Missouri Town 1855, Lesson Plans

The Jackson County Parks and Recreation Department has a Historic Sites Teacher's Guide that highlights lessons to teach at Fort Osage National Historic Landmark and Missouri Town 1855.

Picture from http://www.jacksongov.org/content/7880/7890/7994/default.aspx

The Lesson plans include ideas for things to do before visiting the park, things to do at the park, and things to do after your visit.

Pre-visit activities include; doing school work without electricity and learning about non-refrigerated foods.  There is also a great vocabulary list to study.

For activities to do at the park, included are quests to find information in the Mercantile Store, Blacksmith's Shop, and Tavern as well as questions to ask the interpreters at the park, such as discussing the similarities and differences between 1850s agriculture and today's practices.

Picture from http://www.jacksongov.org/content/7880/7890/7994/default.aspx

After visiting the park, the activities include using descriptive writing to write a summary of their experiences or a letter to family about the trip.  Make a memory trip about what senses you used and what they were, and discuss time capsules and what students would put in them.

In the Teachers Guide, there is also a list of additional resources for further study.

Fort Osage, Lesson Plans

The Jackson County Parks and Recreation Department has a Historic Sites Teacher's Guide that highlights lessons to teach at Fort Osage National Historic Landmark and Missouri Town 1855.

Picture from http://www.jacksongov.org/fortosage/

The Lesson plans include ideas for things to do before visiting the park, things to do at the park, and things to do after your visit.

Pre-visit activities include; doing school work without electricity and learning about non-refrigerated foods.  There is also a great vocabulary list to study.

For activities to do at the park, included are questions to ask the interpreters at the park, such as the differences between jobs in frontier times and current times and the experiences of living at a frontier outpost.

Picture from http://www.jacksongov.org/fortosage/

After visiting the park, the activities include using descriptive writing to write a summary of their experiences or a letter to family about the trip.  Make a memory trip about what senses you used and what they were, and discuss time capsules and what students would put in them.

In the Teachers Guide, there is also a list of additional resources for further study.

Lesson Plans National Park Service

The National Park Service has some excellent teacher activity ideas.

http://www.nps.gov/jeff/forteachers/curriculummaterials.htm

Museum of Westward Expansion

http://www.nps.gov/jeff/forteachers/upload/mwetagk_3.pdf

Lewis and Clark Expedition

http://www.nps.gov/jeff/forteachers/loader.cfm?csModule=security/getfile&PageID=168953

Lesson Plans Camp Dubois, Wood River, Illinois

The website for our first stop is http://www.campdubois.com/.
This site has some great information about the journey.  It also has information about the exhibitions and visitor's center.
This was the winter camp for the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1803.

There are some excellent lesson planning ideas and resources at this website as well:
Expedition Activities
Expedition Maps
Camp Life at River Dubois
Spelling Activity
The Louisiana Purchase
Westward Expansion
Clothing
Paper Dolls

Missouri Department of Education

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has a great 8 lesson unit on Lewis and Clark here.

Including:
Pre and Post Reading Strategies
Who was Sacajawea?
Nonfiction Text Features
Blanket the Plains
Comparing and Contrasting: Fact vs. Opinion
Nonfiction Text Elements
What if?

As well as including an assessment (here).

These lessons are intended for 4th graders.

Lessons on Confrontation with the Teton Sioux

There is lots of education information about this historic event.  A prepared lesson to be read to students is provided by http://www.lewisandclarkexhibit.org here.
Journal information about the event is located at http://lewisandclarkjournals.unl.edu here.

This painting by James Ayers, "Encounter with the Teton Sioux, September 25, 1804," oil on canvas, 24in x 40in, is a beautiful depiction of the events of the time.

National Archives Lesson Planning

The National Archives website http://www.archives.gov/education/regional-resources/ has some great information about specific activities to do in each state.  Activities range from scheduling guided tours to classroom based assessments.  There is lots of great information here.

The National Archives also has lesson plans for teaching with historical documents at http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/.  

Specifically the Lewis and Clark documents at http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/lewis-clark/.

Lesson Plan Ideas from Lessonindex.com

Wow! I found a great listing of different lesson plan ideas from lessonindex.com.
All of them are ones that are paid-for items, but the prices range from $1-$10.

I can't wait to explore these more!

Missouri Department of Natural Resources

http://www.dnr.mo.gov/parks/lewisclark.htm

The Missouri Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Commission was charged with the mission to "Rekindle the spirit of discovery, achievement and wonder fostered by the original exploration." Pursuant to this task, the commission developed and coordinated an effective means for the State of Missouri to observe bicentennial commemoration of the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery. The Commission promoted the public awareness of the historical significance of the expedition related to the Missouri Territory. In addition, the bicentennial commission was a catalyst for accomplishing Missouri's Lewis and Clark Bicentennial capital improvement projects, programs and special events. The bicentennial projects and events were comprised of public (state, federal and local), private, and foundation projects.

There are lots of links to some great curriculum ideas at their website. http://www.dnr.mo.gov/parks/lc-curriculum.htm
Great links  http://www.dnr.mo.gov/parks/lc-links.htm

Lesson Plans: The Journals of Lewis and Clark

My first lesson plans are to read the Journals of Lewis and Clark.  My plan is to begin reading the journals as if it were January 1804, and read them in the same time frame they were written.  I found a wonderful site for reading the journals online http://lewisandclarkjournals.unl.edu/index.html.

I also have this for the Kindle, and this in book form

I wish I had the complete journals in book form.

 
I see lots of opportunities for teaching using the journal entries.  

• Understanding diary/journal entries
• Summarizing daily activities
• Factual recounts
• Spelling and grammar
• Expanding writing
• Creative writing

 
Today's journal entry

Monday 30th Jany 1804    a Cloudy morning, Some Snow    send out 10 hunters to day in three parties, at 9 oClock The Thermotr. Stood at 22d abov 0, a little wind from N.    at 10 oClock 24° abov 0, cleared up & Sun Shown    Stoped Snowing, but little Ice running this morng—    at 11 oClock 25° abov 0, at 12 oClock 25° abov 0, Took M alt. of Suns L. L. 67° 22' 52"— Er[ror] of Entrement [instrument] 6'—, at 1 oClock 25° abov 0, at 2 oClock 26° abov 0, Reed Killed a Deer & wild Cat,[1] Cloudy. 3 men Cross the river to day, at 3 oClock 28° abov 0, at 4 oClock 27° abov 0, at 8 oClock 16° abv 0, about Sun Set Capt: Lewis arrived accompanied by Mr. J. Hay[2] & Mr. Jo Hays[3] of Kohokia—    The hunter killed 5 Deer to day—

Journal Reference:
Lewis, M., Clark, W., and Members of the Corps of Discovery. (2002). September 4, 1806. In G. Moulton (Ed.), The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. Retrieved Oct. 1, 2005, from the University of Nebraska Press / University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries-Electronic Text Center, The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition web site: http://lewisandclarkjournals.unl.edu/journals.php?id=1806-09-04

Lesson Plans?

Another important part of the planning is what kind of lesson plans would I need/want to prepare?

• Basic understanding of the history of the time period; clothes, tools, and way of life.  
• Native tribes we would have encountered (we will encounter)
• Natural environments including; geology, ecology, etc.  
• Visit all museums/visitor centers/places of interest.  
• Identify plant and animal species.  
• Create journals of our travels while reading the Journals of Lewis and Clark.

This could be an endless topic, and one I'm sure to return to many times.