THE WESTWARD MOVEMENT:
Its Effect on
Humanity
By Margaret Mannion
Activities
Introduction:
Every one of us comes from somewhere. Many of us will go somewhere else in our
lifetimes. We will bring some things to our new locations and we will discard some
things along the way. But everything we take and everyone we meet will influence us
one way or another. It is important to understand that migration has repercussions that
can reverberate beyond the physical act of moving. Choices are made along the way and
with every choice that is made there are consequences.
As we study this unit, THE WESTWARD MOVEMENT: Its Effect on Humanity, we
should be concentrating on feelings. We should put ourselves in the shoes of the
immigrants and the moccasins of the First Nations peoples. Most importantly, use our
imaginations. This project is designed for the inquiring minds, the thinkers, and the
enthusiastic!
Assign students to cooperative learning groups to brainstorm a journey of 3 months to
12 months length into unfamiliar territory. What might be encountered? What
necessities would be needed to sustain life? What preparation might be necessity with
regard to climatic changes that might be experienced? What could be the outcome of
encounters with the indigenous population? Each group will be expected to formulate at
least ten statements. (This brainstorming activity initiates the students’
connection with past learning and affords the teacher an opportunity to assess
preconceptions and/or stereotypical thinking on the part of the students.)
Key question: “Who's Land it is anyway?”
Essential Question: Could the clashes between the First Nations and the
immigrants have been avoided?
Evidence of understanding:
• Groups will prepare a list of everything need for a journey westward
giving particular attention to what they expect to see and the consequences of any
encounters.
• Groups will analyze photographic primary sources emanating from the
westward expansion. They will use the “observation/knowledge/interpretation”
graphic organizer. They will report back to the class as a whole.
• Students will write first person narratives from the points of view of
Native Americans and pioneers/immigrants. They should concentrate on the changes in
the lives of these groups in direct relation to the Westward Movement.
• Group presentations will be made. Students will have their choice of
tableaux, role-playing skits, musicals, interviews or Readers’ Theater. The topics
will include the changes in the daily lives of the various groups (Native Americans,
men/women pioneers, religious leaders, and entrepreneurs) as occasioned by the Westward
Movement.
• Students will be required to design and keep a scrapbook.
• Students will keep a journal.
• Journal: Keep a daily journal summarizing what was learned that day. Also
include a paragraph analyzing what was learned. Students will be evaluated on their
participation in class discussions and on their journals. A rubric will be used for the
journals and will be distributed to the students as the project commences. See student
handout, Rubric For Journals.
• Analyze photographic primary sources. Related resources are available in
Introduction to Native American Social Studies Curricula and
20 Handouts for Middle and High School History and Social
Studies. See student handout, Observation/Knowledge/Interpretation.
• Read journals, diaries, advertisements, and maps written during the
westward movement. After careful analysis, students will reach their own conclusions
regarding the situations posed by these items. Their conclusion will be kept in their
journals. Related resources are available in 20 Handouts
for Middle and High School History and Social Studies and a suggested reading is
Haines, Francis. “Problems of Indian Policy,” Pacific Northwest
Quarterly, July 1950.
• In some cases, students will be asked to role-play by ‘becoming’
the person who authored the primary source and solve any problem(s) the writer was
experiencing.
• As the unit moves forward, debates may be held if students recognize clear
and opposing points of view.
• Other forms of on-going assessment will include quizzes, tests, prompts,
work samples, observations, cooperative learning dialogues and student self-assessment.
When the unit is completed, students should have gained an appreciation of the problems
of both the immigrants and First Nations peoples as well as the complexity of opening
western lands to settlers. What happens to one in life depends, for the most part, on
the paths taken.
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