Adventure, Math, and Writing Animate History
Back in the mid-1800s, when the pioneers set off on the Oregon Trail from Missouri, it took about five months to make the grueling 2,000-mile expedition by covered wagon. And it was highly unlikely that family members back home would hear news of their exploits until they had made it safely to their intended destination (usually the fertile Willamette Valley).
This fall, thanks to modern technology and the combined efforts of dedicated teachers and alums, our third-grade students have (virtually) experienced the same journey over a period of just five weeks. And closer to home—in their classroom, in the campus woods, and in museums and historical sites around St. Louis—they have dug deeply into the emigrants’ experience, even practicing some of the skills needed for such an adventure.
In the process, the students are not only expanding their historical knowledge and understanding of the Westward Expansion but also strengthening their reading, writing (lots of writing!), and math skills.
To implement this highly interactive and experiential social studies unit, class teacher Heather Schierholz (C’96) is working closely with experiential education advisor Monnie Brodbeck (C’90), who has a daughter in third grade. Their aim is for students to gain a deep understanding of the environmental, economic, and other factors that affected the pioneer experience and to be exposed to some of the specific skills and knowledge the emigrants needed to survive the challenge.
The timing of this unit was fortuitous—as former Lower School teacher Lovis Brodbeck (US’53, C’57) and her husband Fred (US’52) were making a “trek” of their own, following the Oregon Trail as closely as possible in their own “wagon” (a camper they named Walden!). In early September, as the students learned about the purchase of lands in the west and the exploits of Lewis, Clark, and Sacagawea, they also met the Brodbecks before they set off on their trip. Each week, “wagon masters” Lovis and Fred sent the class lively e-mails, complete with photos, observations on travel now and then, and fascinating nuggets of history.
“You can be sure a lot of reading, writing, math, collaboration, discussion, cooperation, and more has been taking place in our classroom,” says class teacher Schierholz. The wide range of learning activities built into this unit is testament to that claim. The students have organized themselves into wagon teams (with creative names such as Wagon Wolves and Howling Coyotes), and developed individual family identities, choosing historically appropriate occupations and naming their children and animals. Now, that takes a lot of cooperation!
As for writing . . . After visits to places such as the Museum of Westward Expansion (at the Gateway Arch) and the Lewis and Clark Boathouse in St. Charles, students recorded their thoughts and observations in their journals. Now, they are working on journal entries that explain why their family is going West, how it feels to leave their home, and what they plan to do when they arrive. When graded, these entries will earn points for each wagon team.
In addition, before setting off on their trip, each family has to plan for purchasing supplies and calculate how much they could carry. “This aspect involves critical thinking since they were only allowed a certain total weight for their wagon,” says Schierholz
About two weeks ago, as the Brodbecks neared the end of the line in Oregon City, Monnie made full use of Principia’s “outdoor classroom” to organize a simulation of the Oregon Trail trip. Having learned how to use a compass for directions, the students found their way through Principia’s woods to specific stops, where they were asked historical questions and had to fill out an answer sheet. At the end of the trail, they faced challenges on the Principia ropes course and climbing wall that represented landmarks along the Oregon Trail. It took bravery, courage, and perseverance (just like the emigrants) to scale “Chimney Rock” (the climbing wall), traverse over the raging Columbia River (a high rope bridge), and walk the “Devil’s Backbone” (a high beam).
“This study integrated a range of subject matters, and children practiced academic skills . . . in a connected, hands-on, experiential way,” Monnie comments. “It brought their subjects to life, and they were using their skills effortlessly because the work they were doing had real purpose.”
Over the rest of the semester, the class will compare the journey of Lewis and Clark to that of the emigrants; learn about how the transcontinental railroad eventually replaced the wagon trail and the Pony Express (getting in some math calculations about time, distance, and speed); read Little House on the Prairie, comparing vocabulary and events in that classic to those of the Brodbecks’ journey; and work on a play about pioneer life. The plan is to build miniature wagons and end up with a “circling of the wagons” celebration, with games coordinated by PE teacher Jane Harrison (and a good ol’ fashioned feast of pork and beans!).