Mini Lesson: Lewis & Clark, Grandfather River

Charles Winston Peale Clark and Lewis Portraits, 1807.

Introduction:

This can be an opening lesson to Manifest Destiny or a good sub-lesson on Lewis and Clark. This lesson revolves around a song, Grandfather River by Gordon Ward, which explains the journey Lewis and Clark embarked on. Song is the focus of this lesson; which would be best suited for a 45-minute class period. This lesson also includes a DBQ worksheet, some of the artifacts used are from the museum’s collection. This lesson also includes a Kahoot game, which can be swapped out for something less technically intensive.

Theoretical Principles:

Think Pair Share or Jigsaw Puzzle (for detailed overview click HERE)

Standards:

NJ Standard:

6.1.8.A.4.b

Analyze how the concept of Manifest Destiny influenced the acquisition of land through annexation, diplomacy, and war.

US History Content standards:

 Standard 1A

Assess how the Louisiana Purchase affected relations with Native Americans and the lives of various inhabitants of the Louisiana Territory.

Materials:

Computer (with projector)

YouTube

Lyric sheet (attached)

DBQ Worksheet (attached)

Terms:

Lewis and Clark: Meriwether Lewis and William Clark were hired by President Jefferson to explore the newly acquired Louisiana territory to find a water route to the Pacific Ocean. Their three-year journey spanned 8,000 miles down the Ohio River, up the Missouri River, across the Continental Divide, and to the Pacific Ocean. Please use this link here to find more information!

President Jefferson: A founding father, drafter of the Declaration of Independence, and the third president of the United States. Under his tenure, the United States bought the Louisiana Purchase from Napoleon. This led to the Lewis and Clark adventure into the frontier lands. Use this link here to discovery information.

Corps of Discovery: was a specially-established unit of the United States Army which formed the nucleus of the Lewis and Clark. The Corps, which was a select group of volunteers, which were led jointly by Captain Meriwether Lewis and Second Lieutenant William Clark. They were commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson, and their objectives were to study the area's plants, animal life, and geography, and to learn how the Louisiana Purchase. More information can be found here.

Step 1: Kahoot! (Introduction)

The lesson will start with a funny but informative video on Lewis and Clark and their expedition titled Lewis and Clark Expedition: A Memestory. After the video the class will play a quick Kahoot to do a review and to get the students excited about the lesson. The Kahoot is a five question mini-quiz. It is not to grade the students; but just an interactive way to make them pay attention. 

Step 2: Grandfather River (Body)

After the Kahoot game, the teacher will pass out the lyric sheets to the students. The student’s directions would be to listen to Grandfather River and annotate at least three sections of the lyrics. The teacher can change these directions to specific lines or you can leave it broad. After listening to the song one or two times the students, should pair up and talk about the song. This is where they should quickly go over the part they annotated and explain to the other student their thought process. The teacher should than hold a class discussion to answer any questions about the song and to engage the class in discussion. It would also be a good idea to ask the students to explain their thought process about their annotations. After the discussion the teacher will hand out the worksheet DBQ to the students. After some time, the students should go into pairs and work together and go over their answers.  

Step 3: House Hunters Historical (Conclusion)

To finish off this lesson the teacher should go over the worksheet and play this  YouTube video called Louisiana Purchase: House Hunters Historical. This is a hilarious way to reinforce the lesson!

Differentiation/Planned Support:

Individual Students (IEPs or 504s): The small group work for the worksheet will be a great time for students with IEP to utilize peer tutoring with the Think Pair Share. During this time students are required to go into small groups and help each other with the worksheet. This lesson also has many videos and interactive aspects to make sure that IEP students and the rest of the class stay engaged.

More about Gordon Ward:

Gordon Thomas Ward

Gordon Ward is the musician who wrote and sings the Grandfather River. I had the opportunity to hear him sing this song live when he came to Washington’s Headquarters grand opening of their Discover History Center. Click his photo to be linked to his website.

Links/Worksheets:

• Lewis and Clark Worksheet (DBQ) - (materials in next post) 
• Lyric Sheet
• Lewis and Clark Expedition: A Memestory
• Kahoot
• Grandfather River YT video
• Louisiana Purchase: House Hunters Historical

References:

Peale, Charles Willson. Clark and Lewis Portraits. 1807. Courtesy Independence National Historical Park, Philadelphia. Accessed 2018. http://explorepahistory.com/displayimage.php?imgId=1-2-24D

History.com Staff. "Lewis and Clark." History.com. 2009. Accessed March 06, 2018. https://www.history.com/topics/lewis-and-clark.

"Thomas Jefferson." Wikipedia. March 03, 2018. Accessed March 06, 2018. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Jefferson.

"Corps of Discovery." Corps of Discovery. Accessed 2018. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corps_of_Discovery.

Mr.Bett. YouTube. October 12, 2017. Accessed March 06, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2ADwME0c7k.

YouTube. February 17, 2015. Accessed March 15, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kgjJUs1BCs&t=1s.

MrBettsClass. YouTube. October 11, 2016. Accessed March 15, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYaTSImrDxc.

ML:15 Lewis and Clark
Mini Lesson by Nicholas Quintero