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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS PATHWAYS ADVENTURES: Using Historical Documents to Develop Early Literacy Taylor Thomas, Emily Powell, Katelyn Parsons, Casi Youngblood, & Shelby Suits College of Education University of Northern Iowa Book Backdrop Title: Westward to home: Joshua’s Diary The Oregon Trail, 1848 Table of Contents: Introduction………………………………………………………………………………2 Lesson Module ○ Lesson 1­­ What is the Oregon Trail?…………………………………………...3 ○ Lesson 2­­ Life On The Trail.................................................................................6 ○ Lesson 3­­Hardships on the Trail..........................................................................9 ○ Lesson 4­­ Surviving the Trail in Oregon ...........................................................12 Appendix I: Library of Congress Resources……………………………………………15 Appendix II: Bibliography and Webliography………………………………………….25 Appendix III: Lesson Materials…………………………………………………………28 2 INTRODUCTION Book Backdrop Title: Focus Book Citation: Hermes, P. (2001). Westward to Home: Joshua’s Diary, The Oregon Trail, 1848. New York: Scholastic Inc. Focus Book Summary: Joshua wrote in a journal given to him by his grampa. Each day he tells about the day and what he is feeling. He begins the journal on March 1, 1848 before he and his family leave for Oregon. He tells about his mother not wanting to go because she doesn’t want to leave the babies she has buried in their yard. Her babies died just after birth, only two survived. They finally head out on April 10. Joshua goes on to write about their life on the trail and the struggles that they encountered such as legs being cut off and wagons falling off cliffs. Different forts they stop at and pass through are mentioned in the journal such as Fort Kearney, Ash Hollow, and Fort Laramie. Joshua and the rest people who survived the trail finally make it to Oregon in October and begin to make it their home. Book Setting: The story takes place in the mid­1800s along the Oregon Trail in the United States, with Joshua keeping a diary of his childhood on the Oregon Trail. NCSS Notable Tradebook Theme: History, Life and Culture in the Americas Historical Period: National Expansion and Reform Grade Range: Intermediate (3rd Grade) 3 LESSON MODULE Four Lesson Primary Source­Based Book Backdrop Lesson Plans Lesson 1 Title: What is the Oregon Trail? Learning Goals: Knowledge ● Students will learn a basis of information regarding the Oregon Trail to prepare for the unit study covering the Oregon Trail. ● Students will learn what the Oregon Trail was and reasons why people chose to travel it. ● Students will learn what some hardships were while traveling the Oregon Trail. Skills ● Students will participate in the Oregon Trail board game in group of 3 or 4. Dispositions ● Students will develop an understanding of what traveling the Oregon Trail was like. ● Students will begin to develop an ability to see things from multiple perspectives, think critically about the past, and think about the complexity of historical events. Links to National Standards: Culture: Social Studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of culture and cultural diversity. Time, Continuity, and Change: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of the past and its legacy. People, Places, and Environments: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of people, places, and environments. Individual Development and Identity: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of individual development and identity. 4 General Instructional Materials: ● Oregon Trail pictures ● Oregon Trail game board & pieces ● Game cards ● Dice ● Westward to Home: Joshua’s Diary book LOC Primary Source Materials: Game Board, Cards, and Instructions in Appendix III Lesson Procedures: Introduction 1. Display a picture of the trail taken for the kids to look at. 2. Ask, how many of you know what this picture represents? What about if I put this picture up to supplement it as well? (picture of covered wagon) Now does anyone know what we are going to be talking about? We are going to begin our study on the Oregon Trail. 3. Let’s have a large group discussion and share some information and facts that you may know about the Oregon Trail. Development 1. In the mid­1800’s in the United States, there was a huge migration of folks leaving their homes in the East and heading West. (Bring back up the image of the path taken) 2. How do you think that people traveled during this time period? Take some answers from the students. 3. They went in covered wagons, by foot, on horseback and muleback, in huge caravans with others and small groups of only two or three. 4. What are some reasons people traveled? Take some answers from the students. 5. People traveled for many reasons, some being in search of a better life, for promised land in Oregon (free land). Land in the East was dry and worn­out and times were hard with a growing depression. Some left to escape the plague of disease that was crossing the country at the time.Others went for the mere fact of having an adventure. 