Pioneers & the Oregon Trail

Native Americans Lesson Plans

Teaching Suggestions, Worksheets, Plans

Sweet Potato Bread

A Cherokee recipe

Native Americans

Lesson Plans, Stories, Resources, History, Regions of the Country, South America, Cultures

Growth in the West: Native Americans Fight to Survive

Power point presentations and more.

The First People in Oregon

Articles from the Whitman Mission ~ Prehistory of Oregon, Indian Children, Indian Tribes of the Columbia Plateau, Nez Pierce, Tribes of the Northwest, The Seasonal Cycle, Maps ~ Indian Trade Networks & Local Tribes, Tule Mat Longhouse

Native Americans Lapbook

A fantastic unit and lapbook from "Dynamic 2 Moms"! Contains all needed materials to print out. At the bottom you will find out how to get Native maps, symbols worksheets, buffalo project instructions, informative coloring books, "Natives of Texas" book, Native Recipes, and crafts.

Cowboys Units

Get along, little doggie ...

Old West Materials

Explore throughout the Old West

Legend of Lightning Larry

Homeschool Share - Cowboy Story

Armadillo Rodeo

Homeschool Share - Western Unit

Native American Unit / Cowboy Unit

School Express has many units and activities for learning.

The Oregon Trail

A Road of Many Adventures!

Manifest Destiny

Resources

Oregon Trail Education Resource Guide

WOW! A 158 page free PDF download containing lesson plans, activities, worksheets, poems & songs, history, maps, everything for an Oregon Trail unit. Did I say 'WOW' yet?

Oregon History Resources

Many, many great resources - Trail History (69 articles), Pioneers (26 articles), Historic Maps (10 articles) - Click on the "Teacher Resources" Area for teaching activities, games, and lessons.

Oregon Trail Jeopardy Game

Online game!

Oregon Trail Materials

Explore the Oregon Trail with many fun resources.

Oregon Fever, Gold Fever

Article

Apples to Oregon

Homeschool Share - "Being the (Slightly) True Narrative of How a Brave Pioneer Father Brought Apples, Peaches, Pears, Plums, Grapes, and Cherries (and Children) Across the Plains" - "A pioneer father transports his beloved fruit trees and his family to Oregon by covered wagon in the mid-nineteenth century. Based loosely on the life of Henderson Luelling." - Where is Oregon Shutterfold; Oregon Symbols Tab Book; Oregon Flag Notebook Pages - Study of Oregon, The Oregon Trail, Covered Wagons

The Sante Fe Trail

Research and comprehension questions, creative writing ideas.

Oregon Trail: Northwest Landmarks

A list and description of several familiar landmarks on the trail.

Oregon Trail: Highlights

Summary of important and interesting information.

The Oregon Trail

"If you home school, teach elementary classes, or just enjoy history, "The Oregon Trail" is designed for you. Enjoy the adventure!" ~ Very thorough, informational site ~ easy to read.
All About the Trail ~ A fun mini textbook on the Oregon Trail.
Historic Sites on the Trail ~ From St. Louis to Oregon City, travel to all the key sites.
Fantastic Facts about the Oregon Trail ~ Wind-powered wagons. A $100 drink of water. And much more.
Trail Archive ~ Full-text of Trail diaries and books.

"Across the Plains in '64 by Prairie Schooner to Oregon" ~ by Anna Dell Clinkinbeard

Kids and adults will enjoy this 30+ page online book about a family's journey on the Oregon Trail!

The Gold Rush & Miner 49er's

The Gold Rush

Activities for teachers and kids.

Boss of the Plains

Homeschool Share - "Summary: The story of John Stetson and how he came to create the most popular hat west of the Mississippi."

Gold Rush

The Basics, Links to Explore, Explorer Projects (write a skit, study art, write a letter to far away relatives, travel, go on a virtual trip, complete a Gold Rush Webquest, links to related sites, vocaublary for the lesson.

Nine for California

Homeschool Share - "Summary: Amanda travels by stagecoach with her four siblings and her mother from Missouri to California to join her father." - California Gold Rush, Gold, Stagecoaches, Wells Fargo

The '49er's

Information Article

The Gold Rush ~ Video

Short informative video from Teacher Tube

Gold Rush Videos

Several videos about the Gold Rush from Teacher Tube

Gold Rush Teacher's Guide

This guide supplies a background, timeline, vocabulary, test questions, and info about a related movie.

Pioneers of the West

Westward Expansion Multimedia Collection: Looking for excellent images for worksheets, notebooks, projects, power points, and more? This 48 page book contains directions for Mac and Windows on how to use the numerous photos, videos, and audio clips from the CD-ROM.

