BEST Westward Ho Unit Study and Lapbook!

Your kids will love this huge free 97 page Westward Ho unit study and lapbook.

Picture: Albert Bierstadt’s  The Rocky Mountains Landers Peak  -1836– Permission by Mark Harden  – The Artchive

The first significant major wagon train of families moving West was in 1841 with just 32 people.

The eastern half of the trail was also used by travelers on the California Trail, Bozeman Trail, and Mormon Trail which used much of the same trail before turning off to their separate destinations.

Once the first transcontinental railroad by the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific was completed in 1869, the use of this trail by long distance travelers rapidly diminished as the railroad traffic replaced most need for it. By 1883 the Northern Pacific Railroad had reached Portland, Oregon, and most of the reason for the trail disappeared. Roads were built over or near most of the trail as local travelers traveled to cities originally established along the Oregon Trail.

Westward Ho! Unit Study and Lapbook {Time period we covered 1803 to 1890}

To complete the journey in one traveling season most travelers left in April to May—as soon as grass was growing enough to support their teams and the trails dried out.

The four- to six-month journey spanned over half the continent as the wagon trail led about 2,000 miles (3,200 km) west through territories and land that later became six U.S. states: Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho, and Oregon. Extensions of the Oregon Trail were the main arteries that fed settlers into six more states: Colorado, Utah, Nevada, California, Washington, and Montana.

Time period we covered: 1803 – 1890

It was hard for us to narrow down our topics of interest since this was our first study of this time period.

They all were so in depth and we just had to pick and choose so that we could get an overview of this  time period.

Since we covered this as a co-op we will post more minibooks on specific topics as we cover it again. 

We started this study with a look at the Louisiana Purchase and went until 1890 when the U.S. Census Bureau declared the west “settled”.

However, on our time line we started off with the date of birth of Daniel Boone and add in other significant dates like the birth of Tatankya Iyotake called by the whites Sitting Bull.

Free Westward Expansion Lapbook

 People like this  truly embody the spirit of the west and we feel like our study would not be complete in at least mentioning them on our time line.

To help you round out your topic for this unit, we have a separate unit for Lewis and Clark, Daniel Boone and Native Americans of the Plains.

The pioneers would have crossed paths with several Native Americans and the Plains Indians would have been one group.

More Westward Expansion Activities and Resources

Oregon Trail

This is one way to do the lapbook, there are more options toward the bottom.

Westward Expansion Timeline

Timeline minibook for key events for Westward Expansion.

timeline and pocket

Here is a picture of the Pony Express minibook pop up

About the Pony Express Minibook

Before 1860 the mail routes from the Eastern United States to California were not very reliable. There was not an official mail service like there is today. Mail went on ships to Panama and was carried across the tropical jungles and then reloaded on a west coast ship, taking about twenty two days. William H. Russell of the freighting firm Russell, Majors & Waddell believed mail should have its own service that could guarantee delivery.

pop up book

He developed the Pony Express and boasted that it could get mail from St. Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento, California, faster than any other company. He hoped that the Pony Express would solve the mail delivery problem until the telegraph lines could be completed. The Pony Express lasted only 16 months before the transcontinental telegraph put it out of service. The founders were heavily in debt and lost $100,000.00.

This picture captures the spirit and belief they had of Manifest Destiny. It is the belief that the United States is destined to expand across North America.

Plants and Animals along the Oregon Trail

  Fauna of the West. The downloads below are to use for the plants and animals found in the West.

Pocket for Older Child

Here are the fact cards to write on and place inside this pocket.

The Animals Along the Trail in this pocket are the American Bison, Red Fox, Grizzly Bear, Pronghorn Antelope, Grey Wolf, Elk, Western Badger, and Western Tanager.

pocket and animal cards

Pocket for Younger Child

Here are the cards to use inside this pocket. And it’s a Where Is Your Baby matching cards.

The baby animals along the trail from the top to the bottom are American Bison Calf, Big Horn Lamb, Blue Grouse Chicks, Canada Goose Gosling, Coyote Pup, Gray Wolf Pups and Red Fox Pup.

pocket and baby animal cards.

