Los Angeles Unified School District

Elementary History-Social Science

5th Grade Model Lesson II

Part I: Why Do People Move?

Part II: What Can We Infer about Life on the Trail by

Looking at Pictures?

Part III: What Can We Learn from Reading the Journals

of the Emigrants?

People migrate for many reasons and will endure many

hardships for a better life.

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 Los Angeles Unified School District
Elementary History-Social Science
Fifth Grade Model Lesson II-Part 1

Why Do People Move?

MAIN STANDARD
5.8 Students trace the colonization, immigration, and settlement patterns of the American people
from 1789 to the mid-1800s, with emphasis on the role of economic incentives, effects of the
physical and political geography, and transportation systems.

FOCUS STANDARD
5.8.4 Discuss the experiences of settlers on the overland trails to the West (e.g., location of the
routes; purpose of the journeys; the influence of the terrain, rivers, vegetation, and climate;
life in the territories at the end of these trails).

Historical and Social Sciences Analysis Skills

™ Students explain how the present is connected to the past, identifying both similarities and
differences between the two, and how some things change over time and some things stay the
same.
™ Students pose relevant questions about events they encounter in historical documents, eyewitness
accounts, oral histories, letters, diaries, artifacts, photographs, maps, artworks, and architecture.
™ Students identify the human and physical characteristics of the places they are studying and
explain how those features form the unique character of those places.

Preparing for the Lesson

The following attachments should be duplicated as indicated:

A. Emigrant Identity Strips: One for every three students
B. Emigrant Identity Writing Guide: One per student as needed
C. Meet the Emigrants Chart: One per student

Additional Materials
Chart paper for teacher to make Circle Map (Thinking Maps®) and T-chart
Markers for students and teacher
Sentence strip for teacher
8½ x 11 paper for each student

Model Lesson

BIG IDEA
People migrate for many reasons and will endure many hardships for a better life.

Objectives:
™ Students will connect their reasons and feelings about moving to a new home with
those of the American pioneers living from 1789-mid 1800s.
™ Students will identify the migration push/pull factors.

Time Allotment: Two days

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 Los Angeles Unified School District
Elementary History-Social Science
Procedures
Activities Materials/Notes
Day One
Note: Access strategies for diverse
learners such as English Learners,
Preview[ALD] Standard English Learners, and Students
Preview the following vocabulary with diverse learners With Disabilities are marked with the
prior to teaching the lesson. This might be done in a initials of the strategy being used.
small group during Independent Work Time (IWT) using A list of these strategies, along with
English Language Arts (ELA) or English Language their definitions, can be found in the
Development (ELD) vocabulary strategies. Definitions Instructional Guide, Section IV: Lesson
for these words can be found in #3 of Day One and Day Planning Tools.
Two of this lesson.
migrate emigrant immigrant

1. Ask the whole class, “How many of you have ever

lived somewhere else?” Tell the students that they
will be doing a Think-Pair-Share.
Say, “With the person sitting next to you, think of a
time that you or someone you know moved to a new
home. Describe how you or that person felt before,
during, and after the move to the new home.”

2. Using the chart paper, prepare a large Circle Map A Circle Map is a type of Thinking
with the question, “Why would people want to Map.®
move to Los Angeles (or the school’s
neighborhood, such as Granada Hills)?”[AGO] Materials: Chart paper for Circle Map,
Place the Circle Map in the front of the room.[VT] markers

3. Ask the students, “Why would people want to move

to Los Angeles?” Record all reasons on the Circle
Map. Leave the Circle Map up to reference later
in this lesson (#5).

™ Tell students that a synonym for move is

migrate. Some people migrate to a new
location because of all of its positive qualities
(e.g., climate, jobs). These are PULL factors.
Some people migrate to a new location because
there is a problem at their old home (e.g., a
natural disaster such as a hurricane). These are
PUSH factors.[ALD]

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 Los Angeles Unified School District
Elementary History-Social Science
Activities Materials/Notes

4. Write NEW LOCATION on the board in front of

the class. Ask all students to stand up. Say, “I am
going to give you some reasons to migrate. If the
reason is a push, put one hand behind your back
and go forward two steps toward New Location. If
the reason is a pull, put your arms straight ahead
and go forward two steps as if being pulled toward
New Location.” Choose six from the following Pull
and Push situations:[TPR]

