Who Were the Homesteaders?

Created by
Joseph Taylor
6th grade level
45 min lesson - Part One of Two.
1. Theme/Title of the day’s lesson: Who Were the Homesteaders? Part one Students will be using historical fiction and nonfiction literature as well as maps to gain an understanding about who migrated west in the 1800s


2. Materials/resources needed:
Teacher:
1. Cassie’s Journey: Going West in the 1860s by Brett Harvey
2. Go West Young Man, Go West article by Horace Greeley
3. US Territorial Maps Santa Fe Trail and Oregon Trail
4. Markers
5. KWLS Chart
6. Overhead projector
7. Overhead pen
8. Pictures of Homesteaders in Winona.
Students:
1. Folders for the Unit
2. Pencils and notebooks

3. Goal(s) for today’s lesson: Students will gain an understanding about who the homesteaders were and the routes they traveled.

4. Objectives for today’s lesson:
1. The students will be able to understand the political, social, and economic changes that occurred in the United States during westward expansion after the Civil War.
2. Through the use of articles, maps, and literature the students will develop an awareness of how people adapted to and modified their environment during westward expansion.
3. The students will be able to identify and justify the routes of the settlers.
4. The students will be able to connect Winona to the western expansion movement.

5. Procedures

Introduction to the lesson (15 min)

1. Have the students pick up the maps as they enter the room.
2. Remind the students that they will be adding things to the KWLS chart at the end of the period, so they might want to take a few notes.
3. Read aloud Cassie’s Journey: Going West in the 1860s by Brett Harvey to the students pages 23-27. (4 min)
4. Discuss and list some of the hardships that they encountered throughout the book.
Possible answers could be… the weather was bad, the trails were hard to travel on, limited food to eat. (3 min)
5. Discuss some of the feelings that Cassie and her family might have had before during and after the journey. (3 min)
Possible answers could be… They were sad for leaving their home, family and friends. They were scared and excited for the adventure and the new place to live.
6. Pass around the pictures of Winona homesteaders.
7. Discuss some of the interesting things that are in the pictures. (5 min)
Possible topics could be… clothing…type of home… transportation

Developmental Experiences (25 min)

1. Place the Horace Greeley transparency on the overhead
2. Have students read article silently
3. Discuss what the article means and the significance of the article (5 min)
This article could be an advertisement to get the people to move west.
This was the primary article telling people about the west.
This was the start of the mass movement west.
4. Place map of US 1860 on the overhead
5. Compare and contrast how the US looks now and then (5 min)
6. Circle 5 or six differences and similarities (3 min)
7. Ask the students to draw on their maps the routes that they think are the best to get from Independence MO. to Santa Fe, NM and the best routes to get from Independence, MO to Oregon City, OR On the overhead point out where each of the cities are (2 min)
8. Give the students a few minutes to figure out the best routes then have them pair up and share their findings. (5 min )
9. Have 2 groups come up to the overhead and draw their routes and explain why they chose their route. (5 min)


Culminating experiences (closure) (5 min)
1. Ask the students what they have learned from this lesson and place responses on the KWLS board.
2. Tell the students that it is question time, and they have to ask three questions as a group about the unit or the lesson before they can leave.
3. Place questions on the W board.
4. Let students know that they will be going over their routes and talking about the reasons for the routes next class.

6. Assessments used during lesson: The assessment throughout this lesson was informal. The teacher will be looking for active engagement and participation.

Artifacts found at the Winona Historical Society