6. There were many hardships faced by these emigrants. What are some things you think they would face while traveling across the country? Take some answers from the students. 7. There were many diseases that struck the travelers, as well as, dangerous heat, fierce sun, prairie fires, winds, and bad ice and hailstorms. They also had to deal with snakes and wolves and other wild animals. Wagons overturned and drowning accidents happened regularly. 8. One thing that they had to be fearful of the most was the constant threat of Indian attack 5 because the Indians believed that no one owned the land and the settlers believed otherwise. 9. For those who did make it across the trail though, they did find what they were looking for­ land and opportunity and for some, a fresh start. 10. Introduce the book that they will be reading to supplement this unit of study. *The students will be asked to read pages 3­27 of the book for the following class period the next day* Culmination (Located in Appendix III) 1. Divide the students into groups of three or four and distribute the game boards, cards and pieces to each group. 2. Explain the rules of the game to the students and ask any questions that they may have. 3. Students roll a dice to see who goes first and then roll again and move the number of spaces that is represented on the dice. 4. Just like real life, pioneers had to make choices on jumping off points regarding which wagon train to be with. So do you. You decide which route to take and encounter all the hardships along the way. 5. If you land on a orange space, then follow the instructions. 6. If you land on a wagon, then you must draw a card and follow those instructions. The card is then returned to the bottom of the pile. Assessment Strategies Linked to Lesson Goals 1. The students will be assessed in the large group discussion that we have during our lesson. The students will be able to talk to their peers and then add to the group discussion that we are having. This is an introductory lesson so as the lessons further on they will be expected to know more since the other lessons will go more in depth for what we talked about during this lesson. 6 LESSON MODULE Four Lesson Primary Source­Based Book Backdrop Lesson Plans Lesson 2 Title: Life On The Trail Students will have pages 27­52 read before this lesson is started. Learning Goals: Knowledge: The students will be able to compare imagined travel experiences of the 19th century pioneers with their own actual experiences. The students will answer the Focus Question: What was it like on the Oregon Trail? How has traveling changed since then? Skills: The students will be able to create oral stories or cross country journeys and composite them into a class book. Dispositions: The students will be able to understand how it was for children on the Oregon Trail. Links to National Standards: http://www.socialstudies.org/standards/strands Time, Continuity, & Change: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of the past and its legacy. Culture: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of culture and cultural diversity. Individuals, Groups, and Institutions: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of people, places, and environments. General Instructional Materials: ● Website: http://www.america101.us/trail/Oregontrail.html http://www.blm.gov/or/oregontrail/education­kids­trail.php ● Oregon Trail Cards printed 7 ●
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Westward to Home: Joshua’s Diary book Map of the United States Dry Erase Markers Oregon Trail Journal Wordweb LOC Primary Source Materials: ● Image 2, 3 from Appendix I ● Wordweb from Appendix III Lesson Procedures: Introduction: Before this class period, students are to read pages 27­52 in the book Westward to Home: Joshua’s Diary book Have a class discussion of what they know about how life is on the trail. Complete the word web of what the students notice about the Oregon Trail and previous knowledge. . Development: Explain to students they are going to become modern­day pioneers. They will pick a state they would like to “travel” to that state in a month. Group the students into pairs and have them brainstorm how they will travel, what they are going to bring, who they will travel with, how long they expect this journey to take etc. Come back together as a class and make a complete list for the class to use. Each student will contribute a question. Using the students questions, they will start by describing life on the Oregon Trail. They will cover things from food to where they lived and how they traveled. The students will come up with places they think the emigrants are from, what supplies they would need, when is a good time to travel, and what they would want to bring. After the students talk about these things, they will be paired up to go on their own journey across the Oregon Trail. Each student will pick a city as their starting point and what they want to bring on their wagon. They will take the 2000 mile journey