The Worlds of North and South Pre-Civil War Bundle Review (Under $20 Unit Plan!)

Saving money is nearly more complicated than finding the right lesson plan to settle history squarely in your students' minds. This fantastic unit plan bundle on the pre-civil war society that sparked our country's darkest hour will save you some green and engage your middle graders. This review goes into the details of some of our favorite products within the bundle and offers some other teachers input on it.

Worlds of North and South Activity Bundle Pre-Civil War Lessons 

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(More on Mr. and Mrs. P below)

This bundle is brimming with unique primary resources and activities that are student centered and interactive. Games and primary source readings collide with various common core literacy and writing activities, making this bundle the perfect balance of fun and smart. It's a complete unit plan for 6th grade, 7th grade, and 8th grade history lessons on the complicated events of the Westward Expansion and the key figures that lead the political angles of it. In addition, several of the primary resources offer up challenging, thought-provoking activities that will have your middle grade students pondering things long after they leave the classroom. 

This in-depth writing activity is perfect for every classroom. Primary and secondary sources offer students the opportunity to explore the gap between slavery and industrialism via a response guide, analysis of the sources, and providing commentary. Answer keys make grading easy as well.

Another great lesson plan that will have students deep in thought and writing is this common core literacy activity that compares and contrasts the northern factory worker with the slaves. It will give some visual stimulation to engage students, and offer stark realities about the early US history of this time period.

If you're social studies unit is in need of a student centered, atmosphere boost, this activity is a perfect option. Ten (10) graphs and charts give history teachers flexibility to do stations or a "graph walk" around the classroom. This can help get the wiggles out of middle grade students, and get them thinking critically as they fill out their graphic organizers about the differences of north and south in relation to the following pre-civil war big ideas:

 Populations of North and South

Labor Systems

Transportation Systems

Rural/Urban Land

Patents

Immigration

City Growth and Agricultural Growth

Industry

Exports

This writing activity also takes advantage of graphs to make students analyse and critically think like the Graph Walk Investigation above. However, it also adds in the advantage of emgaging students with pre-civil war advertisements for various relavant topics such as steam power boats, locamotives, cotton gin, sewing machine, textile mills, and more. These primary resources will bring US history alive for your students!

This bundle also includes other engaging activities and games, plus some assessment options for a complete unit plan (individually costing $70!). Other items included are:

• Sectionalism Reading and Worksheet with Common Core Writing Extension
• omen's Rights Reformers Gallery Walk, Graphic Organizer and Common Core Writing Activity
• North and South Interdependence Mini-project Investigation Activity 
• Coming of the Railroad Common Core Reading and Graphic Organzier
• Uncle Tom's Cabin Primary Source Reading and Writing Activity
• Immigration in the Early 1800s Internet Investigation Activity. This is an outstanding webquest on a great, visual Library of Congress site.
• Venn Diagram Comparing the North and South
• Common Core Reading and Worksheet: Virginia's Apology for Slavery
• The Declaration of Sentiments Primary Source Reading and Writing Activity
• Plantation Owner and Factory Owner Engaging Pinterest Pinboard Activity
• Two Part North and South DBQ (Document Based Questions) Assessment with 6 Primary Source Documents and Common Core Writing
• A Fantastic Key Concept Match Activity, with graphic organizers, a matching assignment and writing guides with 3 options.
• Password Game Review

Here is what teachers are saying about the Worlds of North and South Pre-Civil War Bundle: 

Want to see a complete activities list for this 30 page social studies bundle, as well as more about the creators Mr. and Mrs. P? Click the link below for all the details on their 26 years combined teaching experience and how they were literally student nominated as superheroes!

INSTRUCTOMANIA, INC.

Looking for a fun Ancient India activity for your middle graders? Check out this in-depth review on the Ancient India Stations by Instructomania!

If you're looking for the best ancient history lesson plans that will engage and entertain your middle grade students, then I'd encourage you to keep reading this review of Instructomania's...

Ancient India Stations with Key Questions Graphic Organizer 

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(More on Mr. and Mrs. P below)

Needing a team building or student centered activity that incorporates Ancient India or early Indian history? This might be the perfect stations unit! Each station offers a short, common core focused reading page with interesting artifact graphics and pictures and key concepts or words emphasized within the text. All centered around the Indus River Valley (Harappan Culture), Aryan, Mauryn, and Gupta Empires. This lesson includes on page and separate questions for students to answer, and the educator can modify the activity to better suit their 6th graders, 7th graders, or 8th graders reading or learning levels.  

The graphic organizer included with this reasonably priced activity makes learning more fun and engaging for students.

NOT included with this stations activity, but a great accompany to it, is the powerpoint presentation and notes page you can also find on Instructomania's Teacher Pay Teachers store.

Here is what teachers are saying about the Ancient India Stations with Key Questions Graphic Organizer:

Want to see more about this stations activity, as well as more about its creators Mr. and Mrs. P? Click the link below for all the details on their 26 years combined teaching experience and how they were literally student nominated as superheroes!

