California or Bust:
Write a Letter Home
A 4th Grade WebQuest
by Tina
Gonzales
| Introduction | Task | Process | Resources | Evaluation | Conclusion |
Patty Reed's Doll tells the story of the Donner Party, a group of pioneers who made a wrong decision to follow an untried cutoff as they journeyed to California.
During their journey, families found sign boards or wooden barrels with messages left by the travelers. Mail was then carried back by people traveling in the opposite direction. From these letters, people back home were able to find out how the pioneers were doing on their journey to the West.
After stepping inside the "4th Grade Time Machine", you have traveled back to the mid-1800s where you are now a pioneer child. The question that your friends back home want to know? What's life like on the trail to California!
With a partner, you will be writing a letter to your friends in your former hometown telling of the sights and experiences along the way. With the links provided, you will be researching the different aspects of pioneer life.
After a rough draft of your letter is written, you will write a final draft of it onto specially parched paper that the Wagon Master (your teacher) has prepared. You and your partner will then read your letter to the class and hang it up on the "California or Bust" bulletin board.
1. With a partner, you will first need to decide who will be the Writer and who will be the Oral Presenter.
2. Next, you and your partner will visit the websites provided. At these sites, you will gather information about the various aspects of pioneer life (hardships, types of chores, etc).
3. After you have visited the websites, brainstorm the scene, situation, and other elements that will influence your letter. Click on the Brainstorm Checklist. This checklist will help ensure that your group covers all of the necessary areas of the letter. You WILL be graded on this checklist.
4. After you have gathered ideas for your letter, the Writer will begin constructing a rough draft. Before writing the letter, though, make sure your group reviews the elements of a friendly letter (greeting, body, salutation). *Note: Both group members are responsible for the punctuation, grammar and details that are going into the letter! The writer is only responsible for WRITING the letter!
5. You and your partner will now proof-read the letter. After you have made sure that there are no mistakes (grammatical or spelling errors), the Writer will write a final draft on the specially parched paper that the Wagon Master has provided.
6. Finally, the Oral Presenter will read your group's letter to the class. Afterwards, you will hang the letter on the "California or Bust" bulletin board
Resources
Surviving the Journey: Food & Livestock
Chores of the Pioneer Children
Evaluation
Your teacher will be grading your group in three areas: The Brainstorm Checklist, your letter and your oral presentation. Click on the Rubric Evaluation to see how each area will be scored.
Conclusion
After completing this WebQuest, you should understand that the life of pioneers on the trail was very rough. Harsh weather, lack of food, numerous diseases, dying animals and broken wagons are just some of the challenges that the men, women and children of this time period encountered. Without their sacrifices, though, the rich history of California would not exist.