across the country and write a discuss the different things they will encounter. Each day the pairs will draw a card giving them information about how their journey is going. They will map their progress on a map of the United States. After each day, the students will write about what could have happened in their journal. Culmination The students will create a My Oregon Trail journal and describe how their journey went. After they fill in their journals, they will create a short story about how their journey went as an 8 emigrant of the 19th century. We will peer edit each story and draw an illustration to hang in the hallway to go along with their stories. Assessment Strategies Linked to Lesson Goals For the assessment, students will be graded on their effort for their short stories that are created about the Oregon Trail. They will have also have an understanding on how life is different now compared to life in the 19th century. The formative assessment will be how their short story and illustration is completed. 9 LESSON MODULE Four Lesson Primary Source­Based Book Backdrop Lesson Plans Lesson 3 Students will have read the entries on pages 53 ­ 76 before this lesson starts. Title: Hardships on the Trail Learning Goals: Knowledge ● Third grade students will be able to give multiple examples of the hardships people on the Oregon Trail had to face. Skills ● Third grade students will create a one ­ two page short story on a realistic family’s hardships they had to face throughout the Oregon Trail travels. Dispositions ● Students will be able to realize that people from the past lived drastically differently than Americans today, especially those who left their owns and went on the Oregon Trail. ● Students will be able to get a deeper understanding of what it was like to live during the Oregon Trail; however, they will not know exactly what it was like because they did not live through it. Links to National Standards: http://www.socialstudies.org/standards/strands Time, Continuity, & Change: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of the past and its legacy. Culture: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of culture and cultural diversity. People, Places, and Environments: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of people, places, and environments. 10 Individuals, Groups, and Institutions: Social studies program should include experiences that provide for the study of interactions among individuals, groups, and institutions. General Instructional Materials: ● The book Westward to Home: Joshua’s Diary, the Oregon Trail, 1848 ● Technology (iPads, personal lap top computers, or desktop computers) LOC Primary Source Materials: ● Image 4, 5, and 6, located in Appendix I Lesson Procedures: Introduction 1. Begin the lesson by having a conversation with the students. “Raise your hand if you’re close to a family member who does not live with you. Do you go to your grandparents often or for holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas?” Keep the conversation going and eventually end the conversation by having the students close their eyes. Say to the students: “Okay, now close your eyes and imagine what I’m about to tell you. Your mom or dad wakes you up one day. Their first words to you that day are: “We have to leave today.” You live with your older brother, mom, and dad. Your parents tell you that it’s only you four going on the adventure that is about to change your life. You can only take three things with you, so you must choose wisely. Do you take your favorite book, toy, or article of clothing? You soon find out your grandparents who are you are extremely close with cannot make the trip with you because there isn’t enough room. Now, open your eyes.” Ask the students questions such as: “How do you feel? Do you think it was easy for someone your age to participate on the Oregon Trail? What emotions do you think people felt while traveling on the trail?” After a conversation about the first hardship of leaving home, begin an activity that opens up more hardships of the trip. Development 1. People traveling on the Oregon Trail faced many hardships through their adventure before they reached their destination. 2. One of the hardships during this time is the fact there were no hospitals available to those who got sick on the trail. Many of the illnesses came from eating bad foods while traveling. 3. Weather was another common hardship for families. Severe thunderstorms and drought became a challenge for families because it was difficult to travel under these weather conditions. 4. Another common hardship for everyone during this time happened to be separations that 11 occurred. Children had to say goodbye to their favorite teachers, friends, and sometimes even pets. Culmination 1. Have the images from Appendix I on the overhead or Promethean board available for the students to visually see during this part of the lesson. 2 Have the students open their book to page 58 and read the “Later” part out loud or silently. Have the children write five main points about this power passage. Writing may include, but it is not limited to: how the student felt while reading this and/or something he/she may say to the author of the story. 