The Trail of Tears

Grade Level: Third Grade

Content Area: Literacy and Social Studies
Anticipated Length of Time: This lesson would be taught as part of the morning reading and writing block: 2 hours and is
being used at the close of a unit on Native American Tribes in the United States.
Number of Students: 12 Instructional Location: East Cobb County School
Date: Fall 2017
Teachers: Elizabeth Breitbarth and Rebecca Evans

Context for Learning

Description of the learning environment(s) where the learning experience will take place:
This is a large classroom with a wall of windows and three walls of books that serves as both a reference library
and reading library. Students are expected to reference or research some of their own questions. Student
seating is created by using four tables, two on each side in the shape of the letter L. Each table has a color name
to identify the group. In each of the corners of the room, there are reading areas. One corner is carpeted with
pillows and lower, easy to reach bookshelves. The other corner has a table they can sit at while doing research.
In the back of the room there a teacher student area for teacher guided writing and instruction, as well as a
guided reading area in the fourth corner.

Learner Description: Total Students ____12_____ Males ____7______ Females ____5______

Accommodations and/or pertinent IEP

Students with special needs
Students with IEPs
English language learners
Gifted
504
Students with other learning
needs
Number of students
Objectives
1 Not yet tested but parents would like child to be
6 There are six students who speak English as their
second language. h
0 There are no children receiving instruction in the
gifted program.
0 There are no students with 504 plans
7 The six children who speak English as their second
language receive additional language support.

Personal, Cultural, and Community Assets:

It is a multicultural classroom. The majority of the students are Hispanic. There are also African American and
Euro-American. This lesson can be related to how the Native Americans were sent away because of their
different skin color. This lesson can also be related because the Trail of Tears crosses through Georgia where we
live. Students who have ever had to move to a new home will be able to make connections as well.

Central Focus
Central Focus of Lesson:
Did removal of the Cherokee people in the forced march known as the Trail of Tears violate the principles
found in the Declaration?

Essential Literacy Strategies (or Mathematical Understandings):

The student will organize and write about the cause and effect that brought about the Trail of Tears, write a
letter from the perspective of a Native American who traveled on the trail, and perform character readings
about the significant people in the Trail of Tears event.
Related Skills:

Related skills that the student will develop are reading, writing, presenting, organizing and synthesizing
information about the Trail of Tears.

Reading/Writing Connections
In reading historical information presented in the character readings, the readers and listeners will learn to
detect how a perspective is argued. The reader will also learn to consider various evidences, and whether or not
the outcomes are justified in light of the evidence. The strategy to help readers develop this skill, is to use a
graphic organizer that highlights cause and effect as the student gathers information about the Trail of Tears.

Lesson Objectives and Demands

Standard(s) Addressed:
SS3H1 Describe early American Indian cultures and their development in North America.
ELAGSE3W3: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique,
descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
a. Establish a situation and introduce a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds
naturally.
b. Use dialogue and descriptions of actions, thoughts, and feelings to develop experiences and events or show
the response of characters to situations.
c. Use temporal words and phrases to signal event order.

Content Objective(s) (also known as Learning Targets):

Describe the background and decisions that led to the removal of the Cherokee people on the Trail of Tears and
how that removal impacted the Cherokee. (which domain?)

Affective goals: The student will describe the hardships of a Native American person on the Trail of Tears, in a
letter written to other Cherokee family that was left behind.
Cognitive goals: Analyze and discuss different character readings about the Trail of Tears in order to complete a
graphic organizer about the cause and effect of the events.
Psychomotor goals: Perform character readings to the class provided by the teacher.

Identify a Language Function:

The successful student will pretend to be on the Trail of Tears and write a letter describing the harsh conditions
and how the forced removal took away his or her freedoms.

Key Learning Task:

Using a teacher created rubric, the student will write a letter describing the conditions of a person forced to
leave on the Trail of Tears

Additional Language Demands:

1) Vocabulary:
a) Trail of Tears
b) American Indian
c) Forced relocation
d) Ancestral
e) Land treaty
f) Cherokee; Chickasaw; Choctaw; Creek; Seminole;
g) Civilized
h) Voluntary
i) Commemorate
2) Syntax: Third graders will be working on the development of sentences using conjunctions, words
signifying order and sequencing, and adjectives. Students will also continue to develop their writing
skills by developing paragraphs in a letter.
3) Discourse: The students will be discussing the significance of the painting, the Declaration of
Independence Principles and the Map (see the materials section) as presented by the characters in the
 character readings.

