Trails West!

Welcome to Trails West!


Are you ready to hit the trail?  Do you know the lay of the land, the route you will take, and what supplies and tools you'll need?  You will use this web site to explore the story of the West during the 1800s.

During this theme, you will design a project focused on the trails people made across the country and into the western territory.  You will study specific groups of people, tracking the story of their hopes, dreams, adventures, challenges, and life on the frontier.

The goals of this project are to understand:

  • what motivated people to expand the country and travel West;
  • the different perspectives and cultural backgrounds of the people who traveled and came to live out West;
  • how the land helped to shape the trails and the story of the West;
  • the lifestyle of people living in the West during the 1800s;
  • how inventions helped to expand the West and change the Western way of life; and
  • how stories and the arts captured this time period and even helped to get people excited about moving West.

You will work on this project 4 times a week in school.  You will work on this project 2 times a week for 30 minutes for homework.  You will use this Internet site.

If you do not have Internet access from home, you will have top priority on the computer each week during homework club and one recess per week.  You may also come to school early (7:45 a.m. to make it worthwhile).  You must sign up in advance with Cher for recess or early arrival.  During both these times you will be expected to get to work quickly and work independently.

Why did people move West?
It's called the push or pull.
Read here & find out!
Click the picture.

Click on this covered wagon to travel to a page that can help you with your project.

You will find some very cool sites here.