INSTRUCTOMANIA, INC.

Review + Recommend: Look no further than this ultimate common core, close reading and DBQ Westward Expansion bundle!

You want your students to have a better understanding of cowboys and Indians --er-- Native Americans than the movies right? So much US history happened between the years 1803 and 1840, and if you're looking for a resource heavy, yet fun and engaging way to teach your middle grade students all about it, you need to read the rest of this review about this US history lesson plan.

Westward Expansion Notes, Reading, and Resource Bundle

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(More on Mr. and Mrs. P below)

This bundle is brimming with unique primary resources and activities that are student centered and interactive. Games and primary source readings collide with various common core literacy and writing activities, making this bundle the perfect balance of fun and smart. It's a complete unit plan for 6th grade, 7th grade, and 8th grade history lessons on the complicated events of the Westward Expansion and the key figures that lead the political angles of it. In addition, several of the primary resources offer up challenging, thought-provoking activities that will have your middle grade students pondering things long after they leave the classroom. 

This bundle offers Westward Expansion "Instructional content designed with the framework of the key concepts of U.S. history, including geographic expansion and political, social and economic development," and gives you not only instruction content, but also offers great visual organizers, printables, and one of the best Westward Expansion lessons on the Teachers Pay Teachers website, not to mention editable common core tests and quizzes.

The three primary source pieces of the Westward Expansion Bundle offer a variety of options for worksheets and in class learning opportunities. The full length primary resources, from 1 to 3 pages in each, will have student's comprehension up. Then in each of the activity options, students will support claims with evidence, determine the main idea, analyze perspective and relate the source medium to modern technology and history. In the homestead act part, they will have an actual application for property where they must state improvements they'll make to their claimed land.

In most text books, the Nullification Crisis is a blur of dates and names that lull students to sleep. The Nullification Crisis Powerpoint and flow chart notes include specific details on Andrew Jackson, and makes the entire timeline more accessible for students. The instructions include notes for a simple but effective graphic organizer or you can update the included iPad App Templete Graphic Organizer included in this bundle (see below) for it.

Another included printable, interactive activity is the above Story of Manifest Destiny speech bubbles PowerPoint stations packet. This 8 station reading activity offers a chance to use graphic organizers or fun, graphic rich worksheets to answer questions about the Westward Expansion and its key concepts.

If you need some geography and time lines mixed in with your Westward Expansion worksheets, then you'll be happy to know this popular, and currently featured, product is also included in the Westward Expansion bundle. Eight (8) stations, DBQ style questions and answer worksheets, common core writing exercises, and maps make this interactive and just plain fun for students. The stations include: Mexican Cession, Gadsden Purchase, Oregon Country, Louisiana Purchase, Texas Annexations, Spanish Session and the Land Above the Louisiana Purchase.

Be sure to consider using it for your sixth grade lesson plans, seventh grade lesson plans, and 8th grade lesson plans. It's that versatile!

Okay, this one got a lot of special attention on the bundle reviews because student's have so much fun with it. Each social studies student creates four trading cards based on the powerpoint presentation and share them with their classroom group. At the end, points are awarded for each topic and the students find out who won!.Instructions are included and if you're looking for easy, this is the best part of the Westward Expansion bundle!

While the above are offered individually on Instructomania's e-store, the following parts are exclusive to this bundle:

Jacksonian Democracy printable notes with graphic organizer 

Jacksonian Democracy PowerPoint

Common Core FaceTime Interview template for Jackson, Sacajawea, James K. Polk, John Ross and a blank template for teachers choice.

Treaty of Echota Indian Removal, Primary Source Analysis

Working with Primary Sources election of 1848 Political Cartoon

Common Core Writing Activity for War and Negotiations of Westward Expansion

America Moves West Map Activity.

Jackson Tweets His Followers Template

Nullification Crisis Political Cartoon Assignment

William Travis' Letter to Texans Primary Source Analysis Activity

The Railroad Moves West! Primary Source Analysis Activity

Two Part Westward Expansion DBQ (Document Based Questions) Assessment with 6 Primary Source Documents and Common Core Writing. This assessment is versatile with tons of teacher options for a differentiated classroom.

A Fantastic Key Concept Match Activity, with graphic organizers, a matching assignment and writing guides with 3 options

Here is what teachers are saying about the Westward Expansion Bundle: 

Want to see a complete activities list for this 50 page social studies bundle, as well as more about the creators Mr. and Mrs. P? Click the link below for all the details on their 26 years combined teaching experience and how they were literally student nominated as superheroes!

INSTRUCTOMANIA, INC.

A Teacher's Review of Instructomania's Aztec, Maya, Inca Complete Unit Plan

HAPPY TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK!

What happened during the age of exploration? Discovery, that's what. The Americas became a novelty, an entire world full of life and culture would collide with the conflicts of the church reformation and the Scientific Revolution. Central and South Americans resisted the advances of European explorers, hoping to preserve their heritage. You have to teach your middle graders all about them, so why not use this fantastic....