Language Supports:
The students have been exposed to vocabulary words in the unit leading up to this plan. New words are
introduced in the opening section when reviewing the painting, the map, and the Declaration of Independence.
The children discuss what they see in the painting of the Trail of Tears, draw the actual Trail of Tears on the
Smart board Map, and discuss how the freedoms outlined in the Declaration of Independence were taken away
by the forced removal to Oklahoma.

The children will use syntax when filling out the graphic organizer and when discussing cause and effect of
events leading up to the Trail of Tears. Discourse will be used when discussing the graphic organizer and when
sounding out ideas to write in the letter from a Native American on the Trail of Tears.

Utilizing Knowledge about Students to Plan and Implement Effective Instruction

Prior Academic Learning and Prerequisite Skills:
The class has been studying Native Americans and their cultures. They have also discussed the impact
the pioneers had on the Cherokee.

Building on Prior Learning and Assessment

The students have been learning about the five main regions of Native American Tribes and the Cultures of
those Tribes. The have also previously learned about the Declaration of Independence and its principles. In this
lesson, the students will build on the prior knowledge to discover how these two areas are related in the events
leading up to the Trail of Tears. As Georgia students, this is an important part of Georgian History and her
peoples, both Native and non-Native because it emphasizes the principles of freedom for all Americans. This is a
relevant topic for todays students as they are becoming more aware of the issues of racism, tolerance, and
greed as they get older.

Grouping Strategies:
The students are grouped according to their previously determined reading levels. The character sketches have
various levels of reading within them. The students have been reading their groups assigned sketches
throughout the guided reading group this week. One student from each group will be selected to come forward
and read the character sketch to the entire class.

Planned Supports (Accommodations and Differentiation Strategies):

Students are first addressed with the whole class instructions and information. After they are given individual
time to work on classwork with their table group. The teacher will then individually call a group to the back U-
shaped table to discuss and ask questions. Each group of students have diverse learning abilities and the
individual work done with the teacher will help the students further in their understanding about the Trail of
Tears.

Lesson Considerations
Materials (Teacher and Student):
Display of Painting of Trail of Tears from PBS (Trail of Tears Painting
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h1567.html)

Display of Map of Trail of Tears.

Yarn of string
Pushpins/tape
Paper cut outs
Display of Declaration of Independence
Character Readings from the Family Stories artifact (Lorrie Montiero -
https://ualrexhibits.org/tribalwriters/artifacts/Family-Stories-Trail-of-Tears.html#Incidents)

Each student will need a graphic organizer (see attached).

EduGAINS
http://www.edugains.ca/newsite/ell/step/english_second_language.htm
This link will provide the teacher with additional supports in helping ELLs integrate their learning.

Lorrie Montiero - https://ualrexhibits.org/tribalwriters/artifacts/Family-Stories-Trail-of-

Tears.html#Incidents

The Trail of Tears

https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/age-jackson/resources/trail-tears

Trail of Tears Lesson Plan: Dramatic Reenactment

https://educators.brainpop.com/lesson-plan/trail-tears-lesson-plan-dramatic-reenactment/
This link gives additional support for teacher background about the Trail of Tears and gives alternative
ideas that may be used for extensions or reteaching.

Trail of Tears Lesson Plans and Lesson Ideas

https://educators.brainpop.com/bp-topic/trail-of-tears/

Trail of Tears Painting

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h1567.html

Walking the Trail of Tears

http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/4039

Theoretical Principles and/or Research-Based Best Practices:

Becki: My teaching philosophy is based on a combination of Jean Piaget, David Ausubel, Maria Montessori,
and Joseph Novak. These thinkers influence how the classroom is designed to support student discovery and
student learning. The teachers role is to act as an authoritative facilitator. In this setting, the teacher moves
from teacher directed learning to the gradual release of responsibility in learning so that the student can
incorporate the skills they need to grow as independent student learners.
Jean Piagets influence can clearly be seen through the teachers understanding that third graders are
typically in the concrete-operational stage. This is when they are beginning to think logically. Using the graphic
organizer to show how people and events are related, helps to develop and support the understanding of the
causes and the events of the Trail of Tears. Additionally, this stage is marked by a decreased sense of
egocentricism and this lesson helps to build on this new development in the third graders mind by developing
empathy for differing points of views.
Maria Montessori influence I is in the child centered, peer learning that occurs in the Character sketches
performance and discussions. The students are empowered to form their own conclusions based on the
presented evidence of what happened to bring about the Trail of Tears, the different perspectives of those
involved, and by writing about what they learned. David Ausubel believed that children learned best by relating
new knowledge to what they already know. In this lesson, the students have been building to a better
understanding of the Trail of Tears through the previous weeks studies about Native American Culture and
earlier in the year studies of the Declaration and Constitution.

