Social Studies Integration into ELA
Fourth Grade Social Studies/English Language Arts
Topic: Westward Expansion
Goals: Students will be able to:
Trace the role of migration and immigration of people in the development of the United States. (HISTORY)
Goals: Students will be able to:
- analyze the immigrant experience
- analyze the effect of the immigrant experience on Native Tribes
- create a treaty based on discussion of the impact of treaties
- use map skills to analyze settlement patterns and experiences
Trace the role of migration and immigration of people in the development of the United States. (HISTORY)
- 4.SS.1.2.1 Identify the major groups and significant individuals and their motives in the western expansion and settlement in Idaho.
- 4.SS.1.2.3 Analyze and describe the immigrant experience in Idaho
- 4.SS.1.2.4 Analyze and describe how the westward expansion impacted the American Indians in Idaho.
- 4.SS.2.3.1 Analyze past and present settlement patterns...
- 4.SS.2.3.2 Discuss the impact of settlement in Idaho on American Indian tribal lands, such as aboriginal and/or ceded territories...
- Idaho History Textbooks
- Devices (mobile lab)
- Access to the Internet (Google Docs, Google Earth, Google Maps, Library of Congress, Digital Vaults & Middle Tennessee State University library)
- ensure students have been exposed to what "Primary Sources" are in the past
- ensure students have been exposed to what "Westward Expansion" is in the past
- ensure students have used "Google Docs", "Google Earth" & "Google Maps"
- ensure students have read the chapter on Westward Expansion in their Idaho History textbooks
- familiarize themselves with effective use of primary sources using this guide & the teacher resources below
- familiarize themselves with "Jigsaws" & ensure access to the primary sources/sites referenced
- Westward Expansion: Encounters at Cultural Crossroads Teacher's Guide
- Primary Source Set: Westward Expansion Teacher's Guide
- Engage: (2 minutes) To begin, ask students: "What is Westward Expansion? What are Primary Sources?" "What Primary Sources might there be on Westward Expansion?" .
- Explore: (3 minutes) Have students talk to their group and notate on their chart paper (on desks). Have students share some of their ideas with the class, while teacher puts some up on the board.
- Explain: (10 minutes) Tell students that for the next week they are going to be further exploring Westward Expansion via Primary Sources and introduce them to their resources.
- Elaborate: (20 minutes) Explain to students the following activities that they will be conducting throughout the week:
- The first thing the students will do is explore the topographical map from Missouri to Oregon used by many explorers & the Early Pioneer Life Journals (starting on p. 18) with their groups, found on the World Digital Library by the Library of Congress.
- The second thing the students will do is analyze the photograph of the treaty found on Digital Vaults (& other treaties on the site if time allows) to determine the significance of the title "Signatures & Pictographs" and how that connects with their previous knowledge of treaties. They will also reflect upon the fairness of the agreements; connecting their ideas to westward expansion & the effect on the native tribes.
- *Jigsaw* Finally, the students will explore the Primary Source (trail) Set (on) Westward Expansion. Each group will explore ONE of the trails (Lewis & Clark, Santa Fe Trail, Oregon Trail, Pony Express Trail , or Transcontinental Railroad) from the Middle Tennessee State University collection noting what they've learned as a group collectively on a Google Doc. The target questions to try to answer will be: Where was the trail? (This question needs to be answered with a MAP using Google Maps to map their trail) What are some of the important points of interest on it? Are their any important people associated with the trail? What is the significance of the trail in the overall history of America? Does any of the trail still exist?
- Evaluate/Share: (5 minutes) Students will share the projects that they created with the class to demonstrate their learning:
- Students will create a "journal map" with their group using Google Earth that describes their own fictitious journey west based on what was learned on from the topographical map & journals listed in step #1 above.
- Students will recreate a treaty with their group on a Google Doc (final draft will be handwritten for "authenticity") based on the treaty that they saw on #2 above, making adjustments and then defending their adjustments on a separate document.
- Students will create a poster or brochure, on their assigned trail. from step #3 above to facilitate the process of teaching another group (Jigsaw format) about their trail. This poster/brochure needs to answer most of the target questions & contain a present-day map (Google Map) of their trail.
- Additional: Students will complete these while reading the Idaho History book section on Westward Expansion and periodically share ideas with other groups to allow for growth and sharing beyond specific groups.