3. Come back as a large group and ask for volunteers to tell about what they wrote down from the pass. Ask the students questions such as, “Did anyone else feel the same way while reading this? Have you ever felt like this before, too? Do you think lack of food was often a hardship during the Oregon Trail?” 4. Have students read out loud “Nighttime” on page 60 either in small groups or individually ­ This can be the teachers preference and/or the students. Have a large group conversation with the goal being the idea that despite the differences of time and hardships, the author and the third graders in the classroom are actually very similar.Questions teachers can ask the students may include: “How did this passage make you feel? Did you find this part of the reading sad or funny? Can you relate to the author on this part of the story?” 5. Transition to the assessment by introducing the assignment the students will be completing. Assessment Strategies Linked to Lesson Goals 1. Students will be creating a short story (1­2 typed pages) of a story of one particular family. The story should include a description of at least three hardships that a family typically went through during the Oregon Trail travels. Students will be graded on grammar, spelling, and on the three components listed throughout their short story. 12 LESSON MODULE Four Lesson Primary Source­Based Book Backdrop Lesson Plans Lesson 4 Title: Surviving the Trail in Oregon Learning Goals: Knowledge ● Students will learn about the survivors of the Oregon Trail. ● Students will understand what those survivors did once they got to Oregon. Skills ● Students will analyze primary source photographs from the Oregon Trail. ● Students will create an alternate ending to the novel that was read in class. Dispositions ● Students will understand the difficulty of surviving the trail all the way to Oregon. ● Students will understand what is was like to live in Oregon after surviving the trail. Links to National Standards: http://www.socialstudies.org/standards/strands Time, Continuity, & Change: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of the past and its legacy. Culture: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of culture and cultural diversity. Individuals, Groups, and Institutions: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of people, places, and environments. General Instructional Materials: ● The novel Westward to Home: Joshua’s Diary, the Oregon Trail, 1848 ● Computer to type story 13 LOC Primary Source Materials: ● Images 7, 8, 9, and 10 located in Appendix I Lesson Procedures: Introduction 1. Students will have finished the novel before this lesson by reading pages 77 to 99. 2. Begin the lesson by having students discuss the end of the novel with a partner. 3. Then have a few pairs of student share with the class what happened to Joshua’s family in the last part of the novel. 4. Facilitate the large group discussion about the end of the novel by hitting these discussion points: ­ Joshua's family finally reaching Oregon. ­ How many of the characters actually survived the trail. ­What Joshua's family does once they get to Oregon. Development 1. Transition the discussion to begin talking about what people did once they arrived at their destination at the end of the Oregon Trail. 2. Show the students the image of an alfalfa field in the Willamette Valley in Oregon, without telling the students what the picture is. 3. Ask the students the following questions about the image: ­ What do you think this is a picture of? ­ What do you think the people who traveled the trail think of Oregon? ­ What do you think they are going to do now that they have reached their destination? 4. Show the students the images of the California Gold Rush and Cascade Mountains. Ask the students what they think the people in the picture are doing or what the picture is trying to show? Have the students write down what they notice about the images on a piece of notebook paper. Culmination 1. Students will use the novel and images of what people did once they arrived in Oregon to write an alternate ending to the novel they read. At the end of the novel, Joshua's family arrives in Oregon, but the author doesn’t discuss what his family does after they arrive in Oregon. 2. The students’ task is to create an alternative ending to the novel, describing what they think 14 Joshua’s family did after they settled in Oregon. The students can choose to write an ending that matches one of the images they looked at, or they can create their own ending. This alternative ending needs to be 2­3 pages typed in Times New Roman 12 pt. font. 3. Students need to include the following in their alternate ending to the novel: ­ What each family member did once they were settled in Oregon. (For example, Joshua became a farm hand, etc) ­ Where the family lived. ­ Any hardships and success Joshua’s family experienced in Oregon. Assessment Strategies Linked to Lesson Goals 1. The students’ alternate endings will be graded on grammar, spelling, and including all the necessary components of the story that were discussed. 