become
part of the white culture
Loss of independent living
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Government Official Perspective
•
•
•
“Americanization” of the Native
Americans
Assimilation into white culture
Breaking up of reservations
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Unit 1, Activity 3, Transcontinental Railroad
Construction of the Transcontinental Railroad:
Impact on Native Americans:
Impact on Chinese Immigrants:
Impact on society:
Impact on the economy:
Impact on the environment:
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Unit 1, Activity 4, End of the Open Range
Impression Words: wide-open West, sheepherders, cattle ranchers, battles, starvation,
droughts, extreme temperatures, barbed wire, fenced in ranches and farms
Impression Text:
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Unit 1, Activity 5, Effects of the Homestead Act
Positive effects of the Homestead Act:
Negative effects of the Homestead Act:
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Unit 1, Activity 6, The Exodusters RAFT
Role
Exoduster in
Kansas
Audience
Family back home
in Louisiana
Format
Letter
Topic
Come/Do Not Come
to Kansas
Write the final draft of your letter below.
______________________________________________________________________________
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______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
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______________________________________________________________________________
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Unit 1, Activity 7, Booms and Busts of Mining Towns
Directions: Explain what you learned about the boom and bust periods of western
mining towns below.
Boom Towns
Boom towns mushroomed overnight when gold was found in the area.
Bust Towns
These same towns died just as quickly as soon as the gold ran out.
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Unit 1, Activity 9, Goals and Queries QtC
Granger Movement Anticipation Guide
Before reading about the Granger Movement, read each statement and circle if you agree
or disagree with the statement. After reading, go back to each statement and decide
whether “before” reading responses need to be changed. For all statements provide
evidence from the primary and secondary sources for “after” reading responses.
Before
After
1. Railroads charged western farmers more
Agree
to ship their goods than they charged
eastern farmers to ship their goods.
Evidence _________________________
_________________________________
__________________________________
Disagree
Agree
Disagree
2. The farmers tried to persuade the
Agree
government to increase the money supply
by printing more greenbacks.
Evidence _________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
Disagree
Agree
Disagree
3. The Grange’s original purpose was to
provide a social outlet and educational
forum for farm families.
Evidence ________________________
________________________________
________________________________
Agree
Disagree
Agree
Disagree
4. Grange membership was strongest in the Agree
South and West.
Evidence _________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
Disagree
Agree
Disagree
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Unit 1, Activity 9, Goals and Queries QtC
Goals and Queries for Questioning the Content
Goal
Initiate discussion
Query
What is the content about?
What is the overall message?
What is being talked about?
Focus on content’s message
It says this, but what does it mean?
Why was the word used?
Link information earlier?
How does that connect with what was said
earlier?
What information has been added here that
connects or fits in with ________?
Identify problems with understanding
Does that make sense?
Is this explained clearly? Why or why not?
What do we need to figure out or find out?
Did the content tell me that?
Encourage students to refer to the text to
find support for interpretations and answers Did the source provide the answer to that?
to questions
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Unit 1, Activity 10, Bimetallism or the Gold Standard
Bimetallism or the Gold Standard Anticipation Guide
Before reading about bimetallism and the gold standard, read each statement and circle if you
agree or disagree with the statement. After reading, go back to each statement and decide
whether “before” reading responses need to be changed. For all statements, provide evidence
from the primary and secondary sources for “after” reading responses.
Before
1. Bimetallism is the government policy
that would give people either gold or
silver for their paper money or checks.
Evidence________________________
________________________________
________________________________
Agree
2.The Populist Party called for
bimetallism and the free coinage of silver.
Evidence___________________________
___________________________________
___________________________________
Agree
After
Disagree
Agree
Disagree
Agree
Agree
Disagree
Agree
4.The Democratic Party nominated William
Agree
Jennings Bryan for President and committed
to bimetallism.
Evidence______________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
Disagree
3.In 1896, the Republican Party nominated
William McKinley for President and
committed to the gold standard.
Evidence____________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
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Agree
Disagree
Disagree
Disagree
Disagree
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Unit 1, Activity 10, Goldbugs and Silverites
Goldbugs
Beliefs
•
•
Adoption of the gold
standard
More stable, but
expensive currency
Silverites
•
Government would give
either gold or silver for
paper money or checks.
Supporters
Presidential
Election of 1896
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Unit 1, Activity 11, Populist Goals and Reforms
Populist Goals
Australian Ballot
Resulting Reforms
Positive or Negative Impact
on Famers? Briefly explain.
Secret ballot enacted for federal
and state elections.
Direct Election of Senators Amendment 17
Initiative
Process where citizens propose
laws or state constitutional
amendments that are voted on in
elections. Enacted in LA and
most states.
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Unit 1, Specific Assessment, Activity 7, Sample Rubric for Letters
Sample Rubric for Assessing Letters
Score Level
4
3
2
1
0
Description of Score Level
• The response demonstrates in-depth understanding of the relevant
content and/or procedure.
• The student completes all-important components of the task
accurately and communicates ideas effectively.
• Where appropriate, the student offers insightful interpretations and/or
extensions.
• Where appropriate, the student chooses more sophisticated reasoning
and/or efficient procedures.
• The response demonstrates understanding of major concepts and/or
processes, although less important ideas or details may be overlooked
or misunderstood.
• The student completes the most important aspects of the task
accurately and communicates clearly.
• The student’s logic and reasoning may contain minor flaws.
• The student completes some parts of the task successfully.
• The response demonstrates gaps in conceptual understanding.
• The student completes only a small portion of the task and/or shows
minimal understanding of the concepts or processes.
• The student’s response is totally incorrect, irrelevant, too brief to
evaluate, or blank.
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