Pull
ÙSun shines all the time
ÙLots of job openings
ÙGold has been discovered there
ÙNo sales tax
ÙOthers who are like you live there
ÙBigger homes that cost less money for sale there

Push
ÙHurricane at home
ÙWar at home
ÙMad cow disease at home
ÙMajor factory closed down and there are no jobs
at home
ÙCrops failed and you are a farmer
ÙToo crowded at home
ÙYou are picked on where you live because of
your race, religion or nationality
ÙHouses are not available or too expensive
where you live
ÙToo much crime where you live

5. Using chart paper, create a T-chart with the Materials: Chart paper for T-chart,
categories Push and Pull.[GrO] Ask students to look markers
at the Circle Map they created about Los Angeles
(or their region of Los Angeles) and decide whether
each reason is a Push or a Pull. The teacher writes
each reason on the T-Chart under the category that
is the best fit. Have a few of the students share out
their responses. Write their responses on the T-
chart at the front of the class and ask if they have
any more they want to add.

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 Los Angeles Unified School District
Elementary History-Social Science
Activities Materials/Notes

Homework: Caution: Some students and their

Say, “Family members often have an interesting families may not want details of a
story/memory about a time they migrated to a new family move shared with a teacher or
home.” Brainstorm questions together as a class with the class. Be sensitive to this and
do not require this assignment for a
that an interviewer might ask a family member.[MC] student who is hesitant to give any
Examples:[CR] information. Instead ask the student to
™ Why did you move? tell how it felt to move to another grade
™ How old were you when you moved? this year and have them relate that
™ How did you feel about moving? experience of moving.
™ What was the actual move like?

Ask the students to interview a family member and

write the answers in complete sentences with
details. Students should keep this assignment as
part of their history folders or journals for future
parts of this lesson.

Day Two

1. Ask each student to share with a partner the

reasons (push and pull) that student’s family
members have moved. This information was part
of the homework assignment.

2. Tell the students that they will now be learning

about emigrants, or people who moved from their
country, during the time period from1789-1850s.
These people were also known as pioneers.

3. Define the words emigrant and immigrant with

the students.[ALD]
™ An emigrant is someone who moved away or Note: Post vocabulary where it can be
left his/her country. Most pioneers were seen by all students
leaving what was then the United States to go
to a new territory. Refer to the states in the
Eastern part of the U.S. on a map and then
show the students Oregon, California, Utah,
and Oklahoma.
™ An immigrant is someone who comes into a
new country from another country. (In is a
mnemonic device to help students remember
that immigrants come into another
country.)[MnD]

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 Los Angeles Unified School District
Elementary History-Social Science
Activities Materials/Notes

4. Place students into triads.[CL] Give each triad an Attachment A: Emigrant Identity
Emigrant Identity Strip and an 8½ x 11 piece of Strip
paper. Each group is to read their strip and decide Materials: 8½ x 11 piece of paper
the push and pull factors. Then each group is to
make a chart with the identity and the push and pull
written on it in large letters. Use the
communication guide called the Emigrant Attachment B: Emigrant Identity
Identity Writing Guide for students who need Writing Guide
additional support.[ScF]

5. After ten minutes have each triad share information

with the whole class.

™ Person 1 will tell about the emigrant.

™ Person 2 will describe the push factors.
™ Person 3 will relate the pull factors.

Post the charts on a bulletin board under a sentence Materials: Sentence Strip
strip that asks, “Why Did the Emigrants Move
West?”

6. Students in the audience will fill in the Meet the Attachment C: Meet the Emigrants
Emigrants chart after each triad has finished Chart
speaking.[ScF]

7. Debrief: Ask students as a whole class to

determine a one sentence conclusion from what they
studied in today’s activity. For example, people
move or migrate for many reasons. Add this
conclusion to the bulletin board.

Optional Assignment: Hand out a piece of white, Materials: 8 ½ x 11white drawing

8½ x 11drawing paper. Have the students fold the paper
paper in half. Ask the students to draw a place they
want to live when they grow up and tell them that
money is not an obstacle. Students give one push
and one pull for the location that they choose.
Create your own model of the assignment in front of
the class.[TM] After the students are done have them
share their new location with a partner.

