LessonFarm.Com
Home | Search/Browse Lessons | Questions?
Welcome Guest
Login | Register
     
 
A Lesson on The Difficult Journey Export Lesson as PDF | Save As Favorite

A Lesson on The Difficult Journey Grade: Grade 5
Subject: English Language Arts
Created by: Ericka Urban
Lesson Length: 1 hour
Keywords/Tags: difficulty journey
Lesson Description: This lesson is designed to help students comprehend what they read by locating details, identifying unknown words and expressing opinions that relate to the lesson.
Common Core Standards Covered with This Lesson
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative language such as metaphors and similes.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.5.2: Determine two or more main ideas of a text and explain how they are supported by key details; summarize the text.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.1: Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information.
 
     
     
 
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.

The Difficult Journey

The wagon train left early this morning. I told my friends goodbye, since I would be staying here in Denver. We had been traveling for many months. It was June when we left St. Louis but it was October now. I would not stay with the wagon train any longer. 

When we left St. Louis, we were very excited. We were going all the way to the ocean. We would go to California. 

Then we had our first problem. The first day a wheel came off our wagon. It was cracked, and we could not fix it ourselves. We were not very far from St. Louis, so John rode back there on his horse. He came back with another wheel, but that took a day while the other families waited. 

Then we ran into our second problem—a big rainstorm. It caused so much mud that the oxen pulling our wagons could not get the wagons to move. We had to wait for the rain to stop and the mud to dry. That meant we lost two more days. 

We were tired and it had been just two weeks. Still, we kept on traveling. After the rainstorm cleared, we had to stop because the Brown family got ill. We waited a few days, but they gave up. They turned back around. 

It was hard work every day, but we carried on. By the time we arrived in Denver, though, it was too much. We were going to leave the wagon train. That night we told the wagon master.  

He asked us to change our minds. He told us, “The worst is over now,” but I knew it would not get any easier. The mountains we had just crossed were only the beginning. It had been such hard work to get where we are now. It would be even harder to reach the ocean. So we chose to remain here in Denver. 

Today I have gone to look for a job. There are many jobs in the mines so I will take one of them. And we will get a home. I am glad that living in a tent next to the covered wagon is over. We will have a place where we can live. 

Even though I will miss my friends, I will not miss all the troubles. 

 
     
     
 
Task 1: Vocabulary Activity (40 points)
Instructions: Please complete the following vocabulary activity by choosing the correct meaning of each word selected from the passage and use of each word correctly in a sentence.

Vocabulary Questions

Word/Phrase: cleared | Tier: 2 | Points: 10
Q1 The author says, "After the rainstorm cleared, we had to stop because the Brown family got ill." What does the word "cleared" mean in this sentence?
A. got wet
B. went away *
C. continued
D. increased

Which one of the sentences below uses the word "cleared" correctly?
A. The students cleared out of the building when the bell rang. *
B. The car cleared the tire.
C. We cleared the sky.
D. Dogs love to be cleared.

Word/Phrase: mines | Tier: 3 | Points: 10
Q2 The author in the story says, "There are many jobs in the mines so I will take one of them." What does the word "mines" mean in this sentence?
A. to claim as ones own
B. a brain
C. An excavation in the earth from which ore or minerals can be extracted. *
D. ones belongings

Which one sentence below uses the word "mines" correctly?
A. The mines were left empty after the cave in. *
B. The yellow sweater is mines.
C. The child mines her parents.
D. The cat mines her own business.

Word/Phrase: oxen | Tier: 2 | Points: 10
Q3 The author in our story says, "It caused so much mud that the oxen pulling our wagons could not get the wagons to move." What does the word "oxen" mean in this sentence?
A. sheep
B. a herd of horses
C. group of cows
D. steers of any breed of cattle, that are at least four years old, and taught to work *

Which one of the sentences below uses the word "oxen" correctly?
A. Having oxen helps you breathe. *
B. Don't forget your oxen when it rains.
C. Oxen are used to help farmers with their equipment.
D. Many people use oxen to clean.

Word/Phrase: carried on | Tier: 3 | Points: 10
Q4 The author says, "It was hard work every day, but we carried on. " What does it mean to have "carried on"?
A. to continue *
B. to stop
C. to never go on
D. to repeat process

Which one of the following sentences uses the words "carried on" correctly?
A. The students were so motivated , they carried on with their work even after the bell rang. *
B. The circus trainer had a monkey carried on her back.
C. The child carried on his dad shoulders fell asleep.
D. The pen carried on his shirt leaked blue ink.

Standards Covered with This Lesson Activity: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.4, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.5.2,
 
     
     
 
Task 2: Discussion Activity (30 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.
 
     
     
 
Task 3: Writing Activity (30 points)
Instructions: You are to write and post here 500 words essay on .... Make sure to provide specific examples.
Standards Covered with This Lesson Activity: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.1,
 
     

University of South Florida Patent & Copyright Office © 2017 (Tech ID # Pending)