Aztec, Maya, Inca Complete Unit Plan

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(More on Mr. and Mrs. P below)

I can give you five good reasons to check out this bundle. First, the price. With over $80 in combined product, the creators bundle up your savings and offer this for UNDER $20. I don't care where you teach, that is some serious savings.

Secondly, the versatility of this bundle will not outgrow future classes. You can pick and chose from 30 notes formats, worksheets and activities. Remember that price I mentioned? Now, if you could use it for the next 10 years in 5th grade, 6th grade, 7th grade, or 8th grade, isn't that a good investment?

Thirdly, variety. This history lesson plan package provides 50 pages within four categories: 1) Notes, PowerPoint, and close readings, 2)Activities, Worksheets, and primary source readings 3) Review and fun games, and 4) Common Core Literacy and Writing Aligned multiple choice tests. We'll take a closer look at some of these below.

Lastly, it's proven to engage and entertain students. Many of our reviewers state how much fun their students had and how they often either couldn't use all the activities or they ended up spending more time on pre-Columbia cultures because their students loved it! Between the student centered activities, visual graphic organizers, and interactive games its sure to make learning happen for every level learner in the classroom. 

Bonus: less work for you. Everything is included, making the hardest part for you clicking the print button. Instructomania's motto isn't just fancy words. They did the work so you can do your job well: teaching young minds! Be the teacher they'll remember, the one with the fun teaching resources.

Now let's take a closer look at some of this bundles included U.S. ancient history curriculum:

With up to 16 words to offer, this Americas Vocabulary Set offers a textbook independent vocabulary lesson sheet and engage student learning with multiple angles. In addition to the worksheet, two games are offered. One is individual while the other is a PowerPoint group activity. And of course, there is a quiz to double check their understanding.

Needing to check geography off your list for your Americas unit? There are not one but two Where In The World activities in this bundle. Student centered and just plain fun, these scavenger hunt style games will have your students feeling like detectives. Great labeled maps make learning major landmarks easy and interesting. If you want to make it more of a challenge, you can set a time limit or have student teams race to see who can come up with all the locations first!

The Aztecs created a writing system, and your students can become language specialists with the Aztec Pictography analysis activity. They'll use primary resources and amazing Aztec art to show evidence for their claims, and relate them to key social science concepts.

Common Core paragraph writing instructional materials and writing templates offer more chances to engage students. Students use literacy skills in the two handout readings, math skills to create population decline bar graphs and even learn science with the information about smallpox.

Other activities included in this bundle that make it worth more than El Dorado:

 Printable one pager notes for all three civilizations (Aztec, Maya, Inca)

Aztec, Inca AND Maya Close Readings, Analysis Guide and Annotation Activities (Aztec,Maya, Inca)

Fantastic visual PowerPoint notes for all three civilizations (Aztec, Maya, Inca)

Printable graphic organizers for all three civilizations (Aztec, Maya, Inca)

Geography Mini Bundles with seven activities included for each geographic region:South America AND Mexico

An Americas Vocabulary Lesson Set with lots of options, review games and a content/academic vocabulary quiz. 

Engaging Aztec Religion Reading with Common Core Worksheet

An Aztec/ Conquistador Shadow Silhouette Perspective Activity with examples, template and youtube instructional link.

Common Core paragraph writing instructional materials and writing template

Printable homework worksheets based on the notes for all three civilizations (Aztec,Maya, Inca)

FaceTime Interviews for Monteczuma, Pizarro, Atahualpa and Cortez. Includes Common Core and Interview Activity Options

Common Core literacy and math population decline from smallpox bar graphing activity

Aztec Pictograph Analysis Activity

Vocabulary Set with an assignment, two review games and a quiz in both PDF and Word!

An Aztec, Maya, Inca Interactive "People Pass" Review Activity

A Flyswatter game with answers that is a review for all three civilizations (exclusive to this bundle)

A Venn diagram that compares all three civilizations with answer key (exclusive to this bundle)

A student directed review activity for all three civilizations that includes an answer key (exclusive to this bundle)

A fun PowerPoint driven "Human Multiple Choice" game (exclusive to this bundle)

Here is what teachers are saying about the Aztec, Maya, Inca Complete Common Core Unit Plan: 

"This content supplemented my unit on Latin America in my World Geography class really well!" ~The Strawser Social Studies Store

"I highly recommend this bundle. It is well-prepared and provides much rigor to challenge my students. I love how they are liable for providing evidence throughout the entire unit." ~Anonymous Buyer

"I love these resources! They are very thorough in their inforamtion and the activites are creative and hands on. My grade eights really enjoy the lessons. I also love how I can use these cross curricular." ~Amanda Russell

Want to see a complete activities list for this 50 page social studies bundle, as well as more about the creators Mr. and Mrs. P? Click the link below for all the details on their 26 years combined teaching experience and how they were literally student nominated as superheroes!

INSTRUCTOMANIA, INC.