For Grade 5
Web Quest: Extra! Extra! Read All About It!
For
Grade 5
Each year, in the early spring, Oregon-bound travelers from the eastern U.S. converged on St. Louis. It was the last big city most would ever see. The wide Missouri River headed due west from St. Louis, so most loaded their wagons onto steamships for the upstream journey. Before they departed on their journey they would see newspapers with articles, editorials and advertisements concerning the Oregon Trail.
The
student will create a newsletter, representative of a newspaper produced in St.
Louis during the westward movement along the Oregon Trail.
Resources
(Top)
Example of a student created
newsletter
The Historical Gazette
Published in Portland, Oregon: "Linking the Past with the Future" with
historic headlines and trail stories.
The Oregon Trail Website
This is a complete web site
about the Oregon Trail.
1.
The students will work in teams of four students.
2.
Review the above resources.
3.
Each team will design their newsletter, using the Microsoft Publisher
Wizard.
4.
Assign tasks to each team member.
One
member will write an editorial.
One
member will write the lead article.
One
member, at least, will write a secondary story.
One
member, at least, will write an advertisement.
The
editor (the one that writes the editorial) will have the responsibility of
organizing the
newsletter.
5.
Each member will write his or her contribution using a word processor.
6.
Each member will cut and paste their contribution to the Publisher
newsletter.
7.
Post your newsletter on the “Newsletter Bulletin Board.”
Evaluation
(Top)
The students’ newsletter will be evaluated using the Newsletter
Rubric.
The
start of the adventure west was truly an exciting time.
Families anxiously gathered, checking their supplies, listening to
advice, and reading newspapers. The
newspapers were an influence in the lives of the pioneers.
The student, through their editorials, articles and advertisements, realizes how influential newspapers were and are.