Teacher's Guide for APPLESEEDS

Teacher’s Guide for APPLESEEDS
                           March 2014: Who Did What on the Frontier?

Teacher’s Guide prepared by: Sandra K. Athans, National Board Certified Teacher, literacy author
            & consultant, and freelance children’s writer living in upstate New York.

  This guide provides practical classroom activities teachers may wish to use to supplement the
 reading passages appearing in this issue. Vocabulary words are highlighted (italicized words are
 defined in the article) and small group and independent activities/projects that address a range
    of learning styles are suggested. Many of these are suitable for group work or homework.

          Discussion questions and activities align with the Common Core National Standards
(Reading for Literature and Informational Text; Writing Standards for Text Types and Purposes,
Research to Build Knowledge, Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas; Vocabulary Acquisition and
Use; and Speaking and Listening, Comprehension and Collaboration, Presentation of Knowledge
                                          and Ideas).

Objectives:

To supplement the reading and discussion of this magazine, students will:
1. Explore the Western frontier, including key economic, societal, and cultural aspects of the time
period.
2. Gain an understanding of the time period by identifying how the frontier changed, and the
varying benefits certain groups have today as a result of its settlement.
3. Synthesize new information on their understanding of the frontier and grasp the scope of
economic, societal, and cultural changes that have taken place since then.

Pre-reading Activity:
         Introduce four essential questions: (1) What is the frontier, who lived there, and what
did people do there? (2) How did settlers’ activities reflect their needs, interests, and values? (3)
How have our beliefs, attitudes, and understandings been influenced by frontier times? (4) In
what ways have we grown and developed since the settling of the American frontier? While
introducing these guiding questions, you might also wish to create a “Frontier Times Museum” on
chart paper and track unfamiliar jobs or events and related vocabulary words in alphabetical
clusters as you introduce and discuss them within the articles.

“Not a Frontier, Just Our Home” by Louise Greene (pages 2 – 5): The Native Americans lived
in the area the pioneers called “the Frontier.” They built their homes from the materials they
found in nature and sometimes moved to follow the animals they hunted.

Vocabulary: canoes, Europeans, high plateau country, Kachina dolls, pioneers, plains, pueblos,
the Southwest, temporary villages

Discussion Questions: Discuss some of the characteristics of the Native Americans who lived in
the land beyond the Mississippi River. What new knowledge and/or inferences can you make
about the Native Americans’ way of life based on the cartoon villages featured on pages 2 – 5?
Share your knowledge and insights about the Native Americans who lived in the area prior to the
arrival of the pioneers.

Activities: Using a Venn or similar diagram, compare and contrast the Native American way of life
to your own. Hold mock interviews with the classmates depicting real-life characters portrayed in
the cartoons and present some interesting facts you’ve learned from the article. Create a

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children’s book depicting some scenes that capture the way of life of the Native Americans who
called the frontier their home.

“Ranch of the Swallows” by Deborah Holt Williams (pages 6 – 8): When the Pilgrims landed
along the coast of America in 1620, there were already Spanish settlers living far to the west.

Vocabulary: acequia, adobe, courtyard, graze, living history museum, mano, merchants, metate,
ranch, soldiers

Discussion Questions: Discuss the types of responsibilities that children had as they settled into
areas like those in New Mexico. Using details from the article, explain how El Rancho de las
Golondrinas has changed over time. Imagine being transported back in time, and share your likes
and dislikes about the kinds of chores you would have had while growing up as an early settler in
New Mexico.

Activities: Write a diary page pretending you are a settler and describe an event that could likely
takes place during the day. Create a game in which you devise two lists of chores, one for the
times of the early Spanish settlers, and the other for today. Jumble them up together, and see if
your classmates and other friends can sort them into the proper time period. Create an
advertisement for El Rancho de las Golondrinas and describe the type of activities your class
might likely enjoy if you visited the ranch on a school trip.

“Go For the Gold!” by Gloria W. Lannom (pages 9 - 11): Gold seekers had one goal – to find
gold. The hills of California attracted many who hoped to mine or pan the shiny bits of dust,
flakes, and nuggets.