Elizabeth: Teachers have responsibility to instruct using humanism that focuses on the need for
comprehension to grasp meaningful learning. If the students memorize and forget information, are they truly
understanding the content? As a teacher they should also use behaviorism that explains learning in terms of
outward aspects and incentive. A philosophy I want to teach by is progressivism. I want to focus on the students
as opposed to the content. I want my students to be interested in the material and then my job would be to
incorporate the needed content into what material they are intrigued in. The children should be involved
actively in learning the required material that I can make relevant to them.

Misconceptions:
Native Americans always wear buckskin.
 Native Americans live in teepees.
Our government always makes fair decisions for all people.
The law always protects the innocent.
All white setters hated Indians and wanted their land.
These misconceptions will be addressed during the discussion of the character readings and throughout the
lesson. The teacher will use guided questioning throughout the lesson to assess and scaffold student learning in
these areas.

Evidence and Formative Assessment of Student Learning:

Assessment Strategy #1: Alignment with Objectives:
This aligns with both the Social Studies objectives and
Graphic Organizer: Literacy objectives because the student will describe the
After listening to the character readings, the causes and effects of a significant event in Native American
students will complete a graphic organizer that culture, and the temporal and the use of temporal words
demonstrates the cause and effects of the and phrases the signal order of an event.
Trail of Tears. Adaptations:
Describe assessment strategy here.
The teacher will demonstrate how to complete The organizer can be put in a word document for the student
the organizer by reviewing it with the class and to complete on a computer.
providing examples. The teacher will assist students with special needs.
Evaluation Criteria (Evidence of Student Understanding):
The students will use a completed graphic organizer to
demonstrate their understanding of the cause and effects of
the event. Students will demonstrate modeled, guided, and
independent work for the organizer. Each completed section
is worth 5 points for each section. Two sections are teacher
modeled and guided. The scale for grading is : 4-6 completed
sections =A; 2-3 completed sections =B; 1-2 completed
sections =C, 0 completed sections =F.
Student Feedback:
The student will receive written feedback on the graphic
organizer that focuses on at least 2 strengths and 1 area for
improvement.

Assessment Strategy #2: Alignment with Objectives:

Letter Writing Assignment:
Review persuasive writing techniques and
letter writing format. Teacher will review the
rubric for the writing assignment.
Describe assessment strategy here.
Instruct students to imagine that each of them
is a Cherokee child whose family has already
embarked on the Trail of Tears. Tell them that
their Cherokee family has heard the stories of
the families that are already on the Trail.
Based on what theyve seen and read, have
them write a letter to President Andrew
Jackson asking him to let their family stay in
the land they love and consider home.
Students should include examples of why the
This assessment directly relates to the student
understanding how the Trail of Tears impacted the Native
Americans who were on the trail.
Adaptations:
Students may use word processors to write.
Students may express letter verbally into a
recording device to be transposed by a computer or
person
Evaluation Criteria (Evidence of Student Understanding):
The letter assignment provides evidence of the students skill
in synthesizing the material performed in the character
readings and the material organized and written about in the
graphic organizer.
The student letter will be assessed using a rubric which the
teacher will review prior to the assignment.
 Trail is so dangerous and use persuasive
techniques.

Student Feedback:
The student will receive the rubric with circled indicators of
their skills. They will receive two encouraging remarks and 1
area to grow in.

Lesson Plan Details:

Co-teaching Strategies to be used:

One Teach Station Parallel Alternative/Differentiated

Team

Teacher #1: ___Elizabeth Breitbarth_______________________________

Teacher #2: ____Rebecca Evans______________________________

Roles/Responsibilities:
Teacher #2: Does Introduction to lesson and engagement.
Teacher #1 and #2: Both team teach the lesson. Teacher #1 will lead the character readers and discussion, alternating
with Teacher #2 who is leading the graphic organizer and cause/effect. Both teachers will introduce and teach the
writing portion of the letter.
Teacher #1: Leads closing activity and review.