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 Los Angeles Unified School District
Elementary History-Social Science
Emigrant Identity Strips Page 1 of 2

I am a Mormon from Illinois. We have trouble with people attacking us

because our religious beliefs are different from theirs. We are going
West to Utah to worship freely in peace.

I am a slave from Kentucky. I am escaping to Oregon where slavery is

against the law. There I will be free.

I am a Cherokee. The soldiers are forcing us to leave our Indian lands

and go West.

My family farms the land in Kansas. We have had very little rain and
lots of winds, so most of our crops have died. We have heard there is
plenty of land in Oregon.

I am an American Indian living on the plains. Many from our tribe, the
Lakota, are moving north to the Black Hills because so many wagons are
ruining our hunting grounds and scaring away our buffalo. We must
move or stay and fight for our survival.

VI-7 Attachment A
 Los Angeles Unified School District
Elementary History-Social Science Page 2 of 2

I am a trapper. I have gone West looking for adventure and to make

money by trapping the beaver for its furs.

We are missionaries. We are going West so we can teach the Indians

about the Bible and how to become Christians.

I am a potato farmer from Ireland. I moved to America because our

potato crop was diseased. Since we depended on the potato to eat and to
sell, we were left with no money and nothing to eat. I hope to find a job
in my new home.

We are a family from Mexico. Papa gets paid very little money in
Mexico and we do not own our own farm. We are moving to California
to dig for gold. With the money from gold we will be able to buy land
of our own.

We are a family from Boston. Many people are getting sick with a
disease called cholera; some are even dying. We want to move West so
we will have better health.

VI- 8 Attachment A
 Los Angeles Unified School District
Elementary History-Social Science

Emigrant Identity Writing Guide

My emigrant was a:

__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

The push factors were:

__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

The pull factors were:

_________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________

VI-9 Attachment B
 Los Angeles Unified School District
Elementary History-Social Science

Meet the Emigrants Chart

Who Push Pull

VI-10 Attachment C
 Los Angeles Unified School District
Elementary History-Social Science
Fifth Grade Model Lesson II-Part 2
What Can We Infer from Looking at Pictures about Life on the
Trail?
MAIN STANDARD
5.8 Students trace the colonization, immigration, and settlement patterns of the American people
from 1789 to the mid-1800s, with emphasis on the role of economic incentives, effects of the
physical and political geography, and transportation systems.
FOCUS STANDARD
5.8.4 Discuss the experiences of settlers on the overland trails to the West (e.g., location of
routes; purpose of the journeys; the influence of the terrain, rivers, vegetation, and
climate; life in the territories at the end of the trail).

Historical and Social Sciences Analysis Skills

™ Students explain how the present is connected to the past, identifying both similarities and
differences between the two, and how some things change over time and some things stay the
same.
™ Students pose relevant questions about events they encounter in historical documents, eyewitness
accounts, oral histories, letters, diaries, artifacts, photographs, maps, artworks, and architecture.
™ Students identify the human and physical characteristics of the places they are studying and
explain how those features form the unique character of those places.
™ Students identify and interpret the multiple causes and effects of historical events.

Preparing for the Lesson

The following attachments should be duplicated as indicated:

A. Picture Analysis sheet: One for each student
B. Circle Map (Thinking Maps®): What Was it Like to Move West?: One for each student
C. Pictures from the time period C1-C6: Enough for every two students to share a copy of one of
the six pictures

Additional Materials
Hand lenses (can be found in 5th grade FOSS Mixtures and Solutions Kit): One for every student
or pair of students
8½ x11 sheet of construction paper: One for each student
Chart paper and markers for teacher
Drawing paper for extension activity

Model Lesson

BIG IDEA
People migrate for many reasons and will endure many hardships for a better life.
Objectives:
™ Students will analyze primary sources to infer information about the emigrants’
experiences on the overland trails.
™ Students will learn to analyze primary sources.

Time Allotment: One day

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 Los Angeles Unified School District
Elementary History-Social Science
Procedures
Activities Materials/Notes

Preview[ALD] Note: Access strategies for

Preview the following vocabulary with diverse learners diverse learners such as English
prior to teaching the lesson. This might be done in a Learners, Standard English
small group during Independent Work Time (IWT) using Learners, and Student with
Disabilities are marked with the
English Language Arts (ELA) or English Language initials of the strategy being
Development (ELD) vocabulary strategies. used. A list of these strategies,
along with their definitions, can
terrain climate vegetation be found in the Instructional
Guide, Section IV: Lesson
Planning Tools.

