Life on Oregon Trail

by Gary L. Blackwood

The Oregon Trail held promise for thousands who moved west in search of land and freedom. Many found their dreams, while many perished or returned home in disappointment.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

111 pages, Library Binding

First published June 1, 1999

About the author

He grew up in rural Cochranton, Western Pennsylvania, where he attended school in a one room schoolhouse. He graduated with a B.A. in English from Grove City College in Pennsylvania. While a college student, Blackwood published his first short story, Cliffs of Gold, in Twelve/ Fifteen magazine.

He has sold dozens of stories to children's magazines, and has published thirty-five novels and nonfiction books for adults, young adults and middle readers.

Blackwood is also a widely produced playwright.

Reviews

[Mackenzie Pollock · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is great for teaching an Oregon trail unit, as well as teaching text structures and features.

[Renee Slawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I chose to put this book on my favorites shelf because it is a wonderfully descriptive book about the journey across the Oregon Trail. This book offers many aspects of what it was like to leave behind family members for a new life, to chose the most essential supplies they could to survive, the interactions with people they met along the way, and the sacrifices they endured. This book however, is not very colorful but it provides the reader with many black and white picture of maps, travelers and landscapes. This book would be best used in a intermediate classroom, such as in 4th grade when the Oregon Trail is a common subject to teach. Teachers can use this book for many purposes relating to the Oregon Trail Migration.

Genre: Non-Fiction/History

As a future elementary school teacher, I would love to have my students gain understanding of the Oregon Trail Migration from this book. I would have them choose any of the following ways to present the book to me, through book reports, classroom discussions, essay writings, art (maps etc.), and/or through a PowerPoint Presentation. I would divide the class into groups of four, have them focus on main events and then go from there, of course with further explanation. After doing a great amount of work on the assignments just listed, I would create a migration/dramatization throughout the school, making the journey fun and well planned out. During this dramatization, students would start out with a worksheet that asks them which supplies they would like to bring on their journey, with the little money they hypothetically have. From the supplies they chose, students will collect small sheets of papers (tickets) with the listed supplies, make the journey through the school as students and staff wait along the trail to take a ticket from them as they run out of food, break a wagon wheel, need medicine, and more. They will then reach the end of the trail and write about their journey in a journal, just as many of the travelers did when they migrated along the trail. Topics they will write about include information such as the supplies they lost, the help they needed and if they would have survived or not with the items that chose to bring.