Westward Ho! Exploring the Wild West Through Literacy
My students need 20 awesome Westward Expansion books like, A Kid's Life During the Westward Expansion, to help integrate literacy into science and social studies.
My students come to school and give their personal best every day! Our school is a STEAM school (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics). My students learn through researching and engineering ideas and products to solve problems. Learning this way, keeps my students engaged and active participants in their learning.
Our school is in a rural part of the upstate of South Carolina.
My students come from a variety of backgrounds, so we incorporate different instructional methods to accommodate everyone's style of learning. In our class, there are several opportunities for choice. Students can read any book they want to during what we call "Read to Self." They have opportunities for "Free Write," and they are allowed to sit around the room when working so they can give their best effort. Students are also moving quite a lot because we practice Guided Math. Students move around the room every 10-15 minutes to practice different math skills. We also participate in hands-on science experiences. There is a very much a "family" feel among my students and I think that makes our learning so much easier!
My Project
Today in education, educators are learning the importance of integrating literacy (reading and writing) into all the content areas of a school day. The more a student reads and writes, the better they become at. Just like an athlete practices their sport, a reader and writer has to practice their skill all day. Reading and Writing can be practiced in so many way, and one of the best ways is through research. My students will have a great opportunity to research Westward Expansion through the books of this project.
In our unit of Westward Expansion, students will get to experience moving west and setting up a new life on the frontier through their research.
To make social studies more interesting to students, the students form into wagon teams. These teams have to prepare for the "move west." This means they have to "buy" supplies and build a wagon. Students have to research what life was really like on those wagon trains. Students have to know weather, natural obstacles, and people they may encounter along the way. After the student make it west, it is their job to make a plan for a sustainable life for their team. That also requires students to know what life was like for people living in the west: job opportunities, conflicts, and environmental hardships.
In the resources of this project, my students will be able to gather information to perform the task mentioned earlier. From the resources, my students will get primary sources with visual representations that helps them understand the content. I want to make this learning experience as authentic as possible for my students, and the best way for that to happen is they have the information right in front of them with these resources!
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Ms. Williams and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
