The American West

As you know, the emphasis of this topic changes in September 2016 to include more on the pre-1840 period, the Civil War and period of Reconstruction. Probably one of the most innovative features of this section on teaching American West history is the use of US sources and teaching materials. Close co-operation with academic institutions in the USA has enabled unfamiliar sources to be used in imaginative ways. You will find lessons using de Bono’s Thinking Hats on the coming of the railroad, detailed analysis of one painting on manifest destiny and a kinaesthetic approach to Moving West – all with planning and the resources you need.

Outstanding Lessons

SMART TASK: A history puzzle – Opening up of the Western frontier by the railroads. A history mystery

This history puzzle focuses on a well-known painting, Across the Continent, but one which is actually more puzzling than might at first appear. The task starts simply and then becomes complex. Initially, all students have to do is to annotate a copy of the 1868 painting of...

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SMART TASK: Why were mining towns such lawless places?

This is a very straightforward, yet highly effective task which asks students to distinguish between the generic and the specific, to speculate about possible reasons from clues, to think creatively about historical myths and just as importantly to know how to get full marks on...

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The likely impact of the Railroad: time for de Bono’s thinking hats and some creative products

Students are taken back to the year 1860 before there was a transcontinental railway. They are asked to speculate about the likely impact of the coming of the railroad.  In order to do this, students are placed in groups. They are each allocated a role....

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Was the life of a cowboy really so adventurous?

This lesson draws heavily on the ideas of Sarah Herrity, Advanced Skills Teacher, Wyvern Technology College, near Winchester. It moves students from their own initial perceptions of cowboys, through to the harsh realities of life. After an initial card sorting activity, students have to consider...

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Who went west and why?

This lesson worked really well with lower attaining Y10 students who had already studied the Plains Indians and the contact between the early mountain men at the trading posts. This was their first lesson on movement West. They had never used artefacts before in their GCSE...

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What was the impact of the Californian Gold Rush 1848-9? GCSE SMART TASK

In this series of short tasks GCSE students predict, infer, gather information and then improve existing explanations of the impact of the Californian Gold Rush. Firstly, students have to use their existing contextual knowledge to predict what the likely consequences might be. This encourages them to...

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Teaching American West at Key Stage 4

Schools have been teaching the American West as part of the SHP course for over 30 years. I introduced it myself in the first department I led. There have been so many examination questions set on this module and so many good textbooks now available...

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Attitudes of the US government to the native Americans: milking an image for meaning

The simple PowerPoint presents students with an image which has six separate panels for them to investigate. Only by exploring each in turn can the true meaning of the document be established. Groups of three or four work on each and either annotate their own...

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Why did the Indians lose control of the Great Plains? I want that for my essay SMART TASK KS4

Students work in pairs to answer a GCSE question. They have cards of relevant information to sort through to help prepare their answer. But there is a snag. The questions they have been given look similar but are not the same. The students have to...

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Mountain Men – Myth and Reality SMART TASK KS4

Having looked at the role of Indian trappers who had been supplying skins to British, French and Spanish traders on the Missouri river for decades, students now turn their attention to the Mountain Men. What were they really like? The lesson starts with a funny story...

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Phases of Native American life on the Plains 1840-1890: What patterns can YOU see?

This lesson comes at the end of work the students have done on the Native Americans and their interaction with white settlers and the army. Students recall key events which they have to sequence and then to date, before trying to sub-divide the period into...

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Manifest destiny: beat the textbook/expert caption

Students find this a fun lesson in which they not only consolidate their knowledge of the people who crossed the Plains but also present their understanding of the order in which they came, by custom animating annotations on a PowerPoint slide. To fully appreciate the...

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How can we explain the rise and boom in the cattle industry?

This enquiry starts with students posing 7 expert historical questions, stimulated by a graph.  They then set about investigating their questions using a set of written clues supported by a PowerPoint presentation.  Not only do students pose their own questions about the start of the...

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