Date:  October 20, 2000

GradeLevel:  5th

Teacher Materials Needed:

• Life on the Frontier
• KWL chart transparency
• KWL chart handout for each student
• Letter format transparency (master attached)
• Quilt Story by Tony Johnston

Student Materials Needed:

• KWL chart handout (master attached)
• Paper
• pencil

My Social Studies Goal for This Lesson: To engage and excite students in an exploration of the westward expansion time period of American history.

Related NC Standard Course of Study Goals/Objectives:

Social Studies

• 6.1 - Analyze the movement of people, goods, and ideas within and among the countries of the United States, Canada, and Latin America and between the Western Hemisphere and other places.
• 4.2 - Compare the physical and cultural characteristics of regions within the Western Hemisphere and within the United States, Canada, and Latin America.
• 5.1 - Explain how people of the Western Hemisphere adapt and have adapted to the physical environment.
• 11.1 - Identify and describe changes which have occurred in ways of living in the United States, Canada, and Latin America.

• 2.02 - Interact with the text before, during, and after reading, listening, and viewing by: making predictions, formulating questions, supporting answers from textual information, previous experience, and/or other sources, drawing on personal, literary, and cultural understandings, and seeking additional information.
• 4.05 - Use a variety of preliminary strategies to plan and organize the writing and speaking task considering purpose, audience, and timeline.
• 5.06 Proofread for accuracy of spelling using appropriate strategies to confirm spelling and to correct errors.
• 5.07 Edit final product for grammar, language conventions, and format.

Launch:

Have students close their eyes while you read Life on the Frontier out loud.  Ask students to imagine that the story is about their family.  After reading the story, ask students to discuss in small groups how the story made them feel.  Ask one person from each group to tell the class about the feelings that were discussed in their group.

Using the KWL Chart transparency, demonstrate on the overhead projector how to use a KWL Chart.  Allow students to contribute the information for the “K” and “W” sections of the chart.  Explain to students that the “L” section will be completed later in the unit.  Each student will have his or her own KWL Chart to complete.  Students will use the information they put in their “K” and “W” sections to compose a letter in the accepted letter format.  Place the letter format transparency on the overhead to reference as needed during the activity.

Explore:
Give each student a KWL Chart handout.  Instruct students to complete the “K” and “W” sections independently.  Using the information in these two sections students will write a letter to a man, woman or child on the frontier.  Students are to pretend they are writing to the frontier person and not actually research frontier people in detail.  In the letter students will express what they know about westward expansion and life on the prairie and frontier and also include what they want to learn on this topic.  Use the accepted writing process to compose, edit, revise and publish the letters.

Summarize:
Read Quilt Story to the class using predictions when possible throughout the book.

Assessment/Evidence of Learning:
After reading Quilt Story, ask students to give supporting comments about the predictions that were made while reading the book.  Give each student the opportunity to comment on the book and previous class discussion.  From the comments made, the teacher can assess students understanding of obvious differences in frontier life during westward expansion and life today.
Collect and evaluate the students’ letters for further understanding of the information about westward expansion that was covered in this lesson.