1 / 32

Oregon Trail Diary

Travel back in time and create a facsimile diary as a historical fiction writer, detailing the challenging journey on the Oregon Trail. Integrate composition with Washington State History and research the preparations, routes, and experiences of migrating settlers. Develop a character with a rich background, motivations, and encounters along the trail to narrate a captivating story through diary entries.

pleasance
Download Presentation

Oregon Trail Diary

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Oregon Trail Diary

  2. Essential Questions • For what reasons do people migrate far from family and friends to foreign lands? • Why did more than 100,000 Americans move from the east to the west in the early 1800’s?

  3. Project Goals • The Oregon Trail Diary Project will help you answer these questions as you integrate composition with Washington State History. • You will create a facsimile diary using information from: “Looking West" in your Washington State history text, encyclopedias, primary source Oregon Trail diaries, and the Internet.

  4. Your Character • As a historical fiction writer, you will develop a character who might have actually made this difficult journey. • Decide what you heard about the Oregon Territory, and why you want to make this trip.

  5. More About Your Character • Your character will need a physical description, a family, religious beliefs, a personality, fears, dreams, a motive for making the trip, friends, favorite things, an occupation, and a home state.

  6. Your Research • Your research will also give you knowledge about: preparations made prior to the trip, realistic dates of travel, the route, geographical sites, possible dangers, making decisions, responding to emergencies, and establishing social organizations

  7. Diary Entries • 1. A title page with your real name and your character’s name, the date you took the trip and a vintage photograph of your character taken with the digital camera • 2. A brief biographical sketch about your character's life before the trip and the fate of your character after the trip. You may choose to write this on two pages as an prologue (before the trip) and a epilogue (after the trip)

  8. More on Diary Entries • 3. A map of your route and the six places, from which you wrote your monthly entries, • 4. Six diary entries (a minimum of three paragraphs each). A sketch for each entry. • 5. For additional credit, you may write a seventh diary entry.

  9. Planning the Trip

  10. Create a map of your route: • Give the dates of your journey • Explain why you chose your particular route • Draw a map • Mark and identify the locations of each diary entry • Include mountains, rivers,landforms • Use the map to plan your journey, determine how many miles you travel between each diary entry

  11. List your provisions: • Use the following topics to list the provisions needed for six months: food, clothing, furniture, tools, medicine, money, family heirlooms, books, camping equipment, animals, supplies for the animals, weapons

  12. More on Provisions • Separate the provisions you will bring from home and those you will purchase at the "Jumping Off” place.

  13. Leadership, Social Organization Explain in your first diary entry: • Why did you chose the particular route you took? • Who is your guide? • How large is your wagon train? • Do you have a plan for making group decisions along the way? • How will you plan for emergencies? • What kinds of experiences do you have for making this trip?

  14. The Diary • You will have six major diary entries, one for each month from April to September. Each diary entry needs a minimum of 3 paragraphs .

  15. Diary Format Each entry needs the month, day and year • The first paragraph will describe your present location, the weather, and tell how many miles you traveled that month • The second paragraph will describe a memorable event, a remarkable, site, a frightening event, a joyous or sad occasion, a situation or problem. • The third paragraph will include a hope for future days of the trip

  16. Diary Contents • April – Reflect on the home, family and friends you are leaving. Explain why you are moving? • May, June, July, and August – Describe your adventures • September- Describe life in your new home. Have you fulfilled your hopes and dreams?

  17. Develop A Character • Physical Description Name? Age? Looks? • Personality Dreams? Fears? Friends? Favorite things? Temperament? Motives for making the trip? • Background Education? Religion? Family? Occupation?

  18. More On Character Development • Character Development How does your character change? Describe your character’s growth from the beginning, to the middle and the end of the trip.

  19. Plot Outline

  20. Page Layouts- Title Page Title Page “Diary Of ________” (photo) Dates of birth and death Your Real Name Dates of birth and death Your Real Name

  21. Page Layouts- Introduction Introduction May be written as a letter. This is a biographical sketch of your character. It may be written as a prologue. Information includes your character’s life before the trip and his or her life after the trip up to his or her death

  22. Page Layouts- Map Map Includes route, camp sites, locations of mountains, rivers, unusual landforms

  23. Page Layouts-Provisions Provisions Includes written plans for provisions as well as lists organized by categories. You may include a picture of your packed wagon with provisions labeled.

  24. Page Layouts- Diary Entry #1 April Diary Entry #1 April Describe the life you are leaving. What are your motives for making this trip? Don’t forget to include 6 hand-drawn sketches, one for each entry.

  25. Page Layouts- Diary Entry #2 - #5 May to August Diary Entry #2 May Describe the route you have traveled - the sites, your adventures. How is your character growing and changing? Diary Entry #3 June Diary Entry #4 July Diary Entry #5 August

  26. Page Layouts- Diary Entry #6 September Diary Entry #6 September Describe life in your new home. Have you fulfilled your hopes and dreams? How have you changed? How has your life changed?

  27. Page Layouts- Diary Entry #7 October Diary Entry #7 October Extra credit diary entry. 

  28. Travelogue for Oregon Trail Diary__ Diary Entry Location Mileage From Jumping off Place Plot Diary Entry #1 April Diary Entry #2 May Diary Entry #3 June Diary Entry #4 July Diary Entry #5 August Diary Entry #6 September Travelogue

  29. Evaluation Evaluation Personal Reflection of Learning: Cover Page _______(10) Photo Character’s Name Character’s Birth and Death Your Name Required Data _______(20) Biographical Information/ Letter/ Prologue and Epilogue Map Provisions List

  30. Evaluation Written Diary with Six Entries and sketches _______(30) April, May, June, July, August, September Month, Day and Year on each entry Personal and Family Data Motives for Taking the Trip Organization of Wagon Train Leadership Miles Traveled Each Month Memorable Event Description of Sites Hopes for the future Character Growth

  31. Evaluation Works Cited _______(10) Conventions _______(20) Spelling, Grammar, Evidence of Revisions On Time _______(10) Research _______(100) Total _______(200) *Extra Credit _______(10)

  32. References Websites The Oregon Trail The West – The Oregon Trail Oregon Trail Diaries Across the Plains in ’64 Oregon Trail Diaries and Emigrant Biographies Library of Western Fur Trade Historical Source Documents Diaries, Narratives, and Letters of the Mountain Men Oregon Trail (Think quest) How to Speak 19th Century

More Related