Flora of the West. The downloads below are to use for the plants found in the West.

Pocket for Older Child

The plants are Arrowleaf Balsam Root, Wood’s Rose, Big Bluestem, Black Cottonwood, Oregon Bitterroot, Blue Elderberry,   Western Red Cedar, Blue eyed Mary

pocket and cards

Pocket for Younger Child

roots, stalk and leaves minibook

 Frontiersmen, Explorers, Mountain Men, & Fur Trappers

Mountain Men and Fur Trappers were brave individuals in history who  placed their mark upon the unexplored and unsettled American West.

The search for fur bearing animals was responsible for much of the early exploration of the West.

Mountain men and early emigrants found trapping to be lucrative or a very important source of money. It was hard and dangerous work because much of the work was done during the winter when the animal pelts or fur were the thickest. The trapping was so successful that some of the species became threatened. Wolves, coyotes, bobcats and cougars preyed on the growing herds of the settlers and were killed as predators.

These mountain men dressed in shirts and trousers made of leather. Porcupine quills decorated their shirts. Around their necks they hung pouches carrying pipes, some tobacco, molds to make bullets, and other small things of value.

During the harsh winters, mountain men often lived with the Indians. They learned their language and customs. From them they also learned the survival skills needed when living alone. Like the Indians, the trappers ate well when game was plentiful. But when meat was scarce, they lived off the land as well as they could.

After hunting during the winter and tending their traps in the fall and spring, it was time to get together with other mountain men. In July, the fur traders met at a place they chose the year before. It was called the rendezvous. Rendezvous was a time of singing, dancing, shouting, trading and acting wild. It was also a time to tell stories and practice target shooting.

Jedediah Smith was considered the most famous of all mountain men and an explorer. In his travels he discovered a coastal trade route from California to Fort Vancouver

The time of the mountain men began when William Henry Ashley and others went trapping on the upper Missouri River in 1822. In continued for the next 15 years when trappers like James Bridger, Thomas Fitzpatrick and Louis Vasquez explored the West. By 1840, the fur trade had declined. Too, beaver hats began going out of fashion. So the mountain men took on a new job of leading others along the rugged Oregon Trail.

Minibooks for Buffalo Bill and Daniel Boone

tiny book and pocket

tiny book and pocket

This tiny book can be added to this unit or click here for the Daniel Boone Lapbook to do a complete lapbook about Daniel Boone

Sacagawea embodies the spirit of a true explorer.

Sacagawea matchbook.

Author reflected frontier life and Westward Expansion

James Fenimore Cooper

1789 – 1851. James Fenimore Cooper was an American author know for his novels, The Last of the Mohicans, The Deer Slayer, and The Prairie. His novels reflected frontier life, Native Americans and even his early life at sea.

tiny book and pocket

Artists – Westward Expansion

When we did this unit study, we found out that frontiersman really embodied the American West spirit, but without art like this picture above by George Caleb Bingham titled Daniel Boone Escorting Settlers Through the Cumberland Gap, the pioneers would not have visualized the land of opportunity.

two minibooks for artists George Caleb Bingham and Albert Bierstadt and art pictures

Significant events close to Westward Expansion

Of course there were many events to focus on while covering Westward Expansion, but a few we needed to learn about are the California Gold Rush, the Louisiana Purchase and a Texas connection for that time period which is learning about The Alamo.

 California Gold Rush ’49

minibook

  Battle of the Alamo 1836

Alamo minibook, mini crossword, and Texian and Tejano images

The picture below has the timeline minibook trifold, a data divider, Louisiana Purchase minibook and Barrel of Words minibooks.

Government – Manifest Destiny

Vocabulary Words for Westward Expansion

One member did her own lapbook cover below. Her kids wanted to mimic the look of leather so they used a discarded food bag which had handles.

The cover is made from a large brown paper bag that had handles. She cut down each side to have a big flat surface, removed the handles (one of which will be used to bind the journal together) and cut it slightly bigger than the legal size file folder. 

She took it outside and used a barbecue lighter to set the edges on fire, just for a few seconds, then stomped it out. She continued to do this until all the edges were done.

