Frontier Homes unit
Polly Whiteside – July 2011
Grade level
6-12 – one week unit
Subjects
American History
English as a Second Language
Big Idea
Shelter is a basic necessity.
Essential question
How do the forces of nature, the period in history, and the elements of culture help determine the type
of houses that are used?
Standards
TESOL PreK-12 Colorado English Language Proficiency Standard 1.a.4 – English Language Learners
demonstrate comprehension of stories, information, and academic content by responding with moving,
matching, drawing, gesturing, and writing.
TESOL Standard 1.a.5 – Understand key words, phrases, and simple sentences.
TESOL Standard 2.a.2 – Use both social and academic vocabulary in context.
CO Social Studies High School Standard 1.b.3 – The use of context and content from the past is used to
make connections to the present.
Jefferson County Student Technology Standard 8.2.1 – Determine information needs, develop
information-seeking strategies, locate and acquire information.
Vocabulary
GREAT PLAINS
http://www.gpnc.org/images/gifs/nap.gif
PIONEER (used as a noun and used as a verb)
SETTLER
Daniel Boone escorting settlers through the Cumberland Gap, 1851-52 by George Bingham
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/hns/boone/dan1.jpg
FRONTIER (FRONT)
American Progress by John Gast, 1872
http://cambridgeforecast.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/americanprogress.jpg
TIPI (TEEPEE OR TEPEE)
http://cdn.coloradoyurt.com/new2007/img/xlarge/warm_tipis.jpg
EARTH HOUSE
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3146/2566645316_ba4db44692.jpg
ADOBE
http://www.elurie.com/tumblr_img/farview_sites_mesa_verde3950.jpg
DUGOUT
http://hoover.nara.gov/LIW/pioneering/images/dugout.jpg
SOD HOUSE
http://media.photobucket.com/image/sod%20block%20houses/keepitlow456/sod-house-1.jpg
LOG CABIN
http://www.log-cabin-adventures.com/images/log-cabin-metal-roof.jpg
POST AND BEAM
http://postandbeamss.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Post-And-Beam-Construction.jpg
HOMESTEAD
http://fineartamerica.com/images-medium/wyoming-homestead-phyllis-mae-richardson-fisher.jpg
SETTLEMENT
“Community building on the Great Frontier: The story of Joseph Naper and the founding of Naperville”
by Les Schrader
http://www.nctv17.com/images/joenaper-1.gif
AMERICAN SLANG – “DIRT CHEAP” AND “GREEN THUMB”
http://cache.planetnatural.com/planetnatural/images/large/dirt-cheap-green-thumb-lg.jpg
Activities
1. “Bring no poor articles with you” – HAVE TO HAVE vs. NICE TO HAVE worksheet (see below)
2. Class reads An owl on every post or Little House on Plum Creek together. Students journal every
day with their response, comments, and questions
3. Class reads selected pages (projected using an overhead or LCD) in The treeless plains. Students
record facts on a foldable note guide (using colored construction paper and assembled into a
book) on the following structures: tipi, earth house, dugout, sod home, and log home.
4. Students learn the words and tunes for “Home on the Range” and for “Little Old Sod Shanty on
the Plain” and analyze / discuss the words
5. “The night a bear came to our house” historical etching and writing assignment. (see below)
Extension suggestions
1.
Link to your state’s historical website or State history museum website to search for more
information regarding frontier and Native American homes
2. Watch the segment in the PBS series, Frontier House, on building a log cabin with Nate Brooks
and write 5 questions using key academic vocabulary for others in the class to answer.
3. Choose one of the following quotes and write a paragraph in response:
a. “Home is where the heart is”
b. “A front porch is the handshake of a home”
Resources
Apel, Melanie Ann. (2003). The American frontier. San Diego, CA: Kidhaven Press.
Babb, Sanora. (1994). An owl on every post. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico.
Beard, D.C. (1992). Shelters, Shacks and Shanties. Bolinas: Shelter Publications Inc.
Clarke, C. R. (1930). Sketch of Charles James Fox Clarke with letters to His Mother. Journal of the
Illinois State Historical Society, 22 (4).
Hines, Stephen W. (Ed.). (1993). Little House in the Ozarks: A Laura Ingalls Wilder sampler of
Rediscovered writings. Boston: G.K. Hall and Co.
Kalman, Bobbie. (1998). Historical etchings: Frontier Life. New York: Crabtree Publishing.
Kalman, Bobbie. (2008). A visual dictionary of a pioneer community. New York: Crabtree Publishing.
Larson, Kirby. (2006). Hattie Big Sky. New York: Delacorte Press.
MacLachlan, Patricia. (1985). Sarah, Plain and Tall. New York: Harper and Row.
McCarthy, Pat. (2009). Heading West: life with the pioneers. Chicago, IL: Center Point Publishing.
McGraw, Eloise Jarvis. (1986). Moccasin Trail. Harrisonburg, VA: Puffin Books.
Miller, John E. (1994). Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little Town. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas.
PBS. (2001). Frontier House. Lesson plans and resources. Retrieved from
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/frontierhouse/resources/index.html.
Rounds, Glen. (1967). The treeless plains. New York: Holiday House.