Pioneer Webquest

Answer several questions and topics, learn about life on the trail, activities, glossary, music, literature, recipes, and links.

Pioneer Life Materials

Take a fun exploration with the pioneers!

Pioneers & Moving West from Guest Hollows

Lesson plans, materials (worksheets and more), booklists

Maple Syrup

Homeschool Share - Lapbook Unit containing science, social studies, math, art, cooking, and more.

Pioneer Tidbits

15 Interesting Pioneer Facts ~ See below for mini book.

Lapbook ~ Pioneer Tidbits

A mini book to take notes from the above page.

Pioneer Times

Webquest - I had some difficulty with a few of the links, but I enjoyed reading the ideas that the teacher wanted her students to do.

Scientist

Be a scientist on the pioneer trail ~ learn about the wildlife animals, plants, disease, and hardships of the journey.

Hands-On Learning

Adobe Bricks

Directions how to make adobe bricks with clay and straw! (Like Miss Frizzle ~ Take chances~ Get messy!) Okay, the idea doesn't exactly thrill me, but my boys with love it! This page could be printed out, folded, and put in your *lapbook with pictures of your students.

Hands-On Science

Wildlife Biology - learn about and track animals. (The charts could be printed out and added to a *lapbook.)
Botany: Agriculture - compare different seed pioneers may have taken with them, how do they grow, grind corn into cornmeal (or visit a place which does it), bake bread from different grains, learn about different trees and wildflowers and grow some, make a leaf or seed collection book, compare leaves stems and shapes, etc., discuss ways of preserving foods across the country and why they did - dry fruit or purchase dried fruit to sample.
Seasons: Weather - what are the seasons, how would they affect travel, when would it be easiest - create a season mural - Songs & Stories to tell about the seasons and other things: create your own.
Biology: Health - discuss what diseases were common then and now and how they dealt with them - make a comparison chart.

Pioneer Lapbook Components

Mini books I made to correlate with the above and below web pages:
Animal Tracks, Pioneer Health, Pioneers & the Seasons, Plants & Trees, Vegetable Seeds, Pioneer Baking, Pioneer Tidbits, Types of Rocks, Hardness of Rocks, Rocks that Roll!

Geology

Study the types of rocks (igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic) and the types of soils the pioneers would have come across in their travels and new homes. How would different types of soils or landscape affect the pioneers? Make a rock collection of various types.

Native American & Pioneers

Scroll down the page about half way to find many recipes and activities.

Hands-On Art Projects

Native Beadwork, Mission Replica and Model Ideas, Indian Cornhusk Bag with Geometric Shapes, Hand Sewing, Natural Dying, Rag Dolls, Weaving, Stencils and Paintings, Indian Moccasins Pattern, Craft Stick Fort Directions, Make Adobe Bricks, Covered Wagon Patterns and Directions, Build a Raft Diorama, Create a Patchwork Quilt ~~ These all look so fun! My 'learn by doing' students will have fun with these, hope your students do also!

Guide to Beadwork

Online directions how to make this beautiful jewerly.

Native Tech

"Indigenous Food & Traditional Recipes"

Lapbook & Notebook Resources

Fun hands-on projects!

Pioneer Lapbook Components

These are mini books I am making for the children to use this year. They coorelate with "Great Pioneer Projects You Can Build Yourself" by Dickinson (see Hands-On books above), and the Marcus Whitman National Park Service website listed next. * Pioneer Tidbits, Animal Tracks, Pioneer Health, Pioneers & the Seasons, Plants & Trees, Vegetable Seeds, Pioneer Baking, Types of Rocks, Hardness of Rocks, Rocks that Roll!

*Whitman Mission Teacher's Guide*

This guide from the National Park Service has ideas and lesson plans for many pioneer topics!
* First Peoples - Cayuse & Other First Peoples * Fur Traders & Explorers * Whitmans and Other Northwest Missionaries * Oregon Trail - early trail and after 1847 * Field Trip Guide (We live way to far to actually go there, but some of the lesson materials contained in the guide are very good!)
Classroom Activities:
* Science: Geology and Soils * Science: Biology * Art * Math * Social Studies * Language Arts * Map Activities * Traditional Games (Phys. Ed.) * Coloring Book * Recipe Book * Links to Other Oregon Trail Materials * Washington Territory Timeline Historical, Physical and other types of Maps
Student Report Resources:
* The People
* Photos - these would be nice to add to notebooks or lapbook minis.
* National Historic Site
* Kids Page - crafts, activities, games, stories, and links.
* The Whitmans - a free 25 chapter online book.
Research Ideas

Pioneer & Native American Pages

Coloring pages with information that may be used for a cover or notebook divider pages. (14 pages)
*Lapbook Idea ~ We like to shrink the pages to 50%, cut them out, stack, and color to make a mini book. A cover could be made for it from construction paper or cardstock.

