Class will be divided into wagon families of 4 or 5. They must plan the route they will take from St. Louis, Missouri to either California, Washington, or Oregon. They must show rivers crossed, mountains, forests, etc. Each group will have a map showing their route.
They must also determine what provisions will be necessary for the journey, what articles of furniture, clothes, and livestock will accompany the family. A list of these items will be made and each item must be justifiable when reporting their plans to the class.
Students can find the measurements of a Conestoga wagon (roughly 4'x 10') and make a facsimile of the wagon on the floor by measuring it out and then pushing desks up to make walls of the wagon. This helps students to better visualize what space they had available.
Each family then must report to the group what their plans are and get the approval of other families planning the same journey to join up with them. All of this will depend on if the group feels that the family is adequately prepared and would be able to survive without undue assistance from the group.
They will formulate rules they agree to travel and live by.
Possible books for reference material:
Learners will likely have been introduced to this material in the grade school history classes, but an early class could be devoted to the refreshing of memories. The concept of Westward movement can be explained to those students new to U.S. history, but I don't foresee this taking longer than one class session.
The teacher would need to have some pre-class planning time to familiarize with the socio-economic climate of the U.S. during this era, as well as the processes the pioneers underwent in their westward movement. Not many extras would be required, and a novice teacher could handle the unit fairly easily.
Throughout this unit, the bulletin board should contain a U.S. map with all the various western trails marked on it. Each day a small picture of a Conestoga wagon can be moved to that day's destination along the Oregon Trail. Then around the map, pictures of the different landmarks on the Oregon Trail as well as any other pictures of pioneers moving could be displayed. This all helps the students get a feel for the time and place that they are writing about.
Introduction to U.S. of this time frame with attention to world political climate at the time. What conditions exist that make people ready for changes? Understanding of political conditions and economic conditions to be developed. Once the understanding of the need for changes is made, the class begins to formulate ideas on what is required for families, individuals, and people in general to pick up their lives and move 3,000 miles away. We will look at what they knew of the hardships, and what they didnít know. The class members will form small groups that will be members of the same wagon. They will begin to plan for their trip. Form lists of what provisions will be needed on the long trip; food, clothing, ammunition, spare wagon parts. Decide the route to be taken, choose a departure date, estimating travelling 15 miles a day determine length of time the party will be on the trail. Take in to account the terrain, weather, feed & water for the animals.
They will:
Choose amongst group:
Each week's activities could include searches of relevant material on the Web. Included in each week is a web-quest that leads students to uncover related materials at selected sites.
This web quest activity focuses on communications across the continent via the Pony Express:
http://www.eduplace.com/rdg/gen_act/travel/pony.html
Description: Plot the route of the Pony Express. As you do this, discover the types of terrain that had to be crossed by the riders and plan the number of stations and change of horses needed to get mail to California.
Author: Houghton Mifflin
At the end of the first week, the trip west will have been planned, and prepared for. During this week, selected scenes from "How The West Was Won" will be shown.
This week will cover the actual trip west. There will be planned and unplanned things occurring. They will deal with weather, terrain, natives, and human nature. Luck will be involved, as dice or a spinner will help determine fate. The individual lessons will cover geography, the perspective of native Americans, historical documentation of pioneers; creative problem solving regarding obstacles faced, and group decision-making. Life or death situations will be proposed that call for quick action and thinking.
Possible dice or spinner categories:
Geography: Give each student a blank map of the U.S. Overhead project a map of the trails for them to copy on their blank map. Have them label each trail. Use this for a study guide for a later quiz.
To find out why trails were chosen, have students follow this web quest:
http://www.SCORE/activity/blazers/index.html
Description: Present day roads were once the paths followed by the early trailblazers. But why did they take the routes they did? Today it's your turn to follow these roads and learn about the lives of the early explorers like Jedediah Smith. Author: Ralph Kline
The final week of the unit will find the pioneers arriving in a world that is somewhat different than they imagined. They will select locations to settle based on their "professions," and goals. The political climate of the west will be studied, as will historical photographs, and first-person writings. The gold rush will be covered in some detail, as will the Native American perspective. The final session(s) will summarize the journey in reasons, hopes, expectations, and outcomes. Impact on nature, U.S. culture, native cultures, romantic concepts, and art / film will be looked at.
Recognizing Assumptions: Recognizing assumptions helps you understand when people have acted because of what they assumed, or believed without proof. In the 1800's, many people assumed that availability of land in the West meant the chance for a better life. Thousands risked their lives on this assumption--an assumption that was often proven false by the harsh reality of frontier living.
Using discussion skills, discuss the values that lay behind the actions and statements of the people involved in the Cherokee removal. What values and goals motivated Jackson? What values influenced the actions and responses of the Cherokee?
Ask students to imagine they were forced to leave their homes suddenly last night, taking nothing with them. Have them write about what they will miss most.
This web-quest details a wagon train disaster: The Donner Party
http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/donner
Description: The plight of the Donner Party remains one of the most poignant episodes in the history of westward expansion during the 19th Century. Collect information, images, and insights from the Internet, and then you can "paste" them into a multimedia scrapbook (a HyperStudio stack or a Web page) to share your learning with others.
Author: Tom March
There will be weekly testing of concepts covered in class, as well as a unit test at its conclusion.
Materials handed in will include:
(From each group):
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
If the evaluation materials show a good grasp of the hardships, motivations, trials, and impacts of the Westward movement, the unit will be judged successful
This unit teaches a critical era of U.S. history. One that not only spread the boundaries of our country, but one that helped shape our very image of ourselves as a hard-working, risk-taking people. The ìfrontierî image that still lives in many mindsÖand not only in our own country. The students will come away with a good understanding of what it took to make that journey, and have a new respect for the people of that era. They will have practiced group decision making, planning, and crisis management. They will have examined the impact of the era from multiple perspectives, and gained appreciation of what was accomplished, and what was lost. They will meet historical heroes and villains, and leave the unit with a good grasp of an important saga in American history
There will be weekly testing of concepts covered in class, as well as a unit test at its conclusion. Materials handed in will include: Materials and supplies lists; maps showing routes; short paper on what native Americans might have felt' summary paper on their journey. If the evaluation materials show a good grasp of the hardships, motivations, trials and impacts of the Westward movement, the unit will be judged successful.
This unit teaches a critical era of U.S. history. One that not only spread the boundaries of our country, but one that helped shape our very image of ourselves as a hard-working, risk-taking people. The "frontier" image that still lives in many minds...and not only in our own country. The students will come away with a good understanding of what it to;ok to make that journey; and have a new respect for the people of that era. They will have practiced group decision making, planning, and crisis management. They will have examined the impact of the era from multiple perspectives, and gained appreciation of what was accomplished, and what was lost. Students will be able to analyze the impact of this romantic era on America's image of itself, and be able to separate the fact from the fiction.