15 APPENDIX I Images 1. Image This picture shows an area of the Oregon Trail that was traveled by many during this time period. 16 2. Image This image shows a family and their covered wagon traveling along the Oregon Trail. 17 3. Image A family traveling on the Oregon Trail. 18 4. Image This is an image of a family with their oxen and wagons in Kearney, Nebraska. 19 5. Image This image is part of the trail the families traveled on. 20 6. Image This is an image of Fort Laramie along the trail. 21 7. Image This is an image of the Willamette Valley in Oregon at the trail. 22 8. Image This is an image of some men mining for gold in California. 23 9. Image This is another image of some men mining for gold after the Oregon Trail. 24 10. Image This is an image of a home located on the Cascade Mountains in Oregon. 25 APPENDIX II Bibliography & Webliography Bibliography Friedman, M. (2010). The Oregon Trail. Scholastic Library Publishing. Gregory, K. (1997). Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie, 1847. New York: Scholastic Inc. Gunderson, J. (2012). Your Life as a Pioneer on the Oregon Trail. Picture Window Books. Hermes, P. (2002). A Perfect Place: Joshua’s Oregon Trail Diary. New York: Scholastic Inc Hermes, P. (2001). Westward to Home: Joshua’s Diary, The Oregon Trail, 1848. New York: Scholastic Inc. Isaacs, S. (2000). Life on the Oregon Trail. Heinemann Library. Kudlinski, K. (1996). Facing West: A Story of the Oregon Trail. Puffin Books. Leeuwen, J. (1994). Bound for Oregon. Dial Books for Young Readers. Stanley, D. (2000). Roughing It on the Oregon Trail. Harper Collins. Stefoff, R. (2012). Surviving the Oregon Trail. Enslow Publishers, Incorporated. Wilson, L. (1999). How I Survived the Oregon Trail. Harper Collins. Webliography Teacher Resources http://www.blm.gov/or/oregontrail/files/TBKS_opt.pdf This website is a good resource for teachers to use because it provides worksheets and activities for the students to do based on the lessons given for the Oregon Trail. http://www.blm.gov/or/oregontrail/education­teachers­packets.php This website is a good resource for teachers. It has downloadable worksheets and games for the students to do within the lesson. These activities include scavenger hunts, math exercises, and crossword puzzle sheets. 26 http://www.kn.att.com/wired/fil/pages/listtheoregch.html This website is a good resource for students and teachers. There is a link for student resources and a separate link for teacher resources. http://www.proteacher.com/090088.shtml This website is a good resource for teachers because it has many things available for them to use. There are links for Oregon Trail activities, an Oregon Trail diary simulation, an Oregon Trail teachers guide, and an Oregon Trail homepage. You can also search for information based on the grade level that you are preparing the lesson for. http://www.opb.org/programs/womensvoices/oregontrail.html This website is a good resource for teachers and students because it discusses what happened on the trail and what happened once people arrived in Oregon. http://www.oregontrail.com/hmh/site/oregontrail/ This website is the official game website. This would be really useful in a classroom if you could incorporate it into the lesson that you are teaching. It would be a fun activity for the kids to do and get some hands on experience. http://www.pkwy.k12.mo.us/homepage/jotey/file/Social_Studies/WWHO_Travel_and_Fate_Cards.pdf This website is used for the cards for the Oregon Trail Activity in lesson 2. Student Resources http://www.kn.att.com/wired/fil/pages/listtheoregch.html This website is a good resource for students and teachers. There is a link for student resources and a separate link for teacher resources. http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/wwww/us/oregontraildef.htm This website is a good resource for students because it has facts and information about the Oregon Trail. There is also a link for students to view other projects that students just like them have created during their unit of study as well. http://oregontrailkids.blogspot.com/2012/01/facts.html This website has many pictures that show what life on the Oregon Trail was. There are also a lot of fun facts for the kids to look at and think about while viewing the website as well. http://www.watchknowlearn.org/Category.aspx?CategoryID=1889 This website provides a ton of videos for kids to watch to learn more about the Oregon Trail. There are 27 videos about the life on the Oregon Trail to the hardships that people faced while traveling the trail. http://www.america101.us/trail/Oregontrail.html This website has a lot of links and different pages full of facts about the trail. There are also links to pages about all of the historic sites along the trail. 28 APPENDIX III LESSON MATERIALS 1. Game board that is used during the lesson. 29 2. Cards that go with game board. 30 31 3. Wordweb over the Oregon Trail: