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A Lesson on Traveling West	Export Lesson as PDF \| Save As Favorite

	Grade: Grade 4 Subject: English Language Arts Created by: Eric Kent Lesson Length: 1 hour Keywords/Tags: Western expansion, wagons, pioneers, travel Lesson Description: Students will read a small passage about the western expansion of the united states. We will then answer some questions about the text. I would like also to expand this to a classroom discussion so we can further discuss the Oregon trail, medicine and food for the settlers, and interactions with the native tribes.
Common Core Standards Covered with This Lesson CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including those that allude to significant characters found in mythology (e.g., Herculean). CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.1: Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.3: Explain events, procedures, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text, including what happened and why, based on specific information in the text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.4: Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words or phrases in a text relevant to a grade 4 topic or subject area. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.4.1: Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.4.2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.4.2d: Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.4.4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1–3 above.) CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.4.2: Paraphrase portions of a text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.4.4: Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience in an organized manner, using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes; speak clearly at an understandable pace. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.4.4a: Use context (e.g., definitions, examples, or restatements in text) as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.

Lesson Content: Reading
Instructions: Please read the following reading passage as many times as needed (aloud and silent) before starting to go through other lesson pages. Understanding the content of this passage is very important since the lesson activities will be all about this content. Feel free to print the passage if needed.

Traveling West

Long ago, when people settled the United States, most people lived in the East. It was hard to travel west. There were no planes, trains, or automobiles. People traveled by wagon or boat.

In the 1840s, many people traveled far across the United States. They were traveling to the West. They were pioneers. They would settle in the western part of the country.

Getting to the west was very difficult. There were no roads. People traveled in groups. Each family would buy a covered wagon. That is a big wagon with a kind of tent on it.

Each family would pack the tools and supplies they needed to build a new home. They would have to fit all they took in their wagon. Then they would travel together. They made what was called a wagon train. It was a group of wagons all going the same way. They would meet with other families to plan their trip. They would choose a route.

When the families started the trip, they did not know each other. They met when the trip began. But they would spend more than a year together. So they got to know each other well. Sometimes they would borrow tools from each other. Sometimes they shared food. They had to travel in bad weather. It was a long trip.

It would take more than a year to reach the West. The families sometimes had babies along the way. The wagon train would stop for a few days to help the mother with the baby. Then they would keep going. They knew they had a long way to travel. They could not stay long.

When the wagon train got to the West, the families would settle there. They would build homes. They would start farms. They would build communities. Those communities would grow into towns and cities.

It was hard to get to the West in the pioneer days. Then people built roads. People built a railroad that crossed the United States. By 1900, there were many more people in the West. People came west by train. A trip that had taken months now took a few days. The railroad brought many changes.

Task 2: Discussion Activity (40 points)
Instructions: This discussion forum will have questions for students to respond. Read the posted questions, and respond to each. Students are responsible for posting one initial and and two peer responses for each topic.


	Topic Title	Replies

	Covered Wagons People used to travel in wooden wagons that had a cloth cover on it. Why did people stop traveling like this? Would you like to travel in a bumpy wagon? Sent on: Feb 20, 2015 by: Eric Kent	0

	Native Americans As the pioneers went out west, they came across a lot of native people who lived out there. What were their relations like? Sent on: Feb 20, 2015 by: Eric Kent	0

Standards Covered with This Lesson Activity: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.4, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.4.2,

Task 3: Writing Activity (30 points)
Instructions: At that time, most of North America was empty land. Would you be allowed to travel across it now in the same way? Within a few years, the country was full of roads and towns and trains. Was this good for America? Give examples.

Standards Covered with This Lesson Activity: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.4.1, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.4.4,

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