Lesson by Tim Bailey
Essay by Virginia Scharff, University of New Mexico
Grade Level: 3–5
Number of Class Periods: 4
Primary Era: National Expansion and Reform, 1815–1860
About This Lesson Plan Unit
Over the course of three lessons students will analyze primary source documents that present examples of both the romanticization and the cruel realities of American westward migration during the 1800s. Students will read and analyze different types of documents not only to comprehend the language of the text but also to infer the more subtle meanings. Students will use textual evidence to draw conclusions and present arguments as directed in each lesson. Finally, students will participate in a mock debate drawing on the primary sources.
Lesson Plan Author: Tim Bailey
Historical Background Essay by Virginia Scharff, University of New Mexico
Additional Information About This Unit
Common Core State Standards
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.2: Determine two or more main ideas of a text and explain how they are supported by key details; summarize the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.6: Analyze multiple accounts of the same event or topic, noting important similarities and differences in the point of view they represent.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.7: Draw on information from multiple print or digital sources, demonstrating the ability to locate an answer to a question quickly or to solve a problem efficiently.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.9: Integrate information from several texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.4: Report on a topic or text or present an opinion, sequencing ideas logically and using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes; speak clearly at an understandable pace
Essential Questions
Why were many people drawn to migrate to the West?
To what extent did western migration prove to be a serious challenge?
What were the rewards and dangers associated with migration to the West?
Documents
“The Lovely Ohio” (late eighteenth to early nineteenth century). Available online at the Ballad of America, www.balladofamerica.com
Arthur Chapman, “Out Where the West Begins,” Out Where the West Begins and Other Western Verses (Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1917)
Letter from Horace Greeley to R. L. Sanderson, November 15, 1871, The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC00608
Catherine Sager Pringle, “On the Plains in 1844” in Across the Plains in 1844 (ca. 1860), printed in S. A. Clarke, Pioneer Days of Oregon History, vol. 2 (Portland OR: J. K. Gill Company, 1905), 503–506.