The Journey West - Teacher Notes

Introduction

This activity is designed to give students an opportunity to apply knowledge gained by reading Patty Reed's Doll in a meaningful context. Students will determine what is essential for a successful journey west. They will plan a wagon journey from Springfield, Illinois to Sacramento, California. Then, imagining that they have completed the journey, they will write a letter to a friend telling about their trip west.

Objectives

• Students will use critical thinking and cooperative group skills to make decisions.
• Students will demonstrate an understanding of the westward movement and travel by wagon train.
• Students will apply basic math operations in computing distance and rate for a journey.
• Students will demonstrate the ability to write historical fiction accounts in the form of an informative letter.

Time Required

5 - 6 class periods (after reading Patty Reed's Doll)

Recommended Grade Levels

Grades 4, 5 and 8

Curriculum Fit

Grade 4 - California: A Changing State

4.1 Students demonstrate an understanding of the physical and human geographic features that define places and regions in California by:
3. Identifying the state capital and describing the basic regions of California, including how their characteristics and physical environment affect human activity (e.g., water, landforms, vegetation, climate)

4.3 Students explain the economic, social, and political life of California from the establishment of the Bear Flag Republic through the Mexican-American War, the Gold Rush and California statehood, in terms of:
3. The effect of the Gold Rush on settlements, daily life, politics, and the physical environment

Grade 5 - United States History and Geography

5.2 Students trace the routes and describe the early explorations of the Americas in terms of:
3. The routes of the major land explorers of the United States; the distances traveled by early explorers

Grades 6 - 8 - Historical and Social Sciences Analysis Skills

Chronological and Spatial Thinking

1. Students explain how major events are related to each other in time
2. Students construct various timelines of key events, people, and periods of the historical era being studied
3. Students use a variety of maps and documents to identify physical and cultural features of neighborhoods, cities, states, and countries and to explain the historical migration of people, expansion and disintegration of empires, and the growth of economic systems

Research, Evidence and Points of View

1. Students frame questions that can be answered by historical study and research
2. Students distinguish from fact and opinion in historical narratives and stories
3. Students distinguish between relevant and irrelevant information, essential from incidental information, and verifiable from unverifiable information in historical narratives and stories
4. Students assess the credibility of primary and secondary sources and draw sound conclusions from them
5. Students detect the different historical points of view on historical events and determine the context in which the historical statements were made (the questions asked, sources used, author's perspectives)

Historical Interpretation

1. Students explain the central issues and problems of the past, placing people and events in a matrix of time and place
2. Students understand and distinguish cause, effect, sequence, and correlation in historical events, including the long- and short-term causal relations
3. Students explain the sources of historical continuity and how the combination of ideas and events explains the emergence of new patterns
4. Students recognize the role of chance, oversight, and error in history
5. Students recognize interpretations of history are subject to change as new information is uncovered
6. Students interpret basic indicators of economic performance and conduct cost/benefit and analyses in order to analyze economic and political issues

Grade 8 - United States History and Geography: Growth and Conflict

8.4 Students analyze the aspirations and ideals of the people of the new nation.
8.6 Students analyze the divergent paths of the American people from 1800 to the mid-1800's and the challenges they faced.

Materials

General:
United States maps

Books:
Andersen, Edna Mae. Tamsen; A Story of the Donner Party. Chipmonk Books, 1973.
Block, Louis M., Jr. Overland to California in 1859: A Guide for Wagon Train Travelers.
Bloch and Co., 1984.
Laurgaard, Rachel Kelley. Patty Reed's Doll. Caxton Printers, 1956.
Sutton, Margaret. Palace Wagon Family. Knoff, 1957.

Software:
People of Sacramento CD-ROM or Web site

Internet Resources:
California Trail Gold Rush Wagon Train: http://www.goldrushwagontrain.com/
San Jose Mercury Gold Rush Sesquicentennial: http://www.mercurycenter.com/goldrush/
Sacramento Bee Gold Rush Sesquicentennial: http://www.calgoldrush.com/
Women in the Gold Rush: http://www.goldrush.com/~joann/
www.museumca.org/goldrush/
Museum of the City of San Fransisco - Discovery of Gold: http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist2/gold.html
PBS American Experience - The Donner Party: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/amex/donner/index.html
Donner Party Journals and Logs: http://members.aol.com/DanMRosen/donner/index.htm
Westward Movement: http://www.hc.cc.tx.us/library/histuwt.htm
The Oregon Trail: http://www.isu.edu/~trinmich/Oregontrail.html
Lewis and Clark: http://www.lewisclark.net/
Oregon Trail Center: http://www.oregontrailcenter.org/

Instructional Procedure

• Introduce the activity and distribute the student directions
• Help students to form cooperative groups (wagon trains) in which they will complete the first two activities.
• Discuss the information from Patty Reed's Doll that may be helpful in completing the activities. Students should brainstorm the problems faced by the Donner Party and possible plans for avoiding the same fate.
• Allow time for group discussion and the completion of the packing list. Ask students to explain their choices.
• Discuss with students the information that should be contained in the plans for their journey. Review the criteria and questions to be answered in the plans. Explain that their plan will be approximate, but should be as realistically accurate as possible.
• Allow 2 - 3 days for students to work on the plan for their journey in groups. Give guidelines for a trip plan document.
• Discuss historical fiction genre, using Patty Reed's Doll as an example, and define criteria for letter writing.
• Allow time for students to write letters and provide tea bins for soaking.

Evaluation/ Assessment

Students can be asked to justify the choices on their packing lists. The trip plans should be evaluated to see that they are realistic and accurate. Grade level writing standards should be used in evaluating the letter. The letter, as historical fiction, should also reflect a level of historical accuracy. The teacher may choose to use and/or modify the analytical rubrics for assessing social science thinking and language arts skills.

Extensions

• Students may enjoy playing Wagon Train or The Oregon Trail computer simulation games to help them understand the many difficulties of travel by wagon train.
• A field trip to Sutter's Fort to see Patty Reed's doll, or to the Donner Museum in Truckee, California, would provide an historical context for these activities.

View Lesson Plans

Lesson developed by Heidi Dettwiller, San Juan Unified School District