Bring the Apple River Fort and the Black Hawk War into your classroom! Below are several, easily adaptable lesson plans, activities, and other resources for students of all ages. Topics include the Apple River Fort, the Black Hawk War, Sauk and Fox history, Illinois history, and more.
In celebration of the Illinois Bicentennial, the Illinois State Board of Education created a series of lesson plans and activities. One lesson plan, "Heroes of Illinois," can be tailored to include Black Hawk and other participants of the Black Hawk War.
Visit the Illinois State Board of Education website for details.
Suitable for K through 12.
Elizabeth Carvery, former director of the John Hauberg Indian Museum at Black Hawk State Park, developed a companion curriculum for her book Twelve Moons: A Year with the Sauk and Meskwaki, 1817-1818. Copies of this book are available at the Apple River Fort gift shop and through the John Hauberg Indian Museum.
Visit the Black Hawk State Park website for details.
The Sauk and Fox Nation is dedicated to the preservation and revitilization of the Sauk language. Students can learn Sauk through a variety of videos, stories, games, and more available through their website.
Visit the Sauk and Fox Nation website for details.
How were the Meskwaki affected by American Indian removal and relocation policies? Using primary source materials, students will explore the turbulent history of American Indian and U.S. relations.
Visit the State Historical Society of Iowa's website for details.
Students will become forensic historians and read through three very different accounts of the Battle of Stillman's Run. Examining each carefully, they will then reconstruct a "true" account of what happened during that fateful first battle of the Black Hawk War.
Click here for a pdf of the full lesson plan.
Created by Jennifer Erbach.
Students will learn about the life experiences of Sauk and Meskwaki women in the 18th and 19th centuries. Depsite what many might originally suppose, Sauk and Meskwaki women held important ecocnomic, social, and political power within their tribes.
Click here for a pdf of the full lesson plan.
Created by Linda Clemmons and Tonia Faloon.
"A woman's work is never done." Women played a tough, but integral role in the survival and settlement of the Illinois frontier. Students will explore the lives of Native, Euro-American, and immigrant women in Illinois.
Click here for a pdf of the full lesson plan.
Created by Ellen Nore Nordhauser and Kevin J. Suess
From its pre-historic native inhabitants to 18th century French explorers to 19th century American farmers, freedmen, and immigrants—countless people have made a home in the Prairie State. Students will learn about the joys and hardships of frontier life, with a focus on the early 19th century.
Click here for a pdf of the full lesson plan.
Created by James E. Davis, Vicki Harrison, and Helen S. Slaton.
What role did the Black Hawk War play in shaping America's Dairyland? Students will explore Wisconsin history as Indian country to American territory to statehood.
Visit the Wisconsin Historical Society's website for details.
In this lesson plan, courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society. students will explore Wisconsin history from Indian land to territory to statehood.