Then, she burned holes in a couple of places in the middle or just wherever she wanted.

Now, it was ready to glue to the legal size file folder. The kids then colored the holes in that were exposing the manila file folder with different browns and black colors.

Next, she had to cut the holes in the cover and all the remaining folders that would be the pages of our journal/ lap book. This was a little tricky, but the most important part is to start with the cover and just use it as a pattern for the other folders. You want to make sure that all the holes line up.

 Now it is ready to bind together. Just use one of the handles of the brown bag, it is almost the perfect length to weave in and out of each hole. The great thing about this is you can always add more folders as you need them. Just wait till the very end to glue the ends of the handle down.

About the Oregon Trail

flip book to learn about supplies on the Oregon Trail.

Oregon Trail Wagon

 minibooks (some pictured above) Prairie Schooner Top Flap, Landmarks along the Trail, Devil’s Gate, Independence Rock & Chimney Rock, Prairie Schooner Bottom Flap, Disease on the Trail: Cholera, and picture for front/back of lapbook/notebook page.

I created these Data Dividers to divide the content on your lapbook because there are so many events happening together.

one divider for Lewis & Clark Expedition and one for Westward Expansion.

Copywork Pecos Bill by Steve Kellogg. You’ll love adding these options for language arts for this unit study.

Two options are available below. One has dots for tracing and one version your child can copy on his own page or just simply memorize, fold, and keep this adorable tall tale.

Also, you love the writing prompt minibook.

 Transportation During Westward Expansion

Printable board game Oregon Trail

Also, your kids will love these fun history coloring pages!

Here is what the 10 page download contains. I put a few key words to explain each picture on the page. This way you can use the coloring pages as title pages too.

Page 3:  Native American on horseback,
4: Lewis and Clark Trek,
5: Lewis and Clark and The Piegan,
6: Lewis and Clark Exploring Rivers,
7: The Plains Indians,
8: Pioneer Life,
9: Moving West,
10: Westward Ho,
11: Settlers, and
12: Fur Trappers and Mountainmen

Grab your fun copy below!

Westward Expansion Co-op Pictures

Learning the Virginia Reel is a nice group activity to teach them. So at this first class, we started teaching them the dance. The words and music are easy to find on line. We also googled and found You Tube videos to show how to do the steps. You just need a caller, or someone who knows the steps. Since my sister does “civil war reenactments and is familiar with  that time period, she was our “teacher” caller.

Then when we had our field trip  or culminating activity.

Everybody came in period dress and were “experts” by now at the Virginia Reel. Of course we brought an extra change of clothes and played games since we stayed all day at the park.

Some of the games we played were the sack race (we used pillowcases)  and wheelbarrow race.

Here are some of our moms “period dress”. Vikki one of our moms used her old wedding dress.

Here is my sister in one of her period dress outfits that she had sewn for her.

Another idea for your co-op is to use Traveling Trunks for more hands-on fun at your co-ops.

As a group, we ordered three traveling trunks from a museum.What is a traveling trunk?

They are mini-museums bringing a little bit of history to your co-op. Each trunk contains a variety of “hands on” objects like clothing, photographs, books, CDS, tools and items from that time period. It also has activity sheets and a teacher’s guides. Most museums drop ship the trunk to you and send you a shipping label so that UPS or FED X picks up the trunk at a certain date as well. They are loaned to your for a certain time period, like two weeks. The price varies for each trunk

We ordered three for our group of about 70 members, but you can decide how many you want. The trunks we ordered were “Lewis and Clark” “Mountain Men” and “Overlanders” (Oregon Trail).

How to Get the Free HUGE 97 Page Westward Expansion Lapbook

Now, how to grab the free lapbook. This is a subscriber freebie.

 1) Sign up on my list.
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Other History Unit Studies here to go with with this one:

• Daniel Boone – North American Explorer
• Lewis and Clark Fun Homeschool Unit Study and Lapbook
• Plains Indians. Unit Study & Lapbook
• The Trail of Tears 1820 – 1845 Unit Study & Lapbook
• Iroquois Lapbook
• 100 Oregon Trail Homeschool History Resources

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