Casey Gavalla

Unit: People Move from Place to Place

Lesson: Gateway to the West
Grade: Third
Background Information

Concepts and content

St. Louis Location (Map)-what states are around St. Louis.
What was bought and sold during this time period and location.
How people transported goods in St. Louis to other people.
Why people were in St. Louis- they were traveling west and stopped in St.
Louis.
Economy growing so many people traveled through St. Louis.
Skills
Collaboration
Mapping
Applying what was learned in the reading
Duration
30-40 minutes
Vocabulary

Goods- noun, things that people buy or sell

Service- noun, work that someone does for other people
Entrepreneur noun, a person who takes a risk or chance and starts a
business and invests money in it
Profit noun, the amount of money a business earns after its costs are paid
Gateway to the West- St. Louis and its surrounding area is called Gateway
to the west because many settlers bound for the West began their journey
there
Port- a town or city with a harbor where ships load or unload
Newcomer- a person or thing that has recently arrived in a place or joined
a group
Private Property- something that belongs to a person and not to the
government

Integration of Learning Outcomes

Students will work cooperatively in groups to read three pages in the text.
Students will recognize where St. Louis is on the map.
Students will identify characteristics of St. Louis in the 1800s by answering
questions from the text.
Standards

CC.1.1.3.E Read with accuracy and fluency to support comprehension: Read onlevel text with purpose and understanding, read on-level text orally with accuracy,
appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings, use context to confirm
or self correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary.
CC.1.2.3.E Use text features and search tools to locate and interpret information
D2.Eco.4.3-5. Explain why individuals and businesses specialize and trade.

D2.Geo.3.3-5. Use maps of different scales to describe the locations of cultural

and environmental characteristics.
D3.3.3-5. Identify evidence that draws information from multiple sources in
response to compelling questions.
NCSS.1.3.d-help learners to locate, distinguish, and describe the relationships
among varying regional and global patterns of geographic phenomena such as
landforms, climate, and natural resources
have learners create, interpret, use, and distinguish various representations of
NCSS.1.3.b- Earth, such as maps, globes and photographs, and use appropriate
geographic tools such as atlases, data bases, systems, charts, graphs, and
maps to generate, manipulate, and interpret information

Anticipatory Set

Have all of the students close their eyes and imagine they are at lunch with their
classmates. Say Now imagine you open your lunch and you have something
you are not really in the mood for. You look at your friends lunch and they have
something that looks delicious to you and you would like to eat. You also see
people buying delicious pizza for lunch today in the lunch line that you would also
like. What can you do to try and have that food? Give students a few seconds to
think and then have them open their eyes and let them turn to a partner and
share their idea. Bring the class back together and ask three random students to
share their idea. Explain to the students that maybe theyd be willing to trade
something in their lunch in order to get the yummy food their friend has. Or they
could trade their money and get pizza from the lunch line. Pose the question
Why do we trade? and Where are good places to trade with people?
Procedures

Have students get into their assigned reading groups and read chapter 5
lesson 1 as a group (pgs. 150-153)\
Begin by completing a picture walk as a class and pointing out important
pictures that you want to the students to see.
Pg. 150- locate the steam boat and describe to students how they carried
goods and people along the river. Also discuss their speed and size.
Pg. 151- point to the map, locate St. Louis and discuss its location. Also
point out that the river runs right along Missouri and St. Louis.
Pg. 152- Turn students attention to the diagram of making a profit. Create
an example, similar to the one in the book, on the board and complete it
as a class. For example: A horses saddle is being sold for $50. It costs
$35 to make a saddle. How much profit will be made?
Allow students a few moments to think about the problem.
Raise your hand if you think you have an idea. Call on a student with
their hand raised and ask students if they agree or disagree and why.
Pg. 153- Locate the St. Louis Arch We will be watching an interesting
video on how the arch was built at the end of our assignment today.
Allow students to begin reading with their group members.
Teacher should be circulating the room observing and assessing the
students understanding and group skills. Teacher should also be providing

support where the students need it such as answering any questions the
students have, explaining difficult words to students, or asking further
questions to extend students understanding. For example: Do you think
being on the River was beneficial to St. Louis? Why or Why not or What
was something that you learned about St. Louis? Did you look at the
picture of the steam boat on page 150? How is that boat different than
boats we use today? Do you think the steam boat was useful for
transportation? Why?
Once groups have finished their reading assignment, handout the
worksheet (located at the end of the lesson) and have students work
together in their groups to answer the questions.
Scaffold students as needed during this time. Encourage students to work
together and refer to the book before asking the teacher.
Once each group has finished their worksheets, ask students to turn in the
worksheet for a grade.
Allow students a minute or two to finish up the final touches to the
worksheet, turn in their paper, and return to their seats.
Refocus the students attention by asking the class Can I have three
things you learned about St. Louis after reading? Call on three random
students. (This allows struggling students to see the main ideas from the
lesson.)

