Traveling the Oregon Trail
Teaching with Primary Sources
Illinois State University
Teaching with Primary Sources
Illinois State University
Trisha Bostic
Third Grade
Lincoln Elementary School CUSD #15
Summer 2012
Photograph of pioneers crossing the Platte River
that clearly shows two wagons with accompanying animals
Young, Joseph Angell. Journal of a mission to the Eastern States, 1864
Manuscript at the Marriott Library, University of Utah, MSS 233. 1 v. (35 p.)
Students will learn about the important pathway across American using the Oregon Trail. These lessons will actively involve students in their learning. Students will study maps, photographs, journals, etc. of those pioneers who braved the Oregon Trail.
Overview/ Materials/LOC Resources/Standards/ Procedures/Evaluation/Rubric/Handouts/Extension
Overview Back to Navigation BarObjectives / Students will:
· investigate why pioneers had an interest in the Oregon Country
· investigate maps outlining the Oregon Trail
· discuss important people associated with the Oregon Trail
· explore what life was like along the trail
· research important places, people, and events that happened to pioneers while traveling along the trail.
· create a travel brochure of all the important information they learned when they explored the Oregon Trail.
· share their information/brochures with the class when they are completed.
Recommended time frame / 7 days
Grade level / 3rd
Curriculum fit / Social Studies/Exploring the Oregon Trail
Materials / Books:
· If you Traveled West in a Covered Wagon by Ellen Levine
· Daily Life in a Covered Wagon by Paul Erickson
· Fantastic Facts about the Oregon Trail by Michael Trinkline
· A Pioneer Sampler: The Daily Life of a Pioneer Family in 1840 by Barbara Greenwood
· Rachel's Journal: The Story of a Pioneer Girl by Marissa Moss
· A Covered Wagon Girl: The Diary of Sallie Hester 1849-1850 (Diaries, Letters, and Memoirs) by Sallie Hester, Christy Steele, and Ann Hodgson.
· The Oregon Trail by Ann Lockledge and Ted Henson
Movies:
· The Oregon Trail
Websites:
· www.loc.gov
· www.brainpopjr.com
· http://www.blm.gov/or/oregontrail/education-kids-trail.php
· http://americanhistory.mrdonn.org/oregontrail.html
· http://cybersleuth-kids.com/sleuth/History/US_History/Westward_Expansion/Oregon_Trail/
· http://www.america101.us/trail/Oregontrail.html
Other Materials:
· computers
· brochure paper
· pencils
· colored pencils
· printers from a computer
· Important Information about the Oregon Trail handout
Illinois State Learning Standards Back to Navigation Bar
Social Sciences:
GOAL 16: Understand events, trends, individuals and movements shaping the history of Illinois, the United States and other nations
· 16.A. Understand events, trends, individuals and movements shaping the history of Illinois, the United States and other nations.
· 16.A.1a Explain the difference between past, present and future time; place themselves in time
· 16.A.1b Ask historical questions and seek out answers from historical sources (e.g., myths, biographies, stories, old photographs, artwork, other visual or electronic sources).
· 16.A.1c Describe how people in different times and places viewed the world in different ways.
· 16.A.2c Ask questions and seek answers by collecting and analyzing data from historic documents, images and other literary and non-literary sources.
Procedures Back to Navigation Bar
Day One:
· Read why pioneers were interested in the Oregon Country from the book The Oregon Trail by Anne Lockledge and Ted Henson.
· Present background knowledge of the Oregon Trail using books listed from resources above.
· Show a series of maps using Primary Sources from the Library of Congress. Using the site: http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/gmd:@field(NUMBER+@band(g4127o+mf000054))
· Use the Smart board to show the maps and discuss what kinds of things they see in these maps and what kinds of obstacles they think the pioneers will have to overcome on this journey.
· Introduce Lewis and Clark and tell why they were important to the discovery of the west.
· Students will then watch a short interactive video called The Lewis and Clark Expedition using the website www.brainpopjr.com
· After the video there is a short interactive quiz the students can take using the classroom clickers. The teacher can then assess to see if everyone understood what was taught on day 1.
Day 2:
· Each work group will be given a card printed from the book The Oregon Trail by Ann Lockledge and Ted Henson. On each card is an important person associated with the Oregon Trail.
· Each group will read the card to one another and then discuss why that person was important to the history of the Oregon Trail.
· Each group will present why their person is important to the class
· Read “Life Along the Oregon Trail” to the students from the book The Oregon Trail.
· Class will discuss some of the hardships people endured while riding in a covered wagon.
· Hand out the “Important Information” sheet the students will fill in the next day when in the computer lab about life along the trail.
Day 3:
· Students will go to computer lab where teacher will pull up two items from the Library of Congress website:
· http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/hawp:@field(NUMBER+@band(codhawp+10021871))
· http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/hawp:@field(NUMBER+@band(codhawp+00170929))
· Demonstrate how to navigate the site and compare the two pictures.
· Give the students a list of sites to use to research information about the Oregon Trail:
· http://www.blm.gov/or/oregontrail/education-kids-trail.php
· http://americanhistory.mrdonn.org/oregontrail.html
· http://cybersleuth-kids.com/sleuth/History/US_History/Westward_Expansion/Oregon_Trail/
· http://www.america101.us/trail/Oregontrail.html
Day 4:
· Handout the directions for creating a travel brochure for the Oregon Trail.
· Use computer lab time to find information for your brochure and fill in Information sheet
Day 5 & 6:
· Work with groups to create your brochure
Day 7:
· Brochures/information will be presented to the class teacher will use rubric to grade brochures.
