The Center for the Teaching of American History - Teacher Projects-Canavan & Collier

Social and Political Change in the 19th Century

The U.S. and the World in the 20th Century

The Lewis and Clark Journals: A Living History

Prepared by Debra Collier and Heidi Canavan

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Lesson Title: Exploring the Diaries of Lewis and Clark

Grade Level: Fifth

Instructor Name: Debbie Collier, Candor Elementary School

Time Allocation: Two weeks (both in the classroom and during library class)

Lesson Unit Objectives: Students will be able to understand the purpose of Lewis and Clark's journey through the examination of their diaries and drawings. Students will learn about many of the new animals which were "discovered" on this mission.

Learning Experiences

The classroom teacher will introduce Lewis and Clark's journey through the reading of How We Crossed the West: The Adventures of Lewis and Clark by Rosalyn Schanzer, National Geographic Society, 1997. They will learn the definitions of unfamiliar words used in their journals.
Using this book and other resources, students will create a timeline of the mission.
Using this book and library resources, students will create a nature journal.
Using short entries from calendar pages, students will create a chart detailing "who", "what", "when". Information from this chart will be shared orally with other students in the class.
Students will write questions and present them to "William Clark" and "Sacagawea" (portrayed by Heidi Canavan and Megan Collier)

Assessment Tools: Student understanding will be measured based upon completion of timeliness, nature journals, charts and oral presentations.

Materials/Resources:

How We Crossed the West; The Adventures of Lewis & Clark by Rosalyn Schanzer
Lewis & Clark Calendar Pages
Library print and electronic resources

Connections to the NYS Standards

Social Studies

#1-Understanding the major ideas, eras and themes in U.S. History
#2-Understand the Geography

English Language Arts

# 1-Listen, speak, read & write for information
# 2-Read and listen to oral, written texts
# 3-Listen, speak, read, write for critical analysis and evaluation
# 4- Listen, speak, read, write for social interaction

Sample Chart