Frontier Firsts - Lesson Plan

Frontier Firsts
Tanya White
4th Grade
Day 7

1. Brief Description:
This lesson will give students an idea of the lack of amenities that pioneers had once they reached their homesteads.

2. Materials/Resources Needed:
¨ Pictures of some of the first pioneers, including Bunnell and Smith (from the Winona County Historical Society)
¨ Student journals
¨ Student pencils
¨ Paper – 11” x 17”
¨ Glue
¨ Scissors
¨ Crayons, colored pencils, or markers
¨ Sheet containing pictures, descriptions, and invention dates of items used by pioneers

3. Goal(s) for today’s lesson:
¨ Students will gain knowledge of westward expansion in the 1800s by studying some of the first people who moved west and the technologies that made their lives easier.
¨ Students will understand early Minnesota history through a study of the first settlements and settlers in the area.

4. Objectives for today’s lesson:
¨ Given the Frontier Firsts activity students will recognize some of the first pioneers in this area and what major impacts they had on Winona.
¨ Given the Frontier Firsts activity students will identify some of the first technologies from pioneer times. They will pick one item and write a four paragraph journal entry describing the item. They will also compare and contrast this item to a present day technology with a similar purpose.
¨ Given the Frontier Firsts activity students will create a timeline chronologically listing some of the major inventions of pioneer times such as washing machines, stoves, and clothes irons.

5. Procedures
a. Introductory Experiences: (10 minutes)
¨ Pictures will be shown of the first pioneers to settle in Winona. Students will be given a short history of Captain Orrin Smith, the founder of Winona, and Dr. Lafayette Houghton Bunnell, a very prominent resident of the Winona area.
¨ Students will be told that the first pioneers in an area weren’t the only firsts of pioneer times. There are also many inventions we still use today that were first invented by pioneers. They may have worked a little differently but they achieved the same results.

b. Developmental Experiences:
1. Sheets will be handed out containing pictures of pioneer technologies, short descriptions of the items, and dates that the items were invented. The pictures will be colored, cut out, and made into a timeline to give students an idea of the amenities that people in that time period had to go without. (20 – 25 minutes)
2. Once the timeline is complete students will pick one item from their timeline to write about in their journal. In at least four paragraphs they will describe the item, some things about it that they see as positive or negative, and compare it to its present day equivalent. (10 minutes)

c. Culminating Experiences:
¨ Timelines will be taped up on the wall for display. Pictures of Smith and Bunnell will be shown once again. Students will be asked who each man was and what influences he had on Winona. (5 minutes)

6. Assessments used during lesson:
The completed timeline and journal entry will serve as means for assessment. Discussion and questions will also be used to check for understanding.