Lesson Plan #: CC-0027

Second Grade Lesson 1:
Pioneers Moved West in the Early 1800s.




Objectives: The student will be able to:

1. recognize the struggles and hardships associated with pioneering.

2. understand the reasons pioneers moved west and faced hardships.

Description of lesson/activity:

1. The children should view a picture of a Conestoga wagon and discuss what they know about such wagons. The teacher may wish to read parts of the book If You Traveled West in a Covered Wagon , by Ellen Levin.

2. The teacher should read Aurora Means Dawn , by Scott Russell Sanders, to the class. The story describes the problems faced by the Sheldon family, pioneers in Ohio in the early 1800s. After hearing the story, the children should list words that describe being a pioneer.

3. The teacher should then read The Josefina Story Quilt , by Eleanor Coerr. This story describes pioneers moving West in the 1850s as chronicled in a young girl's quilt. The children should then add additional descriptive words or phrases to their list about pioneer life. The teacher might add additional stories if available.

4. Using the list of words generated above, the children should create a new story about being a pioneer in a new place. The teacher or the children might create a new setting, or even a different time period for this story. Children can make pictures to illustrate the story.

Enrichment and Extensions:

1. Find out about other early pioneers and explorers such as:

  • Daniel Boone
  • Davy Crockett
  • Andrew Jackson
  • Meriwether Lewis
  • William Clark
  • Zebulon Pike

Write a report or do a project on one of these pioneers.

2. Make a chart of three different pioneers or explorers from the early 19th century. It should include their names, what years they explored, and where they explored.

3. Why would people move to the wilderness when they could live in the East? Put the children in groups; one half should make a list giving reasons why living in the East is best and the other half should make a list giving reasons to move to the wilderness.

Resources:

Burns, Paul C. and Ruth Hines. To Be a Pioneer . (New York: Abingdon Press, 1962).

Coerr, Eleanor. The Josefina Story Quilt . (Harper Trophy, 1989) (ISBN 0060213485).

Green, Carol. Daniel Boone, Man of the Forests . (Chicago, IL: Children's Press, 1990) (ISBN 0516042106).

Laycock, George and Ellen Laycock. How the Settlers Lived . (New York: David McKay Company, Inc., 1980) (ISBN 0679206841).

Montgomery, Elizabeth Rider. When Pioneers Pushed West to Oregon . (Champaign, IL: Garrard Publishing, 1970).

Quackenbush, Robert. Quit Pulling My Leg, A Story of Davy Crockett . (New York: Simon Schuster, Inc., 1987) (ISBN 0671665162).

Sanders, Scott. Aurora Means Dawn . (New York: Bradbury Press, 1989) (ISBN 0027782700).

Santrey, Laurence. Davy Crockett Young Pioneer . (Mahwah, NJ: Troll Associates, 1983) (ISBN 0893758477).