Curated OER
Pioneer Life: Food
Students investigate the types of food the pioneers ate, and how they prepared and preserved their meals. They explore websites, view video diaries from PBS Frontier Life, read recipes, and complete a crossword puzzle.
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Find the Main Idea: O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
An excerpt from Willa Cather's O Pioneer's! provides learners with practice in finding the main idea and supporting details in a narrative. As readers record the bleak details on the included graphic organizer, they can conclude that...
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Frontier Life Story
Students explore American frontier life. In this history instructional activity, students participate in a series of activities that challenge them to discover what pioneer life was really like.
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Survival Challenge: Would You Make It?
Learners face a challenge. In this survival lesson, students discover the hardships faced by the pioneers who moved west and see if they would survive a similar situation. They discuss essential items they need to survive and...
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Moving West
Students research the Westward Movement and struggles encountered by the pioneers as they moved from Nebraska, Westward along the Oregon Trail. In this Westward Expansion lesson plan, students read an Oregon Trail poem and visit 5...
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The Donner Party
Who is the Donner Party? Find out why this group of pioneers lives in infamy. A lot of information is provided in this resource, but you will have to copy and paste the text to acquire the handouts. Learners will look at primary sources,...
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Long, Long, Ago
Students discover details of pioneer life. In this history lesson, students examine artifacts and play games from pioneer times.
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Frontier Life Story
Students undertake a similar (but not quite as drastic) adventure as that of Frontier House as they explore the day-to-day realities of frontier life through a Laura Ingalls Wilder story, and reflect on which time period suits them...
San Francisco Symphony
Quilt Making and Copland's Rodeo
Kids make quilts as they learn about pioneer life and the concept of tempo. The Aaron Copland piece, Rodeo is used to convey rhythm and tempo in music. As the children discuss tempo and rhythm, they also discuss what life was like for...
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Fluency Passages, 3rd Grade
What would it be like to travel in a covered wagon? Learn about the life of a pioneer with a short informational reading passage. Kids read four paragraphs about traveling in a covered wagon and how it is different than traveling today,...
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Life in the Arkansas Territory
Young scholars compare the living conditions in Arkansas when it was a territory with contemporary times. They participate in a role play activities of the territorial times.
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Occupations of Black Pioneers
Middle schoolers analyze Black Pioneers in Nova Scotia. They explore the many different occupations and tradtions that were continued in Nova Scotia. They examine their resourcefulness despite the poor opportunities at the time of...
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Through The Looking Glass
Students examine the time period of westward expansion. In groups, they use the internet to research the reasons why people moved west during the 1800s. They write their own narratives playing the role of a member of a pioneer family...
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Floristic Relay
Fifth graders identify the role succession plays in the adaptation of our environment. Students identify pioneer and climax species and order habitats in succession. They recognize that different characteristics of species make them...
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Using Details from the Text
Explore non-fiction comprehension strategies with your class. They will visualize daily activities and label a 4 circle Venn diagram with related phrases. They must identify the overlapping sections as "main ideas," then complete a...
Oklahoma State University
Hairy Heredity
Young scholars learn that heredity comes down to the flip of a coin with this cross-curricular math and science lesson. Using smiley faces as a model, students toss coins to determine which dominant or recessive traits will be passed on...
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Johnny Appleseed
Students engage in a study of apples using children's literature. They conduct research using a variety of resources. Student list facts about apples and compare them while answering some guided questions. They plant some apple seeds and...
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Help the Elderly With Meals on Wheels
Young scholars research the history of the Meals on Wheels program. Using the internet, they discover their community's connection with the program and other programs similar to them. They discuss options in which to help more...
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An Orderly Wagon Train Migration
Sixth graders work in small groups to organize a wagon train for a trek westward. They determine leadership responsibilities and rules needed to make a successful trek.
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Communities and Biomes
In this communities worksheet, students will look at the interactions between biotic and abiotic factors and the effect these factors have on organism populations. Students will also order the succession steps that occur over time in an...
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The True "Cost of Cool!"
Eighth graders study hidden environmental costs in things we buy. In this consumerism lesson students watch a video about consumerism and analyze advertisements in teen magazines.
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Townsite Era
Students learn about the Townsite Era and are able to explore who they were and how they lived at that time. In this Townsite Era students create their own map of the Loma Linda are, design their own community and use a computer...
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Wagons West: Native Americans
Students examine interactions between Native Americans and settlers. In this Westward Expansion lesson plan, students analyze select passages from Plains Indians by Dana Newmann and The World of Native Americans by Marion Wood....
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Heritage: Packing Your Handcart
Fourth graders pack their imaginary handcart with the necessary items and take into account the bulk and weight of it. They discuss what would happen if one ran out of a certain material.