Examining Primary Sources: Lewis and Clark
Topic: Corps of Discovery, Lewis and Clark Expedition
Content Area: Social Studies
Standards:
Primary Sources: Indian Presents, Map of Expedition, Sacajawea coin, Sacajawea Sculpture, Journal Entries
Other Materials: Interactive Journey, Lewis and Clark Biography page, Kidblog
Timeframe: multiple days
Overview of Learning Activities: Students will be introduced to the Lewis and Clark Expedition through primary sources. They will practice language arts skills through interacting with firsthand accounts (primary sources) and images to find deeper meaning. Students will read about the corps of discovery, watch videos, and view images of primary sources, then compare and contrast the documents and search for deeper meaning. They will keep a journal to show their learning through Kidblog posts.
Learning Activities:
Content Area: Social Studies
Standards:
- 4.Social Studies.1.2.1 Identify the major groups and significant individuals and their motives in the western expansion and settlement in Idaho. (433.01c)
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.6
Compare and contrast a firsthand and secondhand account of the same event or topic; describe the differences in focus and the information provided. - CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.7
Interpret information presented visually, orally, or quantitatively (e.g., in charts, graphs, diagrams, time lines, animations, or interactive elements on Web pages) and explain how the information contributes to an understanding of the text in which it appears.
Primary Sources: Indian Presents, Map of Expedition, Sacajawea coin, Sacajawea Sculpture, Journal Entries
Other Materials: Interactive Journey, Lewis and Clark Biography page, Kidblog
Timeframe: multiple days
Overview of Learning Activities: Students will be introduced to the Lewis and Clark Expedition through primary sources. They will practice language arts skills through interacting with firsthand accounts (primary sources) and images to find deeper meaning. Students will read about the corps of discovery, watch videos, and view images of primary sources, then compare and contrast the documents and search for deeper meaning. They will keep a journal to show their learning through Kidblog posts.
Learning Activities:
- To hook the students, and give background information, students will explore the interactive journey. This is an in depth assignment that could take multiple days. After completing the journey, students will write a blog post on Kidblog that describes what they liked most about the journey, what questions they have now, and what kinds of plants/animals Lewis and Clark discovered. Students must respond to two other classmate's posts.
- The teacher will introduce the Lewis and Clark biography page to view together as a class. It will be labeled as a "secondhand account" due to the fact that someone else wrote it about Lewis and Clark. Then, the teacher will introduce the journal entries as "firsthand accounts" or primary sources. Students will write a Kidblog post comparing and contrasting the similarities and differences between the two kinds of sources. Students must respond to two other classmate's posts.
- Next, students will look at the list of presents Lewis purchased for Native Americans he would meet in his travels. Students will select one of the gifts and speculate about how a Native American recipient might have reacted to this gift and put it to use.
- Finally, students will be asked to write a Kidblog post to compare and contrast the ways Sacagawea is portrayed on the coin and in the sculpture. What does each say about her legacy? After posting, students must respond to two other classmate's posts.
Google Earth: Lewis and Clark Expedition
Topic: Corps of Discovery, Lewis and Clark Expedition
Content Area: Social Studies
Standards:
Overview of Activities: Students will deepen their understanding of the Corps of Discovery by exploring the Expedition trail with Google Maps.
Learning Activities:
Content Area: Social Studies
Standards:
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.7
Interpret information presented visually, orally, or quantitatively (e.g., in charts, graphs, diagrams, time lines, animations, or interactive elements on Web pages) and explain how the information contributes to an understanding of the text in which it appears.
Overview of Activities: Students will deepen their understanding of the Corps of Discovery by exploring the Expedition trail with Google Maps.
Learning Activities:
- After activating background knowledge, the teacher will introduce the Google Earth Explorer website to students. First, students will be asked to zoom way out of the trail to see how long the trail really was, then they will zoom way into the trail to see the specific geological details available.
- Students will be asked to interact with the 12 steps along the trail. Videos and information are presented for students to explore. After each of the 12 steps, students will be required to write five sentences in a journalistic style within their Kidblog entry.
- Finally, students will write a descriptive paragraph analyzing how the geological features seen within Google Earth influenced the expedition.