50 States Unit Study: The People of America

Welcome to Day 9 of Hopscotching Across the USA!  I’ve been sharing resources for a 50 states unit study, and today I’m sharing about one of the most important things in a country–the people!  You can spend a little extra time learning about important individuals and also cultures and traditions of Americans.

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Famous Americans

You will come across countless amazing people during your 50 states study.  We spend more time on famous people and their contributions during our history studies, and sometimes the specific state they were from is unimportant.  That being said, we did pause to learn about some well known Americans.  Our kids always benefit from reading about good people doing good things, from figures in the very formation of our country to more modern heroes that landed on the moon.

If you’re looking to find out who hails from the state you’re studying, 50States.com offers a list of famous people from each state.  For a little more information the America’s Story website has short biographies on their “Amazing Americans” page.  And another resource we used are the picture book biographies by David Adler.  They are a great length for adding into your 50 states study.  These are a few we enjoyed:

• George Washington (you can still visit his Mount Vernon estate in Virginia) lends his name to our capital and the state of Washington: A Picture Book of George Washington
• Davy Crocket, born in Tennessee, is the epitome of a frontiersman:  A Picture Book of Davy Crocket
• Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky, but also lived in Indiana and Illinois before becoming president: A Picture Book of Abraham Lincoln

And just to give you more examples here are two other famous Americans that piqued our interest:

Prompted by Theodore Roosevelt’s conservation work that we still benefit from today, we read Don’t You Dare Shoot That Bear: A Story of Theodore Roosevelt.

Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the moon, was born in Ohio.  Biography.com has information and videos, and we read the book The Story of Apollo 11 from the Cornerstones of Freedom series.

Cultural America

Americans are the product of the great melting pot, and that provides a lot of opportunities to tie in diversity as you learn about the people of the fifty states.

Music

I used Pandora stations and YouTube videos to highlight some of the musical styles that began in our country: bluegrass music and banjos when we studied Kentucky,  blues in Mississippi, jazz in Louisianna, and country music at the Grand Ole Opry in Tennessee.

Events

You can’t talk about New Orleans without talking about Mardis Gras, and National Geographic Kids has a nice short video on the history of Mardis Gras.

When you’re studying Indiana you’ll notice the symbol on the quarter is about car racing and you can share about the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Our great northern state of Alaska is the site of the famous Iditarod sled dog race that also commemorates a historic dog sled relay for life saving serum.  (If this really interests your kids, I wrote a post about our full unit study on the Iditarod.)

Cultures

• The Amish: There are Amish communities in several locations in our country.  We watched a nicely done documentary by PBS called The Amish: A People of Preservation and read several picture books to acquaint my children with the Amish:

  • Raising Yoder’s Barn by Jane Yolen tells the story of a barn raising.

  • The Journey by Sara Stewart tells the story of a young Amish girl’s trip to a big city, and how she appreciates her family’s lifestyle.
  • Reuben and the Blizzard and Reuben and the Quilt by Merle Good are charming stories about an Amish boy.

• Native Americans: The children’s book series “If You Lived With…” gives a view into Native American cultures.
  • If You Lived with the Hopi (Arizona)
  • If You Lived with the Iroquois (New York)
  • If You Lived with the Sioux (the Dakotas)
  • If You Lived with the Indians of the Northwest Coast
  • If You Lived with the Cherokees (Southeastern U.S.)

• Cowboys & Rodeos: we’re Jan Brett fans and got a kick out of her book Armadillo Rodeo that shares a nine-banded armadillo’s visit to a rodeo.

Come back tomorrow when I’ll share the highlight of our study: Food from the 50 states!  Subscribe via email or RSS so you don’t miss a post!

Here are the topics from this series:

Day 1: Introduction to the 50 States Unit Study
Day 2: Learning About the States
Day 3: Getting to Know Your Geography
Day 4: Games to Play
Day 5: Recording Your Journey
Day 6: Famous Places in the USA
Day 7: Natural Attractions
Day 8: Nature Study
Day 9: The People of America
Day 10: Food from the 50 States

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