Vocabulary: Argonauts, claims, durable, forty-niners, frontier territory, hammered, hard-rock
mining, high-pressure hoses, iron pyrite, miners, pans, penniless, picks, prospectors, prosperous
statehood, purity, rust, sluice, squatters, tarnish, violent, wagon trains

Discussion Questions: Using details from the article, discuss the types of events a miner would
likely encounter during the Gold Rush. Share your views about the life of a gold miner, and
explain whether or not you would have liked or disliked that job. Explain in your own words the
meaning of the statement: “The Gold Rush lasted only a few years, but it changed California
from frontier territory to a prosperous statehood.” .

Activities: Using the information in the article, write informative captions for all of the
photographs in the passage. Draw your own comic strip of a miner or a particular event that
might take place during the Gold Rush. Create and illustrate an ABC book using vocabulary words
about the Gold Rush.

“Poetry Corner: Two Sides of the Story” by Patricia J. Murphy (pages 12 - 13): Enjoy this
poem crafted for two voices, a young settler girl traveling west and a Native American boy who
calls the prairie his home.

Vocabulary: headdresses, moccasins, quest, quilt, sacrifice

Discussion Questions: Discuss the different points of views presented in the poem. Explain what
the poem means in your own words and support your ideas with evidence from the poem. Share
your thoughts about the poem and briefly describe any experiences you’ve had to learn about
someone who may have had cultural views and beliefs that may have differed from your own.

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Activities: Perform the poem with a classmate and also enjoy performances by other pairs of
classmates. Rewrite and illustrate the poem with appropriate images that are suggested in the
lines. Write an additional stanza for the poem that could feature other lifestyle changes and/or
similarities between the two children that you’ve learned about from other passages in this issue.

“Busy, Busy: Kids on the Frontier” by Marcia Amidon Lusted (pages 14 - 15): Frontier kids
were busy, busy, busy! Decide which jobs girls, boys, or both performed!

Vocabulary: chamber pots, dominoes, kindling, mend

Discussion Questions: After reviewing the answers on page 32, discuss the roles of the children.
Compare and contrast the responsibilities of the frontier children to your responsibilities today.
Explain in your own words why the title of this article is a good one for the information presented
in the article.

Activities: Using colored paper, cardboard, or other materials, create a model of some frontier
children involved in some of their chores. Pretend you are growing up on the frontier and write a
diary page explaining your point of view about your chores. Write a new rap a frontier child
might chant while performing some of their chores to make the tasks more enjoyable.

“Artists Eye: See for Yourself” by Dawn Durfey (pages 16 – 17): Step back in time and enjoy
the well-preserved photographs that present glimpses into frontier times.

Vocabulary: awkward, homestead, portraits, possession, studios

Discussion Questions: Discuss some of the similarities and differences among the three
photographs featured in this passage. What inferences can you make about some of the events
of the times, based on your observations of the photographs. Share your experiences viewing
older photographs.

Activities: Write a time-travel story about a character who is magically transported back in time
to the days of the American frontier. With parent or teacher supervision, research information on
a computer about the photographers mentioned in the article and share five interesting facts with
classmates or other friends. Using information from other articles in this issue, draw a poster of a
new “photography exhibit” entitled “A Passport to the Past” and describe the types of
photographs that might be displayed.

“A Rocky Ride,” by Laura Phillips (pages 18 – 20): The stagecoach was a good – but
uncomfortable means of traveling out West. Meet some of the famous stagecoach drivers and
enjoy the interesting stories about them and their adventures.

Vocabulary: bandits, cargo, freight, route, shock absorbers, stagecoach, transcontinental railroad

Discussion Questions: Describe some of special skills and talents good stagecoach drivers would
need in order to be successful. Explain the dangers that stagecoach drivers faced. Share your
opinions and views about driving a stagecoach out West.

Activities: Create your own comic depicting a scene that could have happened during the days of
stagecoach driving. Write and illustrate a Help Wanted advertisement for a stagecoach driver
using details from the passage. With teacher or other adult supervision, research additional
information about Stagecoach Mary or Charley Parkhurst and share five interesting facts with
classmates and other friends.

