Oklahoma History Online

 

Index:

What is it?

Oklahoma History Online is an online, subscription-based resource for learning about or teaching Oklahoma History, a required course for all students in Oklahoma.

For Homeschoolers: Most schools teach OK History in 3rd and 9th grade integrated into an American History class or as a separate Oklahoma History course. If you are homeschooling, you can teach Oklahoma History when it works best for your family. I recommend teaching Oklahoma History as a separate, multi-level unit with all your children at one time, covering it once in elementary school and again in high school. You can choose to teach it as a six-week unit or as a course that lasts from six months to a year. Many families simply cover the basics and go on; others enjoy the course so much that they spends months or even a years on it (see Reviews below). It's all up to you!

High School Credit information: If you use the course for 1 semester or 1/2 school year (covering as much as you can in that time) you would award 1 credit (or 1/2 unit) to your child's transcript. If you use the course for 2 semesters or one school year (covering as much as you can in that time), you would award 2 credits (or 1 unit) to your child's transcript.

Oklahoma History Online contains all the information needed to fulfill requirements for public schools, as well. See pages 26-28 of Social Studies PASS (Priority Academic Student Skills) requirements for Oklahoma.

For Adults - learning about Oklahoma History is something everyone enjoys, including adults. This resource includes videos, audios, photos, and links to reading material that appeals to all ages. Use it on your own or share the learning with a child or grandchild!

Oklahoma History Online is very flexible. It can be used as a short, 3-6 week unit, an 18-week semester, a one-year course, or simply to learn more about Oklahoma History. It can be used with a single child or as a multi-level course for all your children in K-12. Each chapter includes a resource list for various grade levels from which you may choose the most appropriate for your child(ren). Much of the material is written for 4th -12th grade and up; however, I recommend allowing your K-3rd grader to participate as he/she is able. There are many resources listed for these younger children, as well.)

No textbooks are needed to use the Oklahoma History Online resource. All required resources are accessed from this website. The optional activities, however, do include the use of books, videos, craft supplies, and other resources (depending on the activity selected) which must be obtained by the purchaser. These resources are items that are currently available at your local library, on the Internet, or through local or online stores. (NOTE: There are a few out-of-print books recommended that are so good I've included them in the hope that you may be able to obtain a used copy.)

Because Oklahoma History Online is accessed online, it is continually being updated. All website links and recommended resources are being kept up-to-date to ensure their availability. Additional or improved activity suggestions and worksheets are being added as they are created, making this a resources that you will want to access throughout the time you are teaching or learning about Oklahoma history.

Table of Contents:

  • How to Use the Oklahoma History Online Resource
  • Unit 1: Ancient Oklahoma History
  • Unit 2: Exploration of Oklahoma
  • Unit 3: The Fur Trade and Oklahoma Forts
  • Unit 4: Missionaries in Oklahoma
  • Unit 5: Five Civilized Tribes, Trail of Tears, & the Civil War
  • Unit 6: Plains Indians and Buffalo
  • Unit 7: Railroads, Cattle Drives, Cowboys, & Outlaws (SAMPLE CHAPTER)
  • Unit 8: Land Runs & Life in Oklahoma Territory
  • Unit 9: Statehood
  • Unit 10: Oil Boom
  • Unit 11: African Americans in Oklahoma and the Tulsa Race Riot
  • Unit 12: Great Depression, The Dust Bowl & WWII
  • Unit 13: Oklahoma City Bombing
  • Unit 14: State & Local Government and State Symbols
  • Unit 15: Animals and Plants of Oklahoma
  • Unit 16: Industry of Oklahoma & Tourism
  • Unit 17: Oklahoma’s Geography
  • Unit 18: Weather, Climate & Tornadoes
  • Unit 19: Additional Study & Review

Each chapter (unit) is organized as follows:

Required Activities (applicable for school use):

      • Notes (an outline of the materials for that unit)
      • Website Research (links to the Internet for additional learning including primary source documents, videos, and sound recordings)
      • Timeline (includes a blank timeline to print out and colorful timeline pieces)
      • Oklahoma Notebook (instructions for creating an Oklahoma History notebook)

Optional Activities:

      • Bible Study (suggestions for optional Bible reading and a short composition or oral report related to the reading)
      • Learning Style Activities:
        • Read/Write Learner Projects (suggestions for additional books to read, compositions, vocabulary work, and/or worksheets)
        • Visual Learner Projects (suggestions for art projects, craft projects, charts & graphs, and/or videos to watch)
        • Auditory Learner Projects (suggestions for music, poetry, and oral reports)
        • Kinesthetic Learner Projects (suggestions for games, drama, recipes, hands-on projects, and/or lab work)
      • Field Trips (suggestions for field trips that relate to the unit)
      • Oklahoma Scrapbook - an optional resource for keeping track of your field trips to Oklahoma. See special price for Oklahoma History Online subscribers.