Say to the students, “We looked at the people who Directions for Picture Curtain
emigrated and the reasons they moved. Now we will 1. Fold an 8 ½ x 11 sheet of
construction paper, first by
look at pictures to draw conclusions about the traveling
length and then by width.
conditions and problems the emigrants might have
There should be four parts.
encountered.”[VT]
2. Cut out one of the parts so
that only three parts of the
1. Ask student to review their family interviews paper remain. (Model this
from Part I. Have them use Think-Pair-Share for the students.)
strategy to talk with a partner about what his/her
person’s move was like. Tell students to
describe any problems that the person who moved
had. Each partner should have three minutes to
share his/her move.

2. Ask three people to share their family’s moving

experiences with the whole class.[MC] Note: Some teachers suggested
making the picture curtain ahead
3. Tell the class, “By looking at some pictures, we to save instructional time.
are going to discover the problems that the
pioneers faced on the overland trails long, long
ago.”
Attachment A: Picture
4. Each student will need to make a picture curtain. Analysis Sheet
(See directions in second column.)
Note: There are six different
pictures available. Pass out the
5. Give each pair of student the same picture to
picture to pairs of student so that
share and each student their own Picture Analysis the pictures are mixed
sheet. Distribute hand lenses. throughout the classroom. This
allows students to share
6. Have students place the picture curtain over the discoveries with each other as
picture so that only part of the picture is showing. they work.
Model this action for the students.[TM]

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 Los Angeles Unified School District
Elementary History-Social Science
Activities Materials/Notes

7. Ask students to fill in each section of the Picture Materials: Hand lenses (if
Analysis Sheet looking at one part of the picture available)
only. Students may use hand lenses to examine
an image closely. Model this action for the
students.[TM] Encourage student pairs to discuss
together what they see or think they see in their
picture.

8. Have students repeat procedure for each part of Note: See the OCR teacher’s
their picture. Then have them remove the curtain guide appendix for OCR
and look at the picture in its entirety. Students Handing Off procedures.
should continue to add to the Picture Analysis
Note: Students will need to
Sheet as they uncover different sections of the draw conclusions and make
picture and, finally, the whole picture. Model inferences from what they see.
this action for the students.[TM] For example, seeing a mountain
might cause students to conclude
9. Conduct a class discussion using Open Court that there is a potential problem
Reading Handing Off techniques.[QT] Review the in getting over the mountain with
questions found on the Picture Analysis Sheet as a loaded wagon, or in crossing
part of the discussion. the mountain when there is
snow.
10. Ask the whole group, “From studying these
pictures, what problems do you think the pioneers
might have had on their trip? Use evidence from
the picture to support your answer.”

Students will use the “What Was it Like to Move

West?” Circle Map [AGO] to record problems. At Attachment B: “What Was It
the same time, the teacher will record problems on Like to Move West?” Circle
a class Circle Map at the front of the room. More Map
will be added to this Circle Map in future parts
of the model lesson. Note: Circle Maps are a type of
Thinking Map.®
11. Optional
Give students drawing paper and let them create Materials: Drawing paper
their own pictures that show an emigrant and a
problem that could have happened as they moved. Note: Teachers have suggested
This can also be done as a homework assignment. that the pictures be placed in a
center so students may
investigate those they didn’t get
to see during the class activity.

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 Los Angeles Unified School District
Elementary History-Social Science

Picture Analysis Sheet

What people, objects, or animals do Describe the surrounding area.
you see?

What are the people or animals Why do you think this picture was
doing? made?

What is the time period? How do you What do you wonder when you look
know? at this picture?

VI-14 Attachment A
 Los Angeles Unified School District
Elementary History-Social Science

What Was it Like to Move West?

