Teacher's Guide Chapter Author: Rebecca Newton, 5th grade teacher, Oran K. Gragson Elementary School, Clark County School District
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Chapter Overview: This chapter deals a lot with culture. It displays the Hispanic culture which was deemed very rich in Albuquerque at that time. It also explains the beginning persuading of the Beale Wagon Road journey. It mentions many historic landmarks and how they lived at that time.
Chapter Themes: Culture, Landmarks, Environment
Chapter Activities
- Language Arts
- Vocabulary Activity
- Students will be given a chart that will be divided into four sections: Word, Personal Cue, Sentence and Meaning. They will read through Chapter 7 and identifying the words they are unfamiliar with and write them into the word category. Then they will write the sentence the word was used in under the sentence category. Either using the context clues or a dictionary they will determine the meaning. They will then take this information and create a person cue that they can identify with in order to determine the meaning whether it be a picture or synoymn.
- Standards Addressed
- (5)1.4: It is expected that students will use dictionaries and glossaries to find word origins, pronounciations, and to determine the meaning of unknown words
- (5)1.10: It is expected that students will develop vocabulary through meaningful experiences (e.g. wide reading, discussion of word meanings, interactive activities, examples and non-examples)
- Compare/Contrast
- Using a Venn Diagram students will compare and contrast what is the same and what is different about Las Vegas.
- Standards Addressed
- (5)2.1g: It is expected that students will select and apply pre-reading, during, and post-reading strategies to enhance comprehension through making connections to personal experiences and knowledge
- (5)2.12c: It is expected that students will clarify understanding of text through completing a graphic organizer
- Mathematics
- Reading a Map
- Using a map scale and a ruler students will identify about the distance it took for Sallie Fox's family to travel from Keosauqua, Iowa to Las Vegas, Nevada.
- Standards Addressed
- (5)3.2: It is expected that students will measure, compare, and convert length to the closest fractional part (1/4 and 1/2) of inches, feet, yards, and miles
- (5)1.15: It is expected that students will estimate to determine the reasonableness of an answer in mathematical and practical situations involving decimals
- Time
- Using either mapquest (or other related websites) and airline websites students will look up the time it takes to travel from Keosauqua, Iowa to Las Vegas, Nevada. They will then compare this to the time it took Sallie Fox's family to travel it. *Start date was April 3, 1858 to current in book June 17th, 1858.
- Standards Addressed
- (5)3.8: It is expected that students will determine equivalent periods of time, including relationships between and among seconds, minutes, hours, days, months, and years
- (5)D.6: It is expected that students will identify, explain, and use mathematics in everyday life
- Social Studies
- Cultural Feast
- Students will research a culture and determine the type of food eaten in that culture. They will then take a recipe from that culture and create it for the class in a cultural feast celebration. (Examples: Italian, Mexican, etc.) Also discuss what types of food we have around here.
- Standards Addressed
- (5)3.10: It is expected that students will identify examples in the community or region that reflect cultural identity.
- (5)3.9: It is expected that students will describe physical and human features and cultural characteristics of places and regions in the United States
- Historical Landmarks
- Students will pick a historical landmark in the state of Nevada and research it to find it's history. They will then write up a report on its significance.
- Standards Addressed
- (5)3.3: It is expected that students will read and derive geographic information from photographs, maps, graphs, and computer resources
- (5)3.13: It is expected that students will identify and describe the location of historical events
- Science
- Change
- Students will identify the changes that have taken place over time. They will take into account and research what was needed to survive back then to what we need to survive now. Examples such as transportation, clothing, food, shelter, etc. They will then write this up in form of comparison or a report depending on how you would like to assign it.
- Standards Addressed
- (5)3.7: It is expected that students will investigate and describe how change is an ongoing process that can be seen throughout the natural world
- (5)4.8: It is expected that students will investigate and describe how organisms, including humans, can cause changes in their environment
- Environmental factors influencing food
- The environment plays a role in the food that certain cultures can eat. Especially back then they could not ship, fly, etc food. They had to eat what their environment could provide. Have students identify what they would be able to eat of they were unable to transport food into ther location.
- Standards Addressed
- (5)4.5: It is expected that students will explain that living things get what they need to survive from their environment
- (5)4.10: It is expected that students will investigate and describe how environmental changes allow some plants and animals to survive and reproduce, but others may die
Historical Overview of Chapter Themes
The Santa Fe Trail was discovered by a man of the name William Becknell. He became aware of the fact that Mexico had won its independence from Spain. This meant that American traders would benefit from the use of the Santa Fe Trail. So the next spring he went out again and this time traveled through the Cimarron Desert almost not surviving. Luckily buffalo crossed their path and water that was in its stomach helped them survive until they could finally reach a river.
Soon after Americans began to travel this trail and trade many things. Items included and were not limited to mules, cotton, furs, gold, silver coins, etc.
The problem that was faced the most were the attack of Indians and the weather. They had to stick together in order to protect themselves. This meant that someone always had to be awake at night to fight off Indian attacks. The weather was not so easy to deal with though. There was no way to fight back the weather because of this traveling the trail meant that you had to face dust storms, intense heat, prarie rains, hailstones, etc. This not only caused harm to the travelers but to the animals and wagons.
This did not stop the travel of the Santa Fe Trail. It continued to expand up through the year of 1843 which only stopped it because of high tarriffs and threat of war. In 10 years only eight men had died. This trail led to the beginning of many other trails to travel west.
Additional Resources
- Reader's Digest: The American Story: Who, What, When, Where, Why of Our Nation's Heritage
- Going West! by Carol A. Johmann and Elizabeth J. Rieth
- http://www.nps.gov/archive/safe/fnl-sft/webvc/vchome2.htm
- this gives a tour of the historic trail through pictures, etc.
3 comments:
Nice job with the Sallie Fox blog! I liked the idea of having students research historical landmarks in Nevada. Writing a research paper using several sources seems to be difficult for many students. In addition, I feel as though many students in the district have not had the opportunity to learn about, let alone visit the wonderful historical sites and landmarks located so close by. One thing I would alter about the compare & contrast activity would be to incorporate a double bubble map for those of us who teach at thinking maps schools. Thanks for all of the ideas!
I really like your activities! I enjoyed the one on time since students have a hard time with that. Also, using charts and diagrams is a great way for students to learn. Great job!
What a great idea to have students look at airline information. This is a modern-day skill that we never teach in school. Here's an interesting anecdote:
As I was getting on a plane the other day, I saw a girl (about 10-years-old) traveling alone. She asked the man behind her if her luggage came on the same plane she did.
Some things seem so obvious to us that we forget that they are not clear through children's eyes.
Consider adding a lesson on time zones when you teach about flying.
I seem a common theme you did not mention in your themes but that runs through your lessons -- transportation (then vs. now). You might add this in as a class discussion and also add in a brief discussion on the differences between communication systems then and now.
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