Purpose:

The students will create a graphic organizer of items pioneers would have needed to take with them a pioneer trek. They will compare this list to the items they would want to take today.

Curriculum Connection:

Social Studies
Standard 1
Students demonstrate the sequence of change in Utah over time.
Objective 2
Trace the development of the state of Utah.
Identify the first settlers; e.g., Mormon pioneers, miners, laborers, entrepreneurs

Educational Technology
Standard 5
Use technology tools (e.g., multimedia authoring, presentation, web tools, digital cameras, scanners) for individual and collaborative writing, communication, and publishing activities to create knowledge products for audiences inside and outside the classroom.

Materials:

Computer for each student
Inspiration

Prerequisite Knowledge:

You may use this lesson to review information already learned about the pioneers or as an introductory lesson, so prerequisite knowledge may vary.

Procedure:

Have the students open Inspiration on their computers. (This program is located on the dock on all computers in Jordan School District computer labs.)

Once in the program, students will click on the “Diagram” button. A “Main Idea” bubble will automatically be on the screen. If the students do not click on anything, they can simply type their title, “Pioneer Packing List”, and it will automatically replace “Main Idea”. Have the students click in the white area to deselect their title bubble.

Next, have the students drag their title bubble to the top of their page. When they release their mouse they will notice that the bubble is selected, indicated by the white squares surrounding the bubble. While the title bubble is selected, have the students add a bubble using the “Create” button on the tool bar at the top of their document. As long as this bubble is selected, have the students type “Wants” as this bubble’s text. Then, have them click in the white area. They can click and drag their “Wants” bubble to the side to allow more room to build off this bubble.

With the “Wants” bubble selected, click on the “RapidFire” tool on the tool bar. A lightening bolt will appear in the bubble. Explain to the class that they must take a trip across the United States. The catch is they must take everything they want to have on the trip with them. They will not be able to stop to buy things along the way or after they have arrived at their destination. Have the students type everything they would want to take with them onto their computer. They need to type “Return” after every item they type. (The computer will automatically spit out bubbles with each item when they use the “RapidFire” tool.)

After about five minutes, have the students stop and share some of the things from their list. Then, change the scenario. Now tell them that they will not have a car or any other form of transportation to make their trip. They must walk to entire distance. Not only that, but everything they are going to take on this trip must either be carried or pushed in a cart. They will not have modern conveniences like electricity or cell phones. This should change their focus from things they want to take on their trip to things they need to take to even survive. What are the most important things – the necessities – to make this trip?

Have them click again on their “Pioneer Packing List” bubble. Use the “Create” tool to create another bubble going the opposite direction from the “Wants” bubble. With the new bubble selected, have the students type “Needs”. Click in the white area, the select the “Needs” bubble. Click on the “RapidFire” tool, and have the students start a new brainstorm of items based on their new scenario.

When students have finished their brainstorms, have them click in the white area toward the top of their page, then add a bubble (using the “Create” button or the choices on the “Symbols” tab) and type their name in it. Have them save their work (I have my students save to their own folder on the school folder.) and print.

To print: Select “Print” from the “File” menu at the top of the screen. Make sure the color printer is selected, then click “Print”.

Technology Tips:

You can add bubbles manually one at a time, but the RapidFire tool is much more fun and efficient.

Be sure you have clicked on a bubble and it is selected before trying to add bubbles to it or change its color, shape, etc.

If adding pictures, click on the bubble you want to change before clicking on the picture. Otherwise the picture will not actually replace the bubble and will not be attached to the words.

Adaptations:

You may use the template for the Pioneer Packing List instead of having the students create the main bubbles themselves. You could also adjust and only have one brainstorm list based on the pioneers instead of doing both the wants and the needs lists.

Extensions:

Students may change the color, shape, size, text, lines, etc. on their projects. They may also select pictures from the “Symbols” tab that go along with their brainstorm items.

This lesson plan is very basic. Add more class discussion, information about the pioneers, etc. to make it more interesting and informative. You could even do two lists – one based on you and one based on what the pioneers actually did. You could do your list at the start of your unit and the pioneer list after studying the pioneers.

Example Project 1

Example Project 2

Example Project 3

Download Lesson Plan

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