Diamond 9: Why did the Homesteaders settle the Great Plains?

The engaging diamond 9 activity is designed to help students explain why so many people decided to settle on the Great Plains. It has been designed to be used with the full spectrum of leaners, but is particularly useful for stretching the more able. If you are looking for more traditional card sort resource on this topic, then please check out my TES shop.

When you purchase this resource you will be able to download a fully editable Microsoft Word document which can be differentiated further if you wish. The resource includes nine diamond shaped cards which include one of the reasons why Homesteaders settled on the Great Plains. Once students have cut the cards out, they are set three tasks including:

1. Remove any reasons that you don’t think are important. Record and explain why you have removed them.
2. Sort the remaining diamonds to show which are ‘short’ or ‘long’ term consequences. Record and explain your reasons.
3. Make a smaller diamond shape using the four most important reasons why the Homesteaders settled on the Great Plains Record and explain your reasons.

At each stage students should be feeding back to their group or the class and explaining their choices. The discussion and explanation around the choices that they have made are critical in helping them develop not only their understanding of the topic, but also the critical thinking skills that we associate with a diamond 9 activity.

Once stage 3 is complete. students could then have a go at writing an extended answer on why did the Homesteaders settle on the Great Plains?’

The aims and objectives for this lesson are:

Theme: The American West
Know: What were the main reasons why so many people settled on the Great Plains?
Understand: What roles were played by technology, the US government, the railroad companies and the end of the Civil War?
Evaluate: Which factor played the most important role?

WILF: What Am I looking for?
Identify and describe: Why did so many people settle on the Great Plains?
Explain: The roles played by different factors
Analyse: Which factor played the most important role?

If you like this resource then why not check out my other resources on this topic in my TES shop. You can also follow ‘The History Academy’ on Twitter, Google Plus, YouTube and Facebook for the latest updates or even to get in touch and chat about how you have used this resource or to ask questions. We aim to produce cheap and affordable resources for either the price of a good cup of coffee or a happy meal so that you can spend more time doing the things that you want.

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Kind Regards

Roy