Space (classroom set-up) considerations:

Painting, Map, and Declaration of Independence on Display,
Doc camera ready for graphic organizer.
Costumes/props for characters and scripts on front table
Game materials ready for closing.

Materials necessary and who will be responsible:

Teacher #2: Painting, Scripts, Graphic Organizer

Teacher #1: Map of Trail, Declaration of Independence
Both: Costumes and Props,

Lesson Introduction - Before:

Point to the display of the painting of the Trail of Tears from the PBS website. As the students observe the painting,
ask the following questions:
1. What do you see? Be specific.
2. Who is in the picture? What are they doing?
3. Describe expressions on their faces. What do they seem to be feeling?
4. Besides the Cherokee, who else do you see in the picture? Why do you think they are in the picture?
5. Based on what you see and know, why is this called the Trail of Tears?

Point to the display a map from the LearnNC website that shows the distance of the
Trail of Tears. Have a student come forward and estimate what the length of the
Trail of Tears was. Ask the following questions:
 1. What type of terrain did the Native Americans have to travel over?
2. How long do you think this would take?
3. What kind of weather do you think they experienced?

Point to the display of the Declaration of Independence. Ask the following questions:
1. Who is an American?
2. What were the principles and freedoms that the Declaration represents?
3. Were the settlers experiencing these freedoms? Were the Cherokee and other Native Americans? Why or why
not?
Learning Activities - During:
The students have been practicing the character scripts in reading workshop in prior lessons. Today, the students will
present their characters (with props) to the class. The students will be seated at their desks and listening to the
character scripts. There are three groups of two characters that present their perspective of the Trail of Tears. John
Ross and Andrew Jackson present their perspectives as leaders in decision making roles at the time. Catherine is a 8
year old white settler, who presents her feelings of the decision to forcibly remove the Indians, and Little Sky is an eight
year old Cherokee girl whose family is being moved to the reservation in Oklahoma. Anthony and Paul are white
soldiers who are involved in moving the Native Americans to the reservation. After listening to the first pair of scripts,
all the students will engage in teacher led questioning about the cause and effect of the characters perspectives and
actions.

After each pair of readers presents their script, the teacher will use the graphic organizer to guide students in discussion
about the presenters. She will demonstrate to the class how to effectively complete one of the cause and effect sections
of the graphic organizers by demonstrating it on the document camera.

The students will then listen to the next pair of presenters and the teacher will guide them through the next section of
the graphic organizer suing questioning and demonstrating on the document camera.

For writers workshop, the teacher will introduce the idea of being a character from the Trail of Tears and writing a
letter to someone back home about their experience.
The teacher will review the writing rubric and the student will use the graphic organizer to help formulate a letter about
their imagined experience.

The students will be asked to listen to the final presenters and complete the last section of the graphic organizer on
their own.

The planned supports for all students include student presentation, debate of perspectives on the topic (scripted),
drama/role playing, graphic organizer to show relationship between cause and effect, assistive technology (document
camera for teacher modeling, word processor with graphic organizer for students with disability, visual aides (map,
painting of the event, Poster of Declaration, purposeful grouping, and building background knowledge through the
opening activities.

Students who struggled with the content will work in a small group with the teacher who will break the lesson down
into smaller parts with more visuals and one on one instruction.

Closure - After:

Conclusion: To conduct an informal assessment of the activities, have the students play Pin the Tail on the map
to answer the following questions.
There will be a display of the US map on the wall, Yarn will be placed on it to be a path of the Trail of Tears. The
students will play a version of pin the tail on the donkey but for the trail. In order to see if the students understand
where the trail was geographically on a map. It also allows the students to see where in Georgia the trail passes
through.
What have you learned about the Trail of Tears?
Why did they leave?
Where did they go?
How long did it take?
How many were forced to leave?
How many survived?

The pinning will be once blind folded and then after they can correct it in order to assess if they know where on the map
the trail is.

Each student will take two turns and repetition will restate and clarify the
information.

When all have pinned to the trail they will visually see in full how long and far the trail passed through the states.

Students will also discuss where they thought to place it and then where to correct the placement. They can also then
draw on paper to the shape the trail makes to prove the students understand.
Extension: How could you extend this lesson if time permits?
An extension activity is for the students to practice and present their written letter representing a person from the Trail
of Tears.