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Lewis & Clark:  Rediscovering our past!
Lesson 3

Title:  "Creating a Journal and Picking Supplies for the Trip"

Grade Levels: 4-7 (teacher can adjust to meet grade level needs)

Subjects: Language Arts, Fine Arts, Social Studies

Learner Outcomes:

• Students will know how to access Internet sites.
• Students will read through sections of the Lewis & Clark journals and can select the entries of specific people that they wish to read.  Journals
• Using reproducible covers and pages, students will create a journal with words and pictures for one week in their lives.
• How do I write a Journal?
• A Week in the Life of...(student journal cover)
• Inside Journal Pages
• Students will better understand the period of history when the expedition took place by trying to determine which supplies they would choose to take on the expedition. Picking Your Supplies
• Students will then discover which supplies were actually taken on the Expedition.  Supplies Answer Sheet

Duration: Approximately  6  40-minute class periods.

Materials: Reproducible covers and sheets.

Technology Tools/courseware:

• Internet ready computers
• Word processing software (Microsoft Word to open worksheets)
• Printers

Teacher Notes:

• The teacher should go over the journal pages online with students so that they understand what journals are.  Journals    and    How do I write a Journal?
• The teacher will need to run copies of the journal covers and journal pages for the students to complete.
• A Week in the Life of...(student journal cover)     and    Inside Journal Pages
• The teacher will need to run copies of the supplies sheet for students and will need only one answer sheet (or students can check their answers online after the supplies sheet has been completed).
• Picking Your Supplies    and   Supplies Answer Sheet

Procedures:

• The teacher should initiate a discussion about the journals that Thomas Jefferson directed Lewis & Clark to keep during the Expedition.
• The students can access these journals and read pages of those people they choose to read. Journals
• The students can then read about how to complete a journal.  How do I write a Journal?
• The teacher will make copies of the Journal covers and inside Journal pages for the students.
• A Week in the Life of...(student journal cover)    and Inside Journal Pages
• The teacher will direct students to begin and end their Journals on specific dates.
• When Journals are completed, they may be shared with the class or displayed, if desired.
• The teacher should initiate a discussion on what life was like in 1804.
• The teacher will tell the students that Lewis & Clark had to choose which supplies they needed for the long Expedition.  The teacher can copy the reproducible Picking Your Supplies sheet for each student and they are to circle any 15 items they think Lewis & Clark might have taken with them.
• When students have made their choices, they can check their answers with Supplies Answer Sheet or the teacher can copy one sheet for the correct answers to share with the class for discussion.

Modifications:

• Students not able to do independent writing may draw their experiences for the week.
• All students should be able to complete the supplies list because of the pictures.

• If students would like to learn more about life in the 1800's, they can access this site for some interesting information.  Life in the 1800's

Evaluation/Assessment:

• The written journals can be used as an assessment tool for Language Arts and Writing Skills.
• The "supplies" sheets can be used by the teacher for an assessment of how well the students use higher thinking skills to determine what would be practical supplies to take on an Expedition in the early 1800's.

West Virginia IGOs:
Language Arts:  4.27, 4.51, 6.27, 6.30, 6.54, 7.60
 

National Standards:
Language Arts:

• Uses the general skills and strategies of the writing process

Understands the United States territorial expansion between 1801 and 1861, and how it affected relations with external powers and Native Americans.

b) additional resources
Resource Page

c) student resources
A Week in the Life of...(student journal cover)
Inside Journal Pages
Picking Your Supplies
Supplies Answer Sheet
 

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Overview of Lesson

Lesson 1 Introduction to the Lewis & Clark Expedition!

Lesson 2 Bringing Biographies to Life!  (Paper People)

Lesson 3 Creating a Journal and picking supplies for the trip!

Lesson 4 Taking a virtual Expedition with the Corps of Discovery!

Lesson 5 Animals and Plants and Birds... Oh, my!

 Created by:
Jan Madden
Nicki Melissinos
Tammy Taylor
Marshall County Schools - Sherrard Elementary School and Union Junior High School