Unit Overview and Purpose:

The purpose of this unit is to teach 5th and 6th graders about the Lewis and Clark Expedition. They will learn how different people on the journey had different roles and how those roles impacted the expedition as a whole. The main driving question is "How do our expeditions shape us?" I want the students to explore this topic and their own life. This will also help their research skills develop for future educational endeavors and projects. We will also be focusing on Sacajawea and her importance to the success of the expedition. By the end, students will have gained a better understanding of the Lewis and Clark expedition and how journeys in life shape who people are.

Standards: 

Integrate information presented in different media or formats as well as in words to develop a coherent understanding of a topic or issue. (RI 6.7)

Conduct short research projects that use several sources to build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic and include sources and/or topics by and about American Indians. (W 5.7)

Analyze how unique circumstances of time, place, and historical contexts shape individual lives. (SS. H. 9-12.3) (I feel that this can still be accomplished with 5-6th graders) 

Objectives:

Given a presentation, books, documentaries, and other forms of media, students will form a coherent understanding of the Lewis and Clark expedition and Sacajawea’s importance as assessed by their journal, poster, and presentation.

Given access to multiple forms of resources, students will conduct a research project to build knowledge of the Lewis and Clark expedition and how their encounter with American Indians (specifically Sacajawea) impacted the expedition and the history we know today as assessed through a rubric for each aspect of the project.

Given information and resources about Sacajawea, students will analyze how unique circumstances shape lives as assessed by their poster on Sacajawea’s life. 

Unit Calendar (finalized)

Unit Calendar (tentative)

Unit Plan (Finalized)

Unit lesson plan draft.