Westward Ho! on the

Oregon Trail

By: Edwina Norris and Page Sorey

Unit Summary    

Students will travel the Oregon Trail and relate experiences and decisions to present life.  They will be given situations 'fate cards' along the trail in which they will have to work cooperatively in order to make decisions that will best suit their wagon family.  The students will learn how to budget using a ledger, research, and use a journal to record daily life events.  Campfire meetings and the final reunion will be held with other schools who are participation in Westward Ho through online meetings using Chatzy.

Essential Question:How can I make a difference in my trail family and wagon train society?

Unit Questions:What are your daily responsibilities within your trail family?What contributions to the wagon train society can you make?How will you meet your basic needs on the trail?

Content Questions:Identify the characteristics needed for a successful wagon train journey.Compare/ContrastHow is your life different from the children who traveled with the wagon train? How is it the same? What is a pioneer?What motivated these pioneers to leave their homes?

CFQs

Guaging Student Needs Assessment

Use CFQs to learn

• students' prior knowledge of the westward movement using a Five W's graphic organizers

Gauging Student's Needs

Who:

Who:

How: What:

How: What:

Event

When: Why:

When:

Event or Situation

Where: 11 12 1 10 2 9 3 8 4

765

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Monitoring Progress

• Journal Writing• Research• Drawings• Venn Diagram

This project will help my students develop 21st century skills by:

• collaborating with peers in class as well as others from other areas that are traveling as well.

• participate in decision making

Procedures for Learning and Recording Progress

• The students will be divided into groups of 4 to 5 per wagon family 

• students will create a list of supplies needed• students will prepare a budget ledger and discuss it's purpose• students will keep a diary of daily events from the travel and fate

cards• students will be able to experience "life on the trail" through

playing old time games, singing songs, drawings, and watching video resources. 

21st Century learning

Students will develop higher-order and 21st century skills in this unit by

• using the Essential and Unit Questions to learn that each of us have responsibilities within a family and to society.

•  working collaboratively to make wise choices

Vision for Unit

By creating this unit, we want • students to collaborate in their decision making• students to make wise decisions• students to research for example, their character, important

geographical locations along the trail, reasons for going out west.• students to use technology by meeting with other schools who are

participating in Westward Ho through online chats.

Project Approaches

As my students work on this project, they

• will be working across the curriculum-geography, math skills, economics, writing, reading, weather/seasons

• will be connecting their Wagon Life to the real world• will be working collaboratively