Historic Trails: Oregon/california Trails

The Oregon trail is a very interesting part of American history. The class, having read or discussed the events leading to the westward expansion and settling of the Oregon Territory, can answer each of these fill-in-the-blank...

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...

Learners 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.

Seventh graders complete a unit of lessons on the Westward expansion of the U.S. They play the computer game, Oregon Trail III, read primary source documents, conduct Internet research, write diary entries from the pioneer viewpoint, and...

Consider the political, physical, and geographical factors that led to and marked the Westward Expansion. Learners will track the various routes developed during the 1800's. They create a first person journal describing what they see,...

After observing a map of trails that settlers took in the 1800s, your class will write a journal with the perspective of a settler. In their journals, they must describe the trail they traveled, geographical features they saw, states and...

It's time to hear about some adventures in travel! The Transcontinental Railroad changed life and travel in the United States during the 1800s. Practicing online research skills, pupils discover the features they would like to visit on...

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...

Lesson plans that introduce the Oregon Trail to students and guide them into an activity where they create a personal narrative describing their journey out west. Provides a link to an excellent site that details many aspects of the...

Explore non-fiction comprehension strategies with your class. They will visualize daily activities and label a 4 circle Venn diagram with related phrases. They must identify the overlapping sections as "main ideas," then complete a...