Personal Stories of the National Parks

Middle schoolers explore historical information about U.S. national parks using the stories of Edward and Margaret Gehrke as a primary source document. In this United States geography, history, and literacy lesson, students view the diary entries of Edward and Margaret Gehrke written as they traveled through the national parks in the early 1900s. Middle schoolers discuss the effectiveness of these diary entries as a storytelling tool, then plan and create their own multimedia storytelling project.