Native Americans, The Louisiana Purchase, Explorers and Mountain Men, The Gold Rush, The Pioneers, Frontier Towns, Cowboys and Ranchers

This unit had so many dimensions to it and each kiddy discovered a different aspect which they enjoyed most.  It was enjoyable, deep, eye-opening and has given us all a greater insight into the impact of the European Settlers when they landed in the New World.

Blogs are weird.  Weird in that when writing up a chronological history in a step by step way over the course of a fortnight, when it comes to reading the blog- it's all backwards!

So our final step was a day about cowboys and ranchers in Texas.  We also touched briefly on frontier towns, homesteaders and The Iron Horse (the first railway track that joined the East to the West).

This is brilliantly written, is singing with metaphors and similes, and has some great Texan vocabulary!

The Boy's cactus is the best looking cactus I have ever seen.

Someone can't stop reading Harry Potter.

A concluding story about a chosen subject within our unit.

The Boy's paintings...

...and his brilliant writing.

We recreated the United States on our classroom floor and built a track for The Iron Horse.  It crossed the Appalachian Mountains, The Great Plains, The Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains before arriving in California.

The Boy's worksheets.  He's coming along beautifully.

The Boy's Saloon :)

Panda Girl's lovely summary of our unit.

And we finished the whole unit off with a trip to find totem poles...

...and a family night in with Doritos and dips!

The Pioneers and Prairie Schooners

The cheapest way of reaching the West, with its fertile farming lands, the discovery of gold and promises of a better life, was by wagon train.

This great clip started our day.

We built our own prairie schooner...

 and packed for the 2000 mile, 6 month journey from Missouri to Oregon along the Oregon Trail.

Packing eggs and valuable crockery in barrels of cornmeal prevented damage on the rough tracks.

 And we're off..

Most people walked alongside the wagons as it was far too bumpy to sit inside.  But it's always worth a go anyway!

We listened to birds singing and the sound of horses trotting to help the imagination.

We learnt that to water-proof the wooden wagons when crossing rivers, the pioneers would use a wax paste made of wax and ashes mixed together.  We gave it a go and waterproofed a stick.

Panning for Gold and Navajo Flat Bread

Having introduced the children to the stories of the European settlers, The Louisiana Purchase and the resulting westward expansion, we spent an hour or so learning about the Gold Rush and the 49ers (those that arrived in California in search of riches in 1849).  I used gold beads and bells hidden in water, sand and stones and the kiddies collected what they could find...

...and traded in their gold for supplies and shelter.

Because of the sudden rush of towns being built around the main gold sites, there were often fights and robberies, turning the towns into the lawless places we often associate with the 'Wild West' today.

Monkey Girl's wanted poster

The Boy's wanted poster 

The youngest two made Navajo flat bread.

It was "heavenly" according to Monkey Girl.  This Boy was pretty impressed with himself too! 

He made some mini ones for everyone.

The eldest two followed a design to make ankle bells.

I love them!

And we finished off our morning learning about totem poles.

Ice Cream Cone Tee-Pees

We started the day on a light-hearted note: ice cream cone tee-pees.

Eating = joy

Many moons ago when the two eldest were tiny weeny, they made a picture book about the Pilgrim Fathers.  We still have it so we used it for reference and discussed the impact of the European settlers and the towns that inevitably followed  

We talked in some depth about Daniel Boone being the first European to cross the Appalachian Mountains and the explorers and trappers that followed in his footsteps.

We had our first look at the Louisiana Purchase which was made by Thomas Jefferson and as such opened up the whole country for exploration.

The kiddies donned their explorer gear and went hunting for wild game, shallow access across rivers and suitable glades for resting.

But the Native Americans won over my kiddies and they changed back into their attire for lunch over a fire. 

The weather looks cold for tomorrow and as the sun is shining today I have left the kiddies outside to soak up the Vitamin D and continue their role-playing.

They discovered that grinding down a brick and mixing the powder with water makes a paste for painting.

They made these awesome pictures.  I love my imaginative kiddies

They made a spit for fish...

..canoed and kayaked down white water rapids...

...and protected their land from enemy tribes.