WebQuest: Teacher References
 
“Oregon or Bust!” The St. Louis Times A WebQuest for the 4th grade (Social Studies) Designed by Lauren Sangster LaurenSangster@gmail.com Introduction This lesson was created as an edition to an Oregon Trail curriculum. It was designed to be an activity at the end of the unit as a way for students to synthesize the information students have learned and be able to personally put themselves into the Oregon Trail. In this lesson, students will act as editors of the St. Louis Times and create a special publication about the Oregon Trail. They will gather information in multiple areas and create different aspects of a newspaper. Learners This lesson has been designed for a 4th grade social studies curriculum. This lesson could be used in other grades but in Oregon it fits into the 4th grade curriculum. Before beginning this lesson students will need a base knowledge about the Oregon Trail. They will need to know what the Oregon Trail is, the conditions for the people traveling it, and why the people were traveling. Students will need this knowledge to be able to synthesize it with the various research. Curriculum Standards Social Studies Standards met by this lesson: • Gather information from primary sources: diaries, letters, periodicals, and literature, oral histories, artifacts, art, documentary photographs and films • Examine a topic considering underlying factors, contributing factors and different perspectives to determine cause and effect relationships • Explain when and why people migrated to Oregon throughout history This lesson also helps students create inferences from the information they know and make it into a fictional account. Students are also able to creatively produce a historically accurate document. Students are asked to call upon their previous knowledge and adapt their previous schema with the presentation of the new information. Process 1. Gather your staff of 5 people and divide into jobs. 2. Plan out how much space each person will need on the page. 3. Together with your research and your prior knowledge, follow the direction below for your editorial position. ADVERTISING EDITOR: Create an advertisement (by hand or on the computer) of something that travelers need on the Oregon Trail. Make sure to include the following: • Name of the item • Need and use for the item • Price of the item • Picture of item Follow the link below before creating your advertisement: http://www.historicoregoncity.org/HOC/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=90:provisions-a-places&catid=70:oregon-trail-history-libary&Itemid=98 REPORTING EDITOR: Create a typed article about one of the historic landmarks on the trail. Make sure to include the following: • Name of the landmark • Location of the landmark • Why the landmark is important • An interesting fact about the landmark Follow the link to the website below, choose a landmark, and click on that link. http://www.isu.edu/~trinmich/Sites.html PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR Create a drawn image of a scene of children on the Oregon Trail. Make sure to include: • A typed caption • Images characteristic of trail life Follow the link below before creating your photo: http://www.blm.gov/or/oregontrail/education-kids-trail.php OBITUARY EDITOR: Create a typed obituary of someone on the trail. Make sure to include the following: • Name of person • Where they are from • The cause of death • Family they leave behind Follow the links below. Read about the hardships and causes of death: http://www.isu.edu/~trinmich/Hardships.html Look over some of the names of people on the trail and create a name and hometown of someone who could have been on the trail: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~orwashin/History/Trails/Death_on_the_Oregon_Trail_1852.htm OPINION EDITOR Create a typed “letter to the editor” from someone on the trail. Make sure to include the following: • Name and age of the person writing in • Date of the entry • Who they are traveling with (family, friends, etc.) • Conditions on the trail (weather, emotions, travel conditions, etc.) Look over some journal entries from people on the trail before creating your own. http://www.isu.edu/~trinmich/00.ar.zemmer.html http://www.isu.edu/~trinmich/00.ar.knight.html 4. Put together the contributions of each editor and create a newspaper (on 11x17” paper) with all of the elements. Make sure to name your newspaper and make sure each element has the author’s name. Students may be put into groups in any way. It may be easy to put them into groups by table groups or “wagon trains”. Students may need some guiding and instruction as to what the different aspects of a newspaper are. Variations: • Different parts of a newspaper depending on what specifically your class is learning. • A full class newspaper. (would require more aspects of a newspaper) • Less requirements for each aspect for younger grades. • Have students write articles for younger grades. Resources Needed • 11x17” construction paper or newsprint • 8.5x11” white computer paper for articles and drawn elements • Computer and printer access • Markers or colored pencils for the advertisement and photograph • Glue sticks • Books that have been used for previous instruction This lesson can be done with one classroom teacher. It may be fun to have multiple classes make a newspaper and then “put them on the press” in other classrooms. Evaluation Evaluation of this assignment should be based on how the students were able to use first hand accounts and other research to create their newspaper. It should be very evident that effort was made to bring in aspects of all of the information they had learned.  Conclusion This lesson is important because it gives students a chance to synthesize their knowledge in a different way and it gives them the chance to put themselves in the shoes of those traveling West. Credits & References Title image: http://www.thehistorybluff.com/?p=1718 Thanks to The WebQuest Page for the format for this WebQuest. http://www.historicoregoncity.org/HOC/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=90:provisions-a-places&catid=70:oregon-trail-history-libary&Itemid=98http://www.isu.edu/~trinmich/Sites.htmlhttp://www.blm.gov/or/oregontrail/education-kids-trail.phphttp://www.isu.edu/~trinmich/Hardships.htmlhttp://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~orwashin/History/Trails/Death_on_the_Oregon_Trail_1852.htmhttp://www.isu.edu/~trinmich/00.ar.zemmer.htmlhttp://www.isu.edu/~trinmich/00.ar.knight.htmlhttp://www.thehistorybluff.com/?p=1718shapeimage_3_link_0shapeimage_3_link_1shapeimage_3_link_2shapeimage_3_link_3shapeimage_3_link_4shapeimage_3_link_5shapeimage_3_link_6shapeimage_3_link_7