Hardware & Software Requirements:

    • You will need internet access, preferably high-speed in order to take advantage of all the features.
    • You need the free software Acrobat Reader 7.0, or later, installed. Some websites recommended in the curriculum may require other free software such as Flash or Real Audio in order to take advantage of all it has to offer.
    • You need pop-up blockers deactivated in order to input your user name and password.
    • You will need to use either Firefox or Safari web browser. I don't guarantee the other browsers will work. To check your browser, try the sample page and see how it works: http://www.oklahomahomeschool.com/OKHUnit7Samp.html

Updates: Because Web site addresses change frequently, I update this curriculum on a regular basis. Each time you access the curriculum, please referesh your browser so that you have the updated version. If you find a bad link, please email me so I can fix it or replace it with a new one.

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Oklahoma History Online Subscription ($14.95): $14.95 for one year of online access for personal use or for an individual homeschool. You will receive your access code by email within 24 hours of ordering. (If you do not receive your order within 24 hours, please check the email used by PayPal. Often, I receive orders using PayPal with old email addresses!) No refunds on electronic products, so please look over the sample pages before ordering. You must have Adobe Reader to open and read the document.

Oklahoma History Online CLASSROOM Subscription ($45.00): $45.00 for one year of online access, for a single teacher and his/her classroom only. You will receive your access code by email within 24 hours of ordering. (If you do not receive your order within 24 hours, please check the email used by PayPal. Often, I receive orders using PayPal with old email addresses!) No refunds on electronic products, so please look over the sample pages before ordering. You must have Adobe Reader to open and read the document. If desired, you may request a free copy of Oklahoma Scrapbook to be included with this subscription.

Oklahoma History Online Subscription PLUS Oklahoma Scrapbook ($19.95). Purchase both a one-year subscription to Oklahoma History Online PLUS a pdf copy of Oklahoma Scrapbook for only $19.95. Save $5.00. For personal use or an individual homeschool only.

PLEASE NOTE:
If you do not receive your order within 24 hours, please check the email on file for you from PayPal.

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Reviews of Oklahoma History Online:

“I used your Oklahoma History curriculum with my gifted/talented students at Peary elementary inTulsa. The unit was great and, as part of our school celebration, we added a stage presentation of famous Oklahomans with costumes, photos and a brief highlight of each by individual students. I believe it was informative as well as entertaining for the school population. The students enjoyed the study and we all learned many new things. Thanks for the opportunity to offer such a well organized unit to my GT students.”

Susan Westerfield (Teacher - Tulsa, OK)

“We love Oklahoma History this year. Thank you so much for making it available to us and for all the work you went to so that we would have so much fun learning about our great state!!”

Charlotte Shiever (Newkirk, OK)

“Brittany has been studying OK history for the past few months. I love the curriculum we are using. Cindy Downes, a local lady, wrote it and publishes it online. It is a very reasonable price and is chock full of great information. I am learning far more about OK history than I EVER knew about NM history! Brittany is finishing up the Plains Indians this week and we will move on to Railroads, Cattledrives, Cowboys and Outlaws next week."

Kahri Lynn, (Broken Arrow, OK)

“We really are enjoying OK history online and, of course this year is a great year to do OK history. I have twin second graders (girls) and a third grade boy. We are going slow (thus our additional years subscription) but the kids ask if we can do history first every week. Thank you so much for all the work and research. My son especially enjoyed the Lewis and Clark interactive game from the Smithsonian(?). We also really love the affordability of the course and all the field trip suggestions.”

Sheree Howell (Skedee, OK)

“This is my kind of history! I have a hard time picking up a high school textbook and asking my child to use it if I know I would NOT want to read it! Textbooks too often make history dry and boring. That is not the case with Cindy’s Oklahoma History Online course. I was dreading teaching OK History to my high schoolers because I hadn’t found a high school curriculum that excited me and I didn’t want to have to design my own. I am no longer dreading it! OK History Online has miles of information and is definitely NOT dry and boring. There are notes to go over together, then there are web links for more details, timelines to create, “real” books (historical fiction and non-fiction) to read (with age appropriate suggestions), suggested movies, and field trip ideas (with links so if you can’t go there you can still learn more about the area). One especially exciting aspect is the activities list for each lesson – it is divided up by learning styles (visual, auditory, or kinesthetic). Of course that means you have even more choices to choose from and you can consider your children’s learning styles (and your own) to enhance their learning experience even more! I am excited that not only is it written from a Christian perspective but each lesson includes a short Bible lesson. There’s even a chapter on missionaries! Then there’s even a link to OK travel coupons. For those that prefer textbooks I would still recommend OK History Online as an excellent supplement and resource. If desired there is a short quiz on each lesson for those that want something graded, but most students should have plenty in their notebook to prove they have learned Oklahoma history (and not just know the information but also be proud of their Oklahoma heritage)."