Silverman, Jerry. (1992). Mel Bay presents songs of the Western Frontier. Pacific, MO: Mel Bay
Publications, Inc.
Wilder, Laura Ingalls. (1994). On the banks of Plum Creek. New York: Harper Collins.
Wolfson, Evelyn. (1988). From Abenaki to Zuni: A dictionary of Native American Tribes. New York:
Walker and Co.
Wrenn, Sara B. (1939). “Early Pioneer Life.” Retrieved from http://memory.loc.gov/cgibin/query/D?wpa:1:./temp/~ammem_IPei::.
Yue, David and Charlotte. (1984). The tipi: A center of Native American Life. New York: Alfred A.
Knopf.
Activity #1
NAME ________________________
“Bring no poor articles with you”
When Minnesota settler Pamelia Dillin Fergus received a letter in 1830 from her husband James
summoning her to rejoin him and bring their four children for a new life in Montana Territory, her
husband, keenly aware of the life they would face on the trail and in their new home, provided explicit
directions to his wife on how to prepare for the journey. He instructed her to "sell all [she] could at
private auction, and bring no poor articles" west with her. He advised her to "have the sides of [the]
wagon boarded up high with thin boards to keep things from falling out," and cautioned her to "never
let one of the children go out or in the wagon without stopping it as many get killed or injured by the
wagon running over them." Remarkably, James Fergus also sent his wife a complete list of items that she
would need to bring in the family's three wagons ranging from 600 pounds of flour to $5 worth of
stamps to "whiskey for poisoned cattle."
Some of the items that were considered essential for the trip West are listed below in the categories of
HAVE TO HAVE and NICE TO HAVE. Make a copy of the lists below in a WORD document and save it with
your name. What do you consider HAVE TO HAVE and NICE TO HAVE for a move from one house to the
next now for your ENTIRE FAMILY? Try to think about getting all 40 items in 1 or 2 small U-Haul trailers.
You don’t have to include the 1 (ONE!) set of clothing you wear for the trip.
NAME _____________________________
HAVE TO HAVE versus NICE TO HAVE worksheet
(Prepared for a move to Colorado or to Montana)
HAVE TO HAVE
1. heavy winter clothes
2. scythe
3. salt
4. candles, candlesticks, and matches
5. rifle and bullets
6. pots and pans
7. quilts and blankets
8. tools
9. butter churn
10. axes and hatchets
11. shovels and picks
12. rope
13. keg of nails
14. vegetable garden seeds
15. flour
16. sugar
17. coffee and coffee grinder
18. whiskey
19. dried beef
20. dried apples
NICE TO HAVE
1. winter boots
2. plow
3. spices
4. lanterns
5. pistol and bullets
6. cook stove
7. feather beds
8. wash tub and wash board
9. weaving loom
10. table and chairs
11. bed frame
12. needles, thread, and yarn
13. cow
14. flock of chickens
15. hog
16. eggs
17. bacon
18. lard
19. rice
20. beans
ACTIVITY #5
Historical etching from the book by Bobbie Kalman, Historical Etchings: Frontier Life
Name__________________________________
Write a two-paragraph story about the bear historical etching. Use the following words in your story:
bear
house
moon
ma
sister
brother
afraid
pa
door
lock
roof
wood
crying
shouting
gun
safe
The night a bear came to our house
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ASSESSMENT
Frontier Homes Rubric
Teacher Name:
Student Name:
________________________________________
3 meets
2 emerging
1 beginning
forces of nature Lists 5-6 forces of
Lists 3-4 forces of
nature or weather
patterns that
determined the type
of frontier home that
was built.
Lists 1-2 forces of
nature or weather
patterns that
determined the type
of frontier home that
was built.
No forces listed.
period in history Lists 5-6 pivotal
historical events that
indicate the period in
history for frontier
homes was 17601860.
Lists 3-4 pivotal
historical events that
indicate the period in
history for frontier
homes was 17601860.
Lists 1-2 pivotal
No events listed.
historical events that
indicate the period in
history for frontier
homes was 17601860.
elements of
culture
Lists 5-6 elements of
Native American,
American or
immigrant culture
that influenced the
type of frontier home
that was built.
Lists 3-4 elements of
Native American,
American or
immigrant culture
that influenced the
type of frontier home
that was built.
Lists 1-2 elements of No elements listed.
Native American,
American or
immigrant culture
that influenced the
type of frontier home
that was built.
writing
Uses academic
language
throughout. Uses
complete sentences
throughout. No
misspelled words.
Uses academic
language for most
writing. Usually
writes in complete
sentences. Only 1-2
misspelled words.
Uses academic
language some of
the time. The
majority of the
sentences are
complete sentences.
There are 3-4
misspelled words.
Does not use
academic language most responses are
in drawing form. No
complete sentences.
More than 5
misspelled words.
listening /
questioning
Follows along with
the written text all
the time while
listening. Asks
questions that are
pertinent to the text.
Follows along with
the written text most
of the time while
listening. Some
questions are
pertinent to the text
and some are offtrack.
Follows along with
the written text some
of the time. Most
questions are not
related to the text.
Does not follow along
with the written text.
Does not ask
questions.
CATEGORY
4 exceeds
nature or weather
patterns that
determined the type
of frontier home that
was built.
Date Created: July 12, 2011