Circle Map

Problems on the
overland trail

VI-15 Attachment B
 Los Angeles Unified School District
Elementary History-Social Science

Library of Congress, LC-USZ62-1481 VI-16 Attachment C1

 Elementary History-Social Science
Los Angeles Unified School District
VI-17
Attachment C2

Courtesy of the Bancroft Library; University of California, Berkeley: BANC PIC 1963.002:0742-C
 Los Angeles Unified School District
Elementary History-Social Science
VI-18
Attachment C3

Courtesy of The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley: BANC PIC 1963.002:0307-A
 Los Angeles Unified School District
Elementary History-Social Science
VI-19
Attachment C4

Courtesy of The Bancroft Library; University of California, Berkeley: BANC PIC 1963.02:0741-D
 Los Angeles Unified School District
Elementary History-Social Science
VI-20
Attachment C5

Courtesy of The Bancroft Library; University of California, Berkeley: BANC PIC 1963.002:1446-FR
 Elementary History-Social Science
Los Angeles Unified School District
VI-21
Attachment C6

Courtesy of the Bancroft Library; University of California, Berkeley: BANC PIC 1963.002: 1530-D
 Los Angeles Unified School District
Elementary History-Social Science

Fifth Grade Model Lesson II-Part 3

What Can We Learn from Reading the Journals of the

Emigrants?
MAIN STANDARD
5.8 Students trace the colonization, immigration, and settlement patterns of the American people
from 1789 to the mid-1800s, with emphasis on the role of economic incentives, effects of the
physical and political geography, and transportation systems.

FOCUS STANDARD
5.8.4 Discuss the experiences of settlers on the overland trails to the West (e.g., location of the
routes; purpose of the journeys, the influence of the terrain, rivers, vegetation, and climate;
life in the territories at the end of these trails).

Historical and Social Sciences Analysis Skills

™ Students explain how the present is connected to the past, identifying both similarities and
differences between the two, and how some things change over time and some things stay the
same.
™ Students pose relevant questions about events they encounter in historical documents, eyewitness
accounts, oral histories, letters, diaries, artifacts, photographs, maps, artworks, and architecture.
™ Students identify the physical and human characteristics of the places they are studying and
explain how those features form the unique character of those places.
™ Students identify and interpret the multiple causes and effects of historical events.

Preparing for the Lesson

The following attachments should be duplicated as indicated:

A. Eight primary source journal entries, A1-A8: Class will be divided into 8 groups; every group
will need a copy of its journal entry for each member
B. Assessment Criteria for a Journal Entry: One per student
C. Journal Entry Rubric: One per student
D. Story Guide for the Journal Entry: One per student

Additional Materials
Teacher and student Circle Maps (Thinking Maps®) from Model Lesson II, Part 2
Highlighters, colored pencils, crayons

Model Lesson

BIG IDEA
People migrate for many reasons and will endure many hardships for a better life.
Objectives
™ Students will analyze primary sources to infer information about the emigrants’ experiences on
the overland trails.
™ Students will learn to analyze primary sources.

Time Allotment: One day

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 Los Angeles Unified School District
Elementary History-Social Science
Procedures
Activities Materials/Notes

1. Teacher begins by telling the class about his/her Note: Access strategies for diverse
own trip to school.[TM] Then ask students to learners such as English Learners,
quickwrite their trip this morning from home to school. Standard English Learners, and
Students With Disabilities are
Give them only 5 minutes to complete the quickwrite.
marked with the initials of the
strategy being used.
2. Ask students to share their quickwrites with their table A list of these strategies, along with
partners. their definitions, can be found in the
Instructional Guide, Section IV,
3. Explain to the students that many emigrants kept a Lesson Planning Tools.
journal or diary of their daily lives on the overland trail
and that is how we know today what their lives were Note: A quickwrite is an informal
like. Ask students:[GQ] writing exercise in which students
quickly write down their thoughts
• What can we learn from reading the journals of the and ideas on a topic.
emigrants?
• Will everyone’s journal be the same? Why or why
not?
• What problems might a historian have with reading
someone’s journal?
• Do you think a journal is an accurate view of history?

4. Divide the students into eight heterogeneous groups.[CL] Attachments A1-A8: Primary
source journal entries
Give each student in the group the same journal entry.
Each student will need a highlighter, colored pencil, or Materials: Highlighters, colored
crayon to highlight or underline evidence of problems in pencils, crayons
the journal entry and discuss in pairs.
Note: Journal entries appear with
5. Ask each group to share out the problems that they the original vocabulary, spelling,
found. Add these problems to the large class Circle and grammar used by the emigrant.
Map from Part II of this lesson, using a different color
marker than used before. After the Circle Map is Materials: Class Circle Map from
completed, ask the following questions: Part II: What Was It Like to Move
West?
• Were any of these problems caused by the terrain?
Circle these problems on the Circle Map with a
brown marker.