Little House on the Prairie Lapbook

Materials and directions of a fantastic lapbook to make! See the video below for pictures! :)

Farmer Boy Lapbook Unit

"Summary: While Laura Ingalls grows up in a little house on the western prairie, Almanzo Wilder is living on a big farm in New York State. Here Almanzo and his brother and sisters help with the summer planting and fall harvest. In winter there is wood to be chopped and great slabs of ice to be cut from the river and stored. Time for fun comes when the jolly tin peddler visits, or best of all, when the fair comes to town. This is Laura Ingalls Wilder's beloved story of how her husband Almanzo grew up as a farmer boy far from the little house where Laura lived."

Oregon Trail Education Resource Guide

A 158 page free PDF download containing lesson plans, activities, worksheets, poems & songs, history, maps, everything for an Oregon Trail unit. Some of these pages could be made into cute lapbook pieces.

Literature Lapbook Units

Several literature lapbook units at Homeschool Share with printables, activities, and complete lessons. ~ Apples to Oregon, Armadillo Rodeo, Legend of Lightening Larry, Mailing May, Where the Buffaloes Begin, Western Tie-In Unit Resources, Farmer Boy, Transcontinental Railroad

*Westward Ho! Lapbook Unit*

This is a fantastic lapbook from "Dynamic 2 Moms". It contains information and mini books for a lapbook about: Time Period 1803 - 1890, Timeline, Pony Express, Flora & Fauna of the West, Fact Cards, Buffalo Bill, Daniel Boone, James Cooper Fenimore, Artists, '49's, Battle of the Alamo, Manifest Destiny, Vocabulary, Oregon Trail Supplies & Trail Book, Banners, Copywork, Pecos Bill Writing Prompt, Transportation, Transcontinental Railroad, Game & Game Cards, Pictures, and other wonderful ideas! Their materials are beautiful and exciting!

Ten Mile Day and the Building of the Transcontinental Railroad

A literature lapbook unit from Homeschool Share. It contains all the lesson plans, lapbook pieces, and a board game!

Oregon Trail Lapbook

A terrific lapbook for younger ages at Lapbook Lessons! It contains a cover, notebook pages, lapbook materials, pictures, ideas, and links.

Oregon Trail File Folder Games

1 ~ Cute materials from File Folder Fun to make gameboard and question cards!
2 ~ "Skipping to Oregon" math skip counting game with OT theme.
* Valerie has some wonderful links also about Pioneer Music, First Aid, Prairie Schooners, and Classroom Activities involving research, creative writing, art, math, and many hands-on projects!

Conestoga Wagon Coloring

This would also make an adorable shape book!

United States History

An alphabetical listing from Enchanted Learning of people, places, and events from US history.

Johnny Appleseed

Simple resources which could be folded into mini books or used as info for a notebook page.

US States

Pages on the 50 states which include maps, facts, symbols, etc. Oregon and the other states are found here.

Pioneer Notebooking Pages

Take a look at these 6 awesome notebook pages by Lynn at Eclectic Education!

*Classroom Ideas for the Oregon Trail*

This wonderful lesson plan from Historic Oregon City features a wide range of cross-curricular activities such as language arts, math, art, home economics, research, creative writing, and a fun downloadable Jeopardy Game on power point!

Famous Pioneers & Westerners

Kit Carson

1800's Explorer

Buffalo Bill Cody

Summary from PBS

Daniel Boone

Reading and comprehension activities

Daniel Boone: American Pioneer & Explorer

Mini bio at Enchanted Learning

Mailing May

Resources from Homeschool Share - Daniel Boone Notebooking Page, Early 1900's, Trains

Where the Buffaloes Begin ~ Literature Unit

From Homeschool Share - "Summary - An Indian Legend of the Buffalo rising from a sacred lake is retold by the oldest man in the tribe. A Plains Indian boy shows bravery by leading the buffalo away from the enemy tribe. The story has been passed on through the Blackfeet Indians as a legend." This unit includes activities for: Social Studies (geography, Native culture - housing, food, transportation, clothing, lifestyle, Lewis & Clark), Bible & Character study, Language Arts (legends, writing, vocabulary, copywork, literary elements), Art (realism, artists, Caldecott Award), Math (calendar, story problems, shapes, fractions), Science (plants, sound, animal tracks, five senses, endangered animals), Several hands on activities, Resource list of books and site links.

Explorer's from the 1800's

Many explorers from Enchanted Learning