U.S. History: Western Expansion- Tennessee's Western Frontier

Students will develop an understanding of exploration and settlement in early Tennessee during a time when the state was the nation’s western frontier. Students will read maps, illustrations, and texts, and take on the roles of frontier people to make decisions based on historical evidence.

Weblink address (URL):

Tennessee Western Frontier

Home Page for the Lesson Plan- Source

Standards & Objectives

Learning objectives:

Students will:

develop an understanding that knowledge about people is recorded through written documents, illustrations, and maps.
compare different routes to Nashville and develop an understanding of the rationale of settlers in their choice of route to the frontier and settlement locations.
Develop an understanding of the hardships and rewards of settler life, paying particular attention to the experiences of the frontiersmen in addition to the experiences of women and children.

Lesson Variations

Blooms taxonomy level:

Applying

Extension suggestions:

Have students read a few larger portions of the Davy Crockett autobiography and the Daniel Boone biography. Using information in the two texts, have students write an essay comparing and contrasting the two men and their lives.

Helpful Hints

MATERIALS:

Overhead projector connected to computer
Worksheet—Daniel Boone Real Estate Fact Sheet
Worksheet—Davy Crockett Indentured
Servant Graphic Organizer
Worksheet—Daniel Boone Shadow Box
Instructions and Ideas
Worksheet—Davy Crockett Indentured Servant Scene Planning
Primary Source Analysis Teacher’s Guide (Photographs and Prints)
Primary Source Analysis Teacher’s Guide (Books and Other Printed Texts)
Primary Source Analysis Worksheet
Materials for Shadow Box:
Box with lid, like a show box or other small box
Cellophane or plastic wrap
Construction paper, different colors
Scissors
Colored pencils, crayons, markers
Tape or glue