Debbie Smith (Broken Arrow, OK)
Mom of 4 blessings and home school mom of 16 years (with 13 years to go!)

“I want to thank you for putting this course together. We used the full school year to complete it. I feel that anything less would have been rushing it. There was so much more to learn than what was taught to me in public school. The only thing I remembered was having to memorize the counties for a test. I hope that my children benefit from us going in depth on Oklahoma history.”

Larina M. (Apache, OK)

“I have been thrilled with your Oklahoma Online History Course. I have been using the course since you first offered it and have completed the first five units with my fourth grade son. I had several Oklahoma History resources that I had used when I was a public school teacher, or that I had purchased to use with my older children, but none of them are as complete and easy to use. I appreciate the variety of activities provided for different learning styles. I like having all the information in one place and easily accessible. I only print off the parts I need, when I need them to teach a particular section of Oklahoma History. Having it on the computer takes up no additional in my school room, which is a huge advantage. By using high speed internet, I can have all the information in a matter of seconds. This is much faster than I could find it in a book, plus I can always find my computer. I have misplaced many books. The Index allows me to quickly find the topic I want to teach and with a click of the mouse I have located more information than I could ever find in one resource book. Another advantage to having the information available online is that it is updated as new resources are made. My son looks forward to learning about Oklahoma's history and especially likes it when we go to one of the places listed in the field trip section. He likes making the timeline, too. I have enjoyed learning more about Oklahoma. Our entire family is enjoying the benefit of all that Oklahoma has to offer as we travel to different cities to enjoy museums and National Parks.Thank you for making such an extensive Oklahoma History curriculum at such an affordable cost.”

MaryAnne B. (Oklahoma City, OK)

“I ordered your online Oklahoma history program at the beginning of the fall semester this year. Because I have a 4th grader and a 9th grader, I wanted to reduce my workload as well as my time instead of teaching two separate history courses on the same topic. I've had some outside issues this year that have kept me from using the program as faithfully as I would like; however, I can honestly say that it has been a blessing. Both of my children like to do "hands-on" work and have really enjoyed that aspect of the curriculum. I like the lesson plans and appreciate that everything is laid out in an easy-to-use format. Some of the internet sites have been quite fun to play around on and are always very informative. Putting together the timeline and the coordinating pieces give my 4th grader something extra to look forward to as we begin each unit. Given the expanse of material provided, the value of this curriculum far exceeds the cost.

Both of my children thought the "Adventures at Spiro Mounds" story was wonderful. Without knowing it, you managed to connect with outside interests they have through the storyline. As the author of this story, you did a fantastic job, cleverly intertwining history and entertainment to a merry end. They would both like to see a story like this included with each unit. (Now there's an undertaking!!!)”

Marla H. (Shawnee, OK)

“We plan on starting this as a unit study next semester. I wanted to get everything in order and go through it all before we begin. I will be using this for my 4th graders. I have looked over the course and am extremely impressed! You have put forth so much work organizing this. This course is worth far more than I have paid. It is stocked full of information that is for so many different levels. There is more information in this course than what I received in my Oklahoma History class at the high school level. I love the fact that you put in field trip suggestions. My children love field trips and we don't run the risk of "oh, we should have went there" later on down the line. Of course, my favorite part of Oklahoma History is the Indian side of it. I have a bit of Cherokee in me, but I am truly amazed at the strength of the Indians despite all that their people have suffered. The Trail of Tears affects me more than any other topic. I was pleased to see the links posted concerning this. I love the program and am very excited to get started on it.”

Janetta B. (Yukon, OK)

“We began the Oklahoma History Online course approximately 5 months ago. I am using it for a 7th and 9th grader ages 13 an 15. My oldest child has a learning disability and has enjoyed schoolwork on the computer.I am a single mother who works part time so all of the website and activity lists really help me to prepare the lessons. Plus the course was affordable and a good investment. Thank you for putting together this course and offering it at a reasonable price. My favorite part is the learning activities for the different learning styles. Some of the reading was long and dry but the kids didn't seem to mind. Child #1 liked doing his reading on the computer and didn't like the timeline. Child #2 liked the old radio shows and disliked all the reading. Two very different opinions but overall I think the course has worked well for us. My only problem is getting it all in before my 6-month subscription is over. There has been so much to learn!”

Larina M. (Apache, OK)

More testimonials here.

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