Unit 1

Movement

PDF From the SC State Department of Education

Updated 10/7 - Effect of Transcontinental Railroad on Native American and enslaved populations.

Overarching Inquiry Question:

In what ways could the Transcontinental Railroad have had both positive and negative impacts on the United States?

Unit Overview:

In this unit, students are introduced to an in-depth study of the geographic, political, social, and economic factors that influenced westward movement. Students will inquire as to why and how various peoples immigrated to the United States and how these immigrant cultures influenced American culture and society. Students will participate in a gallery walk to establish foundational information prior to learning about the impact of the Transcontinental Railroad, analyze historical images, research push and pull factors for immigrants coming through Ellis Island, before researching to determine the cultural influence that immigrants had on American culture.


Students will need prior knowledge of geography/map skills for understanding this unit. Students will be asked to recall geographic locations through their studies of explorers and their exploration routes.

Unit Theme:

Expansion & Migration

Standards & Skills

Standard 1: Demonstrate an understanding of the economic, political, and social effects of expansion and industrialization on the United States and South Carolina between 1860–1910.

5.1.CO: Compare the physical landscape and demographics of the U.S. before and after the Transcontinental Railroad

5.1.CE: Examine push- and pull-factors related to immigration and expansion on urban and rural populations during the period.

5.1.E: Analyze multiple perspectives on the economic, political, and social effects of western expansion, the Industrial Revolution, and immigration through primary and secondary sources, and evaluate the subsequent changes to the U. S.


Instructional Guidance:

Comparison: Generate comparisons based on common or differing characteristics or contexts. Compare: the physical landscape and demographics of the U.S. before and after the Transcontinental Railroad.


Causation: Analyze multiple causes and effects, to include distinguishing long-term and short-term examples. Cause/Effect: the push and pull factors created movement of peoples from urban and rural areas and across continents.


Evidence: Identify, source, and utilize different forms of evidence, including primary and secondary sources, used in an inquiry-based study of history. Evidence: analyze multiple perspectives on the economic, political, and social effects on western expansion and immigration.


  • It is important that the teacher incorporate the historical thinking skill vocabulary in their classroom on a daily basis. Modeling is essential for student understanding of these skills.

I Can Statements:

  • I can compare the physical landscape and demographics of the U.S. before and after the Transcontinental Railroad.

  • I can identify and examine the push and pull factors of immigration and expansion on urban and rural populations.

  • I can identify and explain how immigrant cultures influenced American culture and society.

  • I can analyze multiple perspectives of the economic, political and social effects of western expansion and immigration through primary and secondary sources, and evaluate the changes to the U.S.

5th Grade - Unit 1 - Teacher

DBQ Options

Link to all DBQs digitized | What is a DBQ? | How to DBQ

  • Should the United States Have Annexed the Philippines?

  • The Philanthropy of Andrew Carnegie: Did It Make Him a Hero?

  • Progressivism: Where Will You Put Your Million Dollars?

  • Prohibition: Why Did America Change its Mind?

  • What Caused the Dust Bowl?

  • American Inventors: Who Made the Greatest Impact?

  • The Long Drive

Picture Books:

  • How Many Days to America? A Thanksgiving Story by Eve Bunting and Beth Peck

  • Watch the Stars Come Out by Riki Levinson and Diane Goode

  • When Jesse Came Across the Sea by Amy Hest and Patrick Lynch

  • Was Dreaming to Come to America: Memories from the Ellis Island Oral History Project by Veronica Lawlor

  • The Keeping Quilt by Patricia Polacco

  • Coming to America: The Story of Immigration by Betsy Maestro

  • Dreaming of America: An Ellis Island Story by Eve Bunting and Ben Stahl

  • The Children of Ellis Island by Barry Moreno

Chapter Books:

  • Letters from Rifka by Karen Hesse

  • The story of a Jewish girl immigrating from Russia to America (letter format)

  • The Orphan of Ellis Island by Elvira Woodruff

  • On a field trip to Ellis Island, a ten-year-old boy travels back in time to experience Italian immigration to America

  • The Journal of Wong Ming-Chung: A Chinese Miner, California, 1852 (My Name is America) by Laurence Yep

  • The story of a young boy immigrating from China to America during the California Gold Rush (diary/journal format)

  • Hope and Tears: Ellis Island Voices by Gwenyth Swain

    • A collection of poetry, monologues, and dialogues combined with a selection of archival photographs to help us imagine Ellis Island at various stages of its existence

  • Last of the Name by Rosanne Perry