• Were any of these problems caused by the climate?

Circle these problems on the Circle Map with an
orange marker.

• Were any of these problems caused by the

vegetation? Circle these problems on the Circle
Map with a purple marker.

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 Los Angeles Unified School District
Elementary History-Social Science
Activities Materials/Notes

• Were any of these problems caused by the rivers?

Circle these problems on the Circle Map with a blue
marker.

• Were any of these problems caused by other

conditions or circumstances? Circle these problems
on the Circle Map with a black marker.

6. Ask students to write a journal entry as if written by a Attachment B: Assessment

settler on an overland trail. Before beginning the entry, Criteria for a Journal Entry
each student will create a biographical section giving
the reader some background on the journalist Attachment C: Journal Entry
(emigrant). Have students refer to the Assessment Rubric
Criteria for a Journal Entry. A rubric is included if the
Note: Entries need to be as
journal entry is to be used as an assessment piece. authentic as possible and not have
details from the twenty-first century.
Extension: Students write a final copy of their journal Students may refer to the Circle
entry on light brown paper or parchment with black ink. Map for problems.
After writing, students may rip the edges and crumple
the paper to make it appear old. Attachment D: Story Guide for
the Journal Entry: This
7. Lead a classroom discussion using OCR Handing-Off communication guide is available
techniques. The goal of this discussion is to make for students who might need the
the connection between migrations past and present.[GQ] additional support to create their
Ask: journal entries.[ScF]

• How are the experiences and reasons that the

pioneers moved similar to the experiences and
reasons that people move today?”

• Was migration harder then or now? Support your

opinion.

• The Declaration of Independence says that all

people have the rights to life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness (to own property). How can
migrating help people achieve these rights?”

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 Los Angeles Unified School District
Elementary History-Social Science

Biography: Kate Dunlap lived from 1837-1901. Kate journeyed from Lee, Iowa
to Montana with her husband in 1864. She was 27 years old. While traveling,
she helped the other emigrants by cooking and doing the laundry. When she
settled into her new home, she was a school teacher and nurse.

June 13, 1864

…..As night approached, a black storm
cloud rose in the western horizon. We
had never yet met with one of these
storms which so often occur on the
Platte. But now, the sky is suddenly
being overcast and there is hurrying to
get into camp. We drove our wagons in
a semicircle on the bank of the Platte,
the end of our wagon being but a few
feet from the water’s edge. Now, all
hands are unhitching while the rain
begins to pour down…. The lightening
flashes in rapid succession, and the roar
of thunder is like distant artillery…. No
cooking to night, for the first time since
we started we have to take a cold
supper, but we are much better off than
our poor horses. It will be a hard night
on them.

Dunlap, Kate. Overland journey from Lee, Iowa to Montana, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young
Univ., Vault MSS 49. 1 v (112 p.)
VI-25 Attachment A1
 Los Angeles Unified School District
Elementary History-Social Science

Biography: Lucia Eugenia Lamb Everett lived from 1840-1918. She was 21
years old when she wrote this diary. This diary tells about her journey across
the plains with her new husband in 1862.

June 21, 1862

A clear fine morning, after the frightful
storms of wind and rain last night….
We again found plenty of sand this
morning; Very hard drawing. Traveled
through sand and dust, until four
o’clock; when we came to Deep Mud
creek, which was rightly named, for
most of the teams had hard work to get
through, and our spike team got
completely set,* but by the aid of
another span we gained the other side
in safety, where we pitched our tents for
the Sabbath.

June 23, 1862

…arose early, this morning, and sat out
on an Antelope hunt, but as usual, were
unsuccessful, as the Antelope are very
shy.
* Stuck in the mud.
Everett, Lucia Eugenia Lamb. Diary of journey across the plains in horse-drawn wagon: Marriott Library,
Univ. of Utah, MSS 583. 1 v (56 p.)
VI-26 Attachment A2
 Los Angeles Unified School District
Elementary History Social Science

Biography: Lucia Eugenia Lamb Everett lived from 1840-1918. She was 21
years old when she wrote this diary. This diary tells about her journey across the
plains with her new husband in 1862.

