Curated OER
On the Oregon Trail
Students work with primary documents and latter-day photographs to recapture the experience of traveling on the Oregon Trail. Working in groups, they write a scene for the movie that is historically accurate and based on the kinds of...
Curated OER
The Oregon Trail
Fourth graders discover the significance of the Oregon Trail in Idaho history. In addition, 4th graders conceptualize the Oregon Trail in relation to their own lives. They engage in a wide variety of curricular activities, culminating in...
Curated OER
Wagon's West: Life on the Trail
Students investigate what life on the Oregon Trail was like. In this Westward Movement lesson, students eat foods that were eaten by settlers on the trail as they read textbook pages about the trial. Students then draw an Oregon Trail...
Curated OER
Westward Ho!
Pupils participate in an Oregon Trail simulation in order to learn the hardships that the emigrating settlers faced. In this U.S. history lesson, students are required to work as a team and use the internet to research a final...
Curated OER
The Oregon Trail
Middle schoolers discuss migration and reasons people came across the Oregon trail. Students create a time line of important events along the Oregon trail. A Historical Time Line is included for student use. Middle schoolers work in...
Curated OER
Life on the Trails
Fourth graders explore U.S. Geography by completing a worksheet. In this west coast geography lesson, 4th graders discuss the Santa Fe and Oregon-California trails and the people who traveled them in the 1800's. Students define...
Curated OER
Moving West
Students research the Westward Movement and struggles encountered by the pioneers as they moved from Nebraska, Westward along the Oregon Trail. In this Westward Expansion lesson plan, students read an Oregon Trail poem and visit 5...
Curated OER
Heading West
Students study the concept of the westward expansion. In this exploration of the western U.S. lesson, students participate in different activities that explain economic hardships, jobs, and land opportunities. Students describe...
Curated OER
Headin' West! The Life of a Pioneer
Students explore the life of a pioneer and the relationship between the concept of Manifest Destiny and pioneering. Students complete activities, maps, writing and reading to experience pioneer life. Handouts and worksheets are included...
Curated OER
Pushing the Boundaries: The Pioneer Spirit
Eleventh graders recognize how social reform occurred at the turn of the century. Through a debate, 11th graders determine advantages and drawbacks of traveling west using original sources and descriptions of the attitudes, beliefs, and...