Blog #22 Roughing It on the Oregon Trail

Blog #22

Roughing It on the Oregon Trail
By Diane Stanley
Illustrated by Holly Berry
Scholastic Inc.
2000
39 pages

Historical Fiction

                I chose this book because I felt it would be an interesting and unique way to introduce the American migration to the West. This story is a dual story both about the settlers who traveled out West in search of land and the Native Americans who already inhabited the lands the settlers wished to settle. The story depicts the hardships that settlers faced as they made the long journey and the disenfranchisement of the Native Americans as they were displaced by the settlers. 

                The illustrations in this book are not plainly stated on the copyright page but seem to be either oil pastels or crayons. The strokes of the colors are childlike in style and are lightly blended so that the reader can still view the original marking of the pastels/crayons. The style of the illustrations is informal with double-page spreads throughout. An interesting feature of this book is the side conversations of characters through speech bubbles. 

To visit Diane Stanley's website click on her name. 

 

                This book would be an excellent choice to use across the curriculum. It is most appropriate for younger aged elementary students. An excellent activity to introduce with this book would be to have students choose to narrate either the little settler child or the Native American child. This activity would be most appropriate for 3^rd or 4^th grade students. Another great way to use this book for  younger students would be for counting. Many pages have numerous items that could be assigned to different groups of students to count.