June 24, 1862

The greater part of our travels today

has been over very hard sand hills. It
seemed some times as though the horses
would fall under their load in spite of all
we could do. All walked the most of the
time, As the teams were very tired,
after traveling 15 miles we camped on
Small creek…. The water was very soft
and nice but had a slight sulfury taste.
In passing over the hills in the morning
Old Kit naturally a little balky, and
being somewhat tired refused to go, and
in trying to force her they broke the
buggy…. They have been thinking for
sometime of leaving it on the road side,
as we have enough without it to carry
all our load…so tonight they are tearing
it in pieces and using the most of it for
firewood.
Everett, Lucia Eugenia Lamb. Diary of journey across the plains in horse-drawn wagon: Marriott Library,
Univ. of Utah, MSS 583. 1 v. (56 p.)
VI-27 Attachment A3
 Los Angeles Unified School District
Elementary History-Social Science

Biography: Lucia Eugenia Lamb Everett lived from 1840-1918. She was 21
years old when she wrote this diary. This diary tells about her journey across the
plains with her new husband in 1862.

July 2, 1862

…Our roads this forenoon have been

good only very dusty. Was obliged to
leave the main road and strike for the
Platte to get water for the teams; but as
dry as they were, could hardly persuade
them to stand still long enough to drink
as the muskitoes came upon them as
though they would devour them: Passed
more Indians, also a village of 22
wigwams. All seemed happy and
contented. A few miles from here we
came to the first Cobblestone bluffs that
we have seen for a long time; here we
sought shelter for ourselves, and horses,
from a driving rain.

Everett, Lucia Eugenia Lamb. Diary of journey across the plains in horse-drawn wagon: Marriott Library,
Univ. of Utah, MSS 583. 1 v. (56 p.)
VI-28 Attachment A4
 Los Angeles Unified School District
Elementary History-Social Science

Biography: Kate Dunlap lived from 1837-1901. Kate journeyed from Lee, Iowa
to Montana with her husband in 1864. She was 27 years old. While traveling
she helped the other emigrants by cooking and doing the laundry. When she
settled in her new home she was a school teacher and nurse.

July 8, 1864
…There is now considerable sickness
among the emigrants. The
mountain fever is quite common
and often the sufferer becomes crazy
and wanders off among the
mountains and gets lost.
July 22, 1864
…Broke camp this morning…Passed
over five miles of the roughest road I
ever saw, then sand, travelled on till
3 o’clock, -- arrived at a small
stream of water and found grass.
Camped for the night there being no
more grass for 18 miles. Some of the
party are getting home sick and are
proposing to turn back. Our sick
men are better. Made 13 miles.

Dunlap, Kate. Overland journey from Lee, Iowa to Montana, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young
Univ., Vault MSS 49. 1 v. (112 p.)
VI-29 Attachment A5
 Los Angeles Unified School District
Elementary History-Social Science

Biography: Stillman Churchill traveled from Lowell, Massachusetts to Deer

Creek, Wyoming, and then on to California in 1849. He traveled with the
Sagamore and California Mining and Trading Company. He was 25 when he
made the trip. He later went back East to New Hampshire and worked in a
woolen mill and furniture shop. He lived from 1823-1899.

August 13, 1849

Weather fair. Left camp ground

¼ before 7 and traveled 1 ½ miles
to hot springs. The springs
however are cold and water very
poor. We traveled 6 ½ miles from
the spring and camped for the
day. The distance on the bottom
from spring to our camp is very
poor and no grass there…. I also
purchased a large red poney of a
Shawnee Indian for a rifle worth
11 dollars + a red flannel shirt
worth $1.25 making $12.25. A
very large and good poney.
Churchill, Stillman. Overland journey from Lowell, Mass. to Wyoming: Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham
Young Univ., V MSS 663.2 v. (ca. 100 p.)
VI-30 Attachment A6
 Los Angeles Unified School District
Elementary History-Social Science

Biography: Gordon Cone traveled West from Waukesha, Wisconsin to California

in 1849. He was 41 years old. He was a miner who hoped to strike it rich in the
California Gold Rush. He eventually went to New York.

