Westward Expansion Freebie

Hey friends! I wanted to share with you the home project that I’m giving my kids during our Westward Expansion Unit. This could be done in class, too, if you wanted. It could even be made into a class book by giving one letter to each student, or several letters to a group of students to work together.

We will also be writing “Pioneer Journals,” and following the Oregon Trail on a map as we learn about some of the important landmarks along the way! Because we don’t have much time before THE TEST, I teach the major “stuff” that they need to know now and then we go back and cover it in more detail afterwards. Last year, I did some really fun inquiry circles where they got to choose their topic, research, and present in any way that they chose as well. They wrote songs, made plays, made powerpoints, or played “school” (they were the teachers and we were all the students).  The kids had so much fun with it last year… I imagine I’ll be doing it again this year. 🙂