Evaluation Back to Navigation Bar
· Student brochures will be evaluated using the Rubric
· Teacher will grade the questions on the Oregon Trail Information Sheet
· Each group member will receive a participation grade for how well they worked in their groups.
Extension Back to Navigation Bar
· Students will read several journal books by Marissa Moss and create their own journals about Life along the Oregon Trail.
Primary Resources from the Library of Congress
Back to Navigation Bar
Image / Description / Citation / URL/ Topographical map of the road from Missouri to Oregon, commencing at the mouth of the Kansas in the Missouri River and ending at the mouth of the Walla-Wallah in the Columbia / Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division / http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/gmd:@field(NUMBER+@band(g4127o+mf000054))
/ Photograph of pioneers crossing the Platte River that clearly shows two wagons with accompanying animals. / Young, Joseph Angell. Journal of a mission to the Eastern States, 1864
Manuscript at the Marriott Library, University of Utah, MSS 233. 1 v. (35 p.) / http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/upboverbib:@field(DOCID+@lit(pho0))
/ Men and women sit in and stand near a covered wagon possibly in Colorado. A tent and wooden house are nearby. / Western History/Genealogy Department, Denver Public Library / http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/hawp:@field(NUMBER+@band(codhawp+10021871))
/ Covered wagon with man and child inside, pulled by ox, cow, and horse, at the Pioneer Jubilee Parade, Salt Lake City, Utah. / Western History/Genealogy Department, Denver Public Library / http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/hawp:@field(NUMBER+@band(codhawp+00170929))
Rubric
Back to Navigation Bar
Traveling the Oregon Trail Brochure
Teacher Name:Mrs. BosticStudent Name: ______
Total Score: ______
CATEGORY / 4 / 3 / 2 / 1
Writing - Organization / Each section in the brochure has a clear beginning, middle, and end. / Almost all sections of the brochure have a clear beginning, middle and end. / Most sections of the brochure have a clear beginning, middle and end. / Less than half of the sections of the brochure have a clear beginning, middle and end.
Presentation of Brochure / The brochure has exceptionally attractive formatting and well-organized information. / The brochure has attractive formatting and well-organized information. / The brochure has well-organized information. / The brochure\'s formatting and organization of material are confusing to the reader.
Graphics/Pictures / Graphics go well with the text and there is a good mix of text and graphics. / Graphics go well with the text, but there are so many that they distract from the text. / Graphics go well with the text, but there are too few and the brochure seems \"text-heavy\". / Graphics do not go with the accompanying text or appear to be randomly chosen.
Writing - Mechanics / Capitalization and punctuation are correct throughout the brochure. / Capitalization and punctuation are correct throughout the brochure after feedback from an adult. / There are 1-2 capitalization and/or punctuation errors in the brochure even after feedback from an adult. / There are several capitalization or punctuation errors in the brochure even after feedback from an adult.
Knowledge Gained / All students in the group can accurately answer all questions related to facts in the brochure and to technical processes used to create the brochure. / All students in the group can accurately answer most questions related to facts in the brochure and to technical processes used to create the brochure. / Most students in the group can accurately answer most questions related to facts in the brochure and to technical processes used to create the brochure. / Several students in the group appear to have little knowledge about the facts or technical processes used in the brochure.
Handouts
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Creating an Oregon Trail Travel Brochure
Handouts
You will be making a travel brochure highlighting maps, important people, and life in general along the trail. You will use your important people fact cards used in lesson 2, books from class, and the following sites to help find information.
· www.loc.gov
· http://www.blm.gov/or/oregontrail/education-kids-trail.php
· http://americanhistory.mrdonn.org/oregontrail.html
· http://cybersleuth-kids.com/sleuth/History/US_History/Westward_Expansion/Oregon_Trail/
· http://www.america101.us/trail/Oregontrail.html
Below is a list of things that will need to be included on your brochure:
1. You need a title and a colorful drawn picture with the names of everyone on in your group on the front.
2. Your brochures need to have at least 2 pictures found from www.loc.gov
Under each picture you need a caption about why this picture is important.
3. You need a section listing at least 4 important people associated with the Oregon Trail and why they were important.
4. You need a section with a map showing the trail (where it started and where it ended). Also highlight along the map at least 2 important facts and where they took place.
5. You need a section about covered wagons, what they looked like, what they carried, who was in charge of driving them, what did other family members do? How did they cross rivers and mountain, etc.? Include all the important information you learned about the covered wagon and why it was important.
6. You need a section about hardships faced on the trail. Highlight at least 3 hardships pioneers would face and explain what the end result would sometimes be.
Once everyone has completed these group members will present these to the class. You will need to pull up one picture from www.loc.gov to share with the class on the Smart Board.
Teaching with Primary Sources
Illinois State University
Important Information about the Oregon Trail
Please fill this out while you are researching to help you with your brochure. You will need to turn one of these sheets in per group when you are completed with the project.
Group member names: ______
1. Who were the pioneers?
2. Why were they traveling on the Oregon Trail?
3. Where did the Oregon Trail begin and end?
3. What did the covered wagons they used look like? You may draw a picture.
4. They made wagon trains to form a protective circle at night to ______and
______.
5. A ______was elected to lead each wagon train.
6. What were some hardships they faced traveling along the trail and how did those hardships end up some of the time?
7. List some important people that are associated with the Oregon Trail. Why are they so memorable?
8. What are things that could be found in a covered wagon?
9. What did the rest of the family do while traveling while one person drove? Did they ride in the wagon?
10. List any other information you think is important to know about the Oregon Trail.