Education On The Trail

Fourth graders explore U.S. Geography by completing a worksheet. In this west coast geography instructional activity, 4th graders discuss the Santa Fe and Oregon-California trails and the people who traveled them in the 1800's. Students...

A sequel to the hugely popular and enduring Oregon Trail, this game explores the daily life of those settling in the Wild West. Players have to build a shelter, grow their community, increase the population, ensure sufficient food...

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...

Students discuss and research the Trail of Tears.  In this Native American history unit, students read stories about and research information about the Cherokee Indians and the Trail of Tears.  Students work in literature circles and...

Fourth graders experience pioneer life on the Oregon trail. In this pioneer lesson, 4th graders research the reasons for moving west and what life was like on the trail. They create a map, complete an oral presentation, and write about...

Fourth graders invent ways to teach pioneer students on the trail. They imagine that they are a pioneer who wants to make sure that their students know how to read, write, and do arithmetic.

Investigate life along the Old Spanish Trail! They visit websites and identify the history and environment. They create journals, dramatic enactments, and maps to discover the role individuals played in society. They also explore the...

Students get to know Alaska and the Iditarod route that is run by dogs as they track the mushers' progress on a map that they create specifically for the race. They learn about latitude, longitude, plotting on a map, checkpoints, and...

Fourth graders investigate the time of the Trail of Tears. They use this to practice persuasive writing skills by writing to the U.S. government. They take the parts of the Cherokee people. They write a paragraph about their feelings.

Fourth graders review the landmarks on the Mormon Trail and write a paragraph describing the landmarks along the trail. They create a map showing all of the landmarks on the trail as well.