Lesson Plan

The Oregon Trail Lesson Plan: Bigs Edition

Read real trail diaries, run a trail-choice simulation, and weigh the cost of westward expansion.

This is the Bigs Edition of The Oregon Trail: one ready-to-teach week written just for grades 7-8. Every day follows the same rhythm: Reading on Monday, Writing and Words on Tuesday, Science and Math on Wednesday, a Hands-on Project on Thursday, and Show and Tell on Friday.

The big question: Was the Oregon Trail a story of opportunity, of loss, or of both, and who gets to tell it?

The Week

• Mon: Voices from the Trail (Reading) • Tue: Opportunity or Loss? (Writing & Words) • Wed: Trail-Choice Simulation (Science & Math) • Thu: Push, Pull and a Museum (Hands-on Project) • Fri: Trail Museum Opening (Show & Tell)

Teaching more than one level? The all-levels edition of The Oregon Trail has Littles (K-3), Middles (4-6) and Bigs (7-8) in one file, so siblings or a mixed classroom can study the same topic together.

Perfect for homeschool families, grade 7-8 classrooms, co-ops and substitute plans.

What's inside

• 5 ready-to-teach days for Bigs (grades 7-8), about 90 to 120 minutes a day
• Lab sheet: Trail-Choice Simulation
• Sequence cards (The Westward Era in Order) and a cut-and-sort page (Push or Pull?)
• Writing page: Opportunity or Loss?
• Hands-on project: Trail Museum Exhibit
• Word search, crossword, scramble and secret code puzzles
• 8 fact cards, 9 vocabulary cards and a book list of 4 titles
• A certificate and an answer key for the grown-up

Instant PDF download after checkout. Print at home.