Differentiation

For students who learn best visually I will place pictures of St. Louis on the
interactive Whiteboard (Smart board version) so the student can refer to
the pictures as they need. If they need to see what a steamboat, saddle,
bank, or just a map of St. Louis to further their understanding of the
location or specific items.
For students who are visually impaired/ blind I will place the recording of
this lesson in a CD player and allow for the student to listen to the
information through audio. I will also ask the questions from the worksheet
verbally. ( I would also allow students who are auditory learners to listen to
the recording as well)

Closure
To conclude the lesson I will play a short video (link located below) that
discusses how the Arch in St. Louis was built. This video will allow students to
see what the arch really looks like, what it symbolizes and how it was built. It
is a great way to end the lesson on an interesting note.
http://www.history.com/topics/us-states/missouri/videos/inside-the-gateway-arch

Formative / Summative Assessment

Formative:

I will be assessing how students work in groups by observing and

walking around each group. I will be checking for respect and their
progress over periods of time.
I will be collecting the worksheet and grading it and will be looking to
make sure they have placed St. Louis in the correct or relative location.

Materials / Equipment

Interactive Whiteboard
Student text book
Worksheet with questions
Images of St. Louis and relative items
Audio recording of the corresponding lesson and chapter

Teacher Materials for more content knowledge:

enchantedlearning.com/history/us/monuments/stlouisarch
http://americanhistory.mrdonn.org/ponyexpress.html
http://www.42explore2.com/pony.htm
http://history.howstuffworks.com/american-history/railroad-expansion1.htm
http://www.ducksters.com/geography/us_states/missouri_history.php
Technology

Interactive Whiteboard
Audio recording
Link to History.com

Reflection on Planning

Be sure to have materials readily available to save a lot of prep time

during the 30-35 minutes we have.
Have questions prepared when walking around to the different groups to
check for understanding.
Be sure to visit the extra websites to further my background knowledge.
Give students access to a computer to go on a virtual field trip of St. Louis
today if they finish early (will most likely need the full time to work in
groups.

Content Outline

Summary Lesson 1
USA growing in 1800s
Thousands move west
St. Louis was a main place people relocated to
St. Louis began as a trading post along the Mississippi river
Where the Mississippi and Missouri rivers join, is where St. Louis is
located and thats how it helped grow
People used rivers to travel on boats to carry goods

Town served as a starting point for settlers moving west

Supplies wanted: saddles, plows, wagons, and other supplies
1860 steamboats filled docks and trains connected from St. Louis to
the east.
More people came to St. Louis causing the economy to grow
St. Louis Today
Changed over the years
Many people used to live in cabins, now they live in tall buildings
Ships still haul goods
Second largest city in Missouri

Background lesson 1
St. Louis
Has been governed by three different countries during its history
Founded by a French fur trader in 1764, it was transferred to Spain
in 1770. Later it was returned to France
After the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, St. Louis became part of the
United States.
Image of River Boat- a steamboat travels the Mississippi River
during the 1830s.
Vocabulary and definitions lesson 1
Goods- noun, things that people buy or sell
Service- noun, work that someone does for other people
Entrepreneur noun, a person who takes a risk or chance and starts a
business and invests money in it
Profit noun, the amount of money a business earns after its costs are
paid
Gateway to the West- St. Louis and its surrounding area is called
Gateway to the west because many settlers bound for the West began
their journey there.
Port- a town or city with a harbor where ships load or unload
Newcomer- a person or thing that has recently arrived in a place or
joined a group
Private Property- something that belongs to a person and not to the
government
Important questions lesson 1
In what ways did the rivers help St. Louis Grow?
Answer: Boats traveled easily on the Mississippi and Missouri
rivers, bringing people and goods to St. Louis
Why is the Mississippi River so important to St. Louis?
Answer: The River helps to bring people and goods to and from the
city?
What is an entrepreneur?
A: a person who takes a chance and starts a business
What is a profit?
A: money a business earns after paying its costs
How is St. Louis in the 1800s alike and different from St. Louis today?
A: ships still haul goods on the rivers. But most people dont live in
cabins, and they use trucks instead of wagons

What might have happened to St. Louis if settlers moving west had
been able to bring what they needed from the east?
A: they would not have needed to buy them in St. Louis. Some
businesses might have closed, if people moved away, St. Louis
might not have grown into a large busy city.
What made the economy grow?
Newcomers wanted services; entrepreneurs started business to
provide those services and then earned a profit.
Is St. Louis Located in Missouri or Mississippi?
Missouri
Where on the map is St. Louis near?
It borders Illinois and Mississippi, in the Midwest of the United
States
Why did St. Louis become such a busy place in the 1800s?
Many people were using the river for travel and trade
What newcomers from other countries came to the U.S. to work?
People from Germany and Ireland
Why would St. Louis be a good place to start a business?
There were a lot of people traveling in and out selling and trading
goods. It is also right along the busy Mississippi river where a lot of
jobs are needed.
How do you make a profit?
Ex: a wagon cost $90 to build but a person sells it for $100. That
person has made a profit of $10.

Worksheet for students to complete

1. Where is St. Louis located, and how did its location help it grow?

2. Why did St. Louis become important to settlers moving west?

3. Define and use the following words in a sentence: goods, service,

entrepreneur, and profit.

4. In what ways did the rivers help St. Louis make a profit?

5. How is St. Louis in the 1800s alike and different from St. Louis today?

6. What year was St. Louis settled?

7. Label St. Louis on the map below:

8. Extend your thinking: If you were headed west in the 1800s would you
stop and trade in St. Louis? Why or why not? What kind of items would be
sold in St. Louis that you would need?