Description of lesson/activity
1. appreciate the personal characteristics of the men and women who settled the West.
2. draw conclusions from a variety of primary resources.
1. The teacher should preface the lesson with the following explanation:
Of the many groups of people who went west, perhaps the most unique were the "searchers." The searchers of the West looked for treasures of many kinds. Some came in search of gold, silver, and timber, while others sought to ranch or farm the land d that produced these treasures. Miners, cattlemen, and homesteaders are three groups of settlers who represent the pioneering spirit which helped to settle the West. These people all appeared to possess similar qualities such as bravery, patience, persistence, self reliance, and the ability to work hard. (The teacher may wish to allow students to brainstorm additional traits).
2. Each student should be assigned to read one set of the accompanying primary source materials; approximately one third of the class might read about miners, an equal group read about cattlemen, and a third group read about homesteaders. As they complete this assignment, students should fill in the accompanying chart, "Worksheet for Gathering Information."
3. The class then should data bank the information about the Westerners, exploring through small group or whole class discussion the similarities in characteristics of these three groups of men and women.
4. As a culminating activity, students could assume the role of one of these Westerners. They might write home, describing their lives in the west, including in their descriptions at least three of the characteristics researched in the above lesson. An assessment criteria for this letter accompanies this question/problem. Alternatively, they could write a similar letter describing how members of all three groups demonstrated the same characteristic in their different ways of life. For extra credit, students might want to create railroad posters or advertisements which convince people to move west to become miners, cattlement and/or homesteaders.
1. Readings on miners, cattlemen, and homesteaders.
3. Assessment Criteria: Letter About the West."