The events surrounding westward expansion did not look the same to everyone involved--understanding depends on perspective. In the Viewpoints and Perspectives series, more advanced readers will come to understand different viewpoints by learning the context, significance, and details of the historic push west through the eyes of three different people, while engaging with text through questions sparking critical thinking. Books include timeline, glossary, and index.

This book relays the factual details of the Oregon Trail and the United States' westward expansion in the 1800s. The narrative provides multiple accounts of the event, and readers learn details through the point of view of a pioneer, a Native American in a territory crossed by the trail, and a U.S. soldier at a government outpost. The text offers opportunities to compare and contrast various perspectives in the text while gathering and analyzing information about an historical event.

This 8-week interdisciplinary unit for fourth- and fifth-grade students helps children address the U.S. westward expansion in the 1840's using the interactive software program, The Oregon Trail. The unit provides connections to literature, geography, computer/mathematics skills, language arts, and research skills. The work is done in cooperative groups over the course of the unit with a variety of assessment strategies suggested. Worksheets, handouts, and student materials are included. Upon completion of the unit students will be able to: (1) locate and identify the states along the Oregon Trail; (2) identify reasons for westward expansion; (3) gain a basic understanding of some of the native North American culture; (4) participate in collaborative group activities; and (5) demonstrate knowledge of life in the 1840s--food, clothing, families, etc. Selected bibliography contains 32 items. (EH)

The events surrounding the Oregon Trail and Westward Expansion did not look the same to everyone involved. Step back in time and into the shoes of a pioneer, a Native American in a territory crossed by the trail, and a U.S. soldier at a government outpost as readers act out the scenes that took place in the midst of this historic event. Written with simplified, considerate text to help struggling readers, books in this series are made to build confidence as readers engage and read aloud. This book includes a table of contents, glossary, index, author biography, sidebars, and timelines.

In the nineteenth century, over half a million men, women and children traveled west on the Oregon Trail. Stretching two thousand miles from Independence Missouri, to the Pacific Northwest, the Oregon Trail was the longest overland route used in the westward expansion. Crossing mountains and deserts, fighting disease, short of both food and water, pioneers endured many hardships to follow the trail west with their hopes and dreams of seeking fortunes in the unsettled west. Author Rebecca Stefoff traces the roots of the Oregon and California Trails back to the seventeenth century, telling the stories of those who left the security and comfort of their homes, to endure months of hard travel in the hope of a new life.

The Oregon Trail marked one of the major paths to the West. Readers learn why people embarked on this arduous journey, what life was like traveling along the trail, and the kinds of hardships faced along the way. Chapters trace the history of the Great Migration of 1843, the trail’s affect on settlement patterns, and the influence migration patterns had on Oregon statehood.

A new American journey.