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“FUN STUFF: Chow Time!” by Marcia Amidon Lusted (page 21): Buffalo stew, mouse pie, and
pan hoss were just a few of the foods families ate on the frontier! Try out this recipe for
Johnnycake!

“Interpreting the Past” by Deborah Martinez Martinez (pages 22 - 23): Learning about the
past can be fun, especially while visiting a living history museum and participating in historic
events such as those offered at the El Pueblo Trading Post in Colorado.

Vocabulary: cornhusk dolls, dyer, historical interpreters, hornos, marriageable, tortillas, traders

Discussion Questions: Using information from the article, discuss some of the frontier skills you’d
likely learn about at the El Pueblo Trading Post. Share your opinion on lifestyle similarities and
differences you detect between frontier times and present times. Share your experiences visiting
a living history museum.

Activities: Based on information you’ve read in this issue, create a fictitious character that might
be an historical interpreter at El Pueblo Trading Post and describe what they might do to teach
schoolchildren who visit the museum. Based on the information appearing in the passage, create
captions for the photographs featured in the article. Write a poem or song describing what a trip
to El Pueblo Trading Post would be like during frontier times.

“Bone Picking on the American Plains” by Alicia Z. Klepeis (pages 24 - 25): Adding to the
family income by collecting bones is not likely an activity you might have thought that frontier
families did for work!

Vocabulary: barter, bison, domestic, fertilizer, necessities, refineries

Discussion Questions: Explain in your own words why the buffalo bones were important to many
poor families who lived on the plains. Discuss the meaning of the heading: “Bones for Cash or
Barter.” Share your experiences finding or viewing animal bones.

Activities: Using the information in the article, create an advertisement seeking buffalo bones and
the types of items made from them. Write a poem or song about families who relied on bone
collecting in order to buy necessities. Using details from the article, perform a Reader’s Theater
skit depicting an encounter between a trader and a bone collector.

“A Cowboy’s Life” by Natalie Bright (pages 26 - 27): Raising cattle became a big industry after
the civil war. Cowboys gathered herds and drove them 1,200 miles across the Plains over a four-
month period of time.

Vocabulary: bedroll, branding, companion, rail centers, range, vaccines

Discussion Questions: Explain in your own words the role cowboys played following the Civil War.
Describe how the photographs help contribute to your understanding of the passage. Share your
thoughts about being a cowboy or cowgirl on the frontier, and explain whether or not you would
enjoy the job.

Activities: Write and illustrate an advertisement for cowboys to drive a team of cattle across the
plains. Write a diary page pretending to be a cowboy or cowgirl and explain the types of activities
you would perform. Write a poem from the point of view of a herd of cattle driven 1,200 miles
across the West.

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“Is there a Doctor in the House?” by Heather Villa (pages 28 - 29): In the times of the
American frontier, getting sick or becoming ill was a very big deal.
Vocabulary: antibiotics, herbs, infections, medicine bag, sanitary, stethoscope

Discussion Questions: Explain in your own words the similarities and differences between how
doctors practiced medicine during frontier times and present times. Discuss some of the
challenges doctors faced during the times of the American frontier. Share your views on the role
and responsibilities of doctors during the time of the American frontier.

Activities: Using details from the article, pretend you are a doctor on the American frontier and
write a diary page about your typical day. Using your school or local library, research some
student-friendly information about our knowledge of germs and share five interesting facts with
classmates and other friends. Create your own dialogue for the speech bubbles featured with this
passage.

Closing Activity: Students can return to the pre-reading activity and conclude their thoughts on
the essential questions: (1) What is the frontier, who lived there, and what did people do there?
(2) How did settlers’ activities reflect their needs, interests, and values? (3) How have our beliefs,
attitudes, and understandings been influenced by frontier times? (4) In what ways have we
grown and developed since the settling of the American frontier? You might also wish to review
the lesson objectives and encourage student discussion on the topics contained there.

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