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Oregon Teacher Resources
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Pupils complete pre-reading, writing, during reading, and interdisciplinary activities for the book Facing West: The Story of the Oregon Trail. They also compose journal entries, go over vocabulary, answer short answer questions, have discussions, and more.
Using Oregon as the focus, this lesson requires learners to produce a lengthy and detailed research project using presentation software. After they have completed their research, they give a speech to share their information with the class. Could be adapted to any topic or region.
Explore occupations during the Oregon Trail era. Young researchers define map vocabulary and use this information to identify geographical locations relevant to the common trades of the Westward expansion. They choose a trade and research its details including reasons the trade provided support needed to successfully move westward. An Oregon Trail simulation is included.
Journal writing can be a fun way to bring history to life. Upper graders read a series of journals from the time of the westward expansion, specifically the pioneer journey along the Oregon Trail. They compose an ongoing journal from the perspective of a person traveling west. This project could produce a very interesting final paper.
Analyzing historical legends is a fun way to develop critical-thinking skills. Pupils will use a graphic organizer to compare and contrast two historical legends relating to volcanoes. While this lesson focuses on the image of Crater Lake found on the Oregon state quarter, they can compare volcanoes from anywhere in the US region or territory.
Poetry is a great way to express a feeling or thought. Fourth graders choose an Oregon Trail Landmark as inspiration for a descriptive poem which they compose and record using an MP3 and the program Photostory. This lesson could be modified to suit any local or state landmark and provides good practice using technology to publish and create audio recordings of original work.
Students examine what it was like to travel west on the Oregon Trail. They develop a list of questions about the trip, explore various websites, and create a story about the experiences of a 19th century family travelling on the Oregon Trail.
Students access the Oregon Trial website to find information on what it was like to experience traveling the Oregon Trial. Then, in groups, they create dioramas depicting events that could have happened along the Oregon Trail.
Middle schoolers examine primary documents and latter-day photographs to recapture the experience of traveling on the Oregon Trail. In groups they script a scene depicting an incident that could have occurred on the Oregon Trail.
Students create a fictional diary written from the point of view of a pioneer traveling on the Oregon Trail. They write to a series of prompts that reflect the fictional journey.