August 30, 1849

The weather continues cold during

the night, and is very warm through
the day –-Thermometer at sunrise
this morning was 180 and ice one
fourth of an inch thick in our water
pails, and at one o’clock P.M. as high
as 850 . Last night I was on guard
with our cattle and found it very
uncomfortable on account of the
cold --Our course is along this valley
which is skirted by fine broad plains
and grass land, with water of first
quality-- …Our camp to night is in a
valley of good grass, and plenty of
water.
Cone, Gordon C. Overland journey by ox team from Waukesha, Wisc. To Calif.: Harold B. Lee Library,
Brigham Young Univ., Vault MSS 661. 1 item (215 pages)

VI-31 Attachment A7
 Los Angeles Unified School District
Elementary History Social Science

Biography: Gordon Cone traveled West from Waukesha, Wisconsin to California

in 1849. He was 41 years old. He was a miner who hoped to strike it rich in the
California Gold Rush. He eventually went to New York.

September 23, 1849

We travelled all night and until
eight o’clock this morning. Some of
the cattle have given out and we are
fearful that we shall not be able to
get all our wagons acrost. We have
eighteen miles yet to go before we
find water, and water is what our
cattle are suffering for. The heat of
the sun is almost unendurable….. In
the distance of seven miles we
traveled this morning, we passed
twenty-six wagons that had been
abandoned by emigrants whose
teams had given out. …We shall
remain in camp until evening and
then move on, hoping to reach
“Salmon trout” river by tomorrow
morning.
Cone, Gordon C. Overland journey by ox team from Waukesha, Wisc. to Calif.: Harold B. Lee Library,
Brigham Young Univ., Vault MSS 661. 1 item (215 pages)
VI-32 Attachment A8
 Los Angeles Unified School District
Elementary History-Social Science

Assessment Criteria
for Journal Entry

1. Complete a short biography section before beginning your

journal entry. This section must have your emigrant’s name.
You must tell where he/she is from and where he/she is
going. You must also explain the push and pull for going
West.

2. Choose a date that is appropriate for the time period.

3. Choose a time of day (morning, noon, afternoon, dusk,

evening).

4. Choose and identify a problem for your emigrant to face on

the trip West. Use a problem from the class Circle Map.

5. Based on what you have learned, write a realistic journal

entry for your character describing the problem you have
chosen.

6. Use adjectives to carefully describe the event so the reader

can form a picture of what happened.

7. Be sure to express the thoughts and emotions of the person

who is telling the story.

8. Include details that would be historically correct for the time

period making your journal seem “real.”

9. Sign the journal entry with your emigrant’s name.

VI-33 Attachment B
 Los Angeles Unified School District
Elementary History-Social Science

Journal Entry Rubric

4 • Student has included an excellent biography section with all

realistic information.

• Student has included an appropriate date, time of day, and a

problem that could have happened.

• Student has used describing words and has expressed

thoughts and emotions.

• Student has shown historical accuracy throughout the journal.

• Student has used longer, more complex sentences with

additional details.

3 • Student has included a satisfactory biography section with all

realistic information.

• Student has included an appropriate date, time of day and a

problem that could have happened.

• Student has used describing words and has expressed

thoughts and emotions.

• Student has shown historical accuracy throughout the journal.

2 • Student’s journal entry is missing 1-2 parts of the stated

criteria or historical accuracy is lacking from the journal entry.

1 • Student’s journal entry is missing 3 or more parts of the

stated criteria and lacking in historical accuracy.

VI-34 Attachment C
 Los Angeles Unified School District
Elementary History-Social Science

Page 1 of 2

Story Guide for Journal Entry

Biography: My name is _________________ and we are

moving from _________________ to _______________.

We are moving because ___________________________

_______________________________________________.

________________
(Date)

It is _____________ on the overland trail. We are having

a problem today with _____________________________

_______________________________________________

because_________________________________________

_______________________________________________.

As I was _______________________________________,

I heard _________________________________________

_______________________________________________.

VI- 35 Attachment D
 Los Angeles Unified School District
Elementary History-Social Science

Page 2 of 2

Then I saw _____________________________________

_______________________________________________.

I began to ______________________________________

_______________________________________________.

Then __________________________________________

_______________________________________________.

Next __________________________________________

_______________________________________________

I feel __________________________________________

Finally, ________________________________________.

______________________________
Sign your emigrant’s name here.

VI- 36 Attachment D