Virginia Migration West early 1800s Lesson Plan

Objective:

Students will hypothesis different reasons why many Virginians left the state between 1817-1836.

Activity: In this activity, the students will conduct research, develop a plan for writing, and write an effective narrative or explanation to reflect their research.

Materials

• Virginia Studies textbook
• Library
• Internet

Procedure:

1. Offer the following suggestions:

a. Agriculture distress, both natural and man-made.
b. Opening of new lands to the west.
c. Rise in cost of land values.

2. Have the students use the library to research the listed suggestions or topics of their choice.

3. Use data gathered to create a narrative or explanation of migration west of Virginia and share with the class.

Assessment: Create a rubric scoring on each of the following categories: number of sources, number of primary sources, length of report and presentation.

Virginia Standards of Learning
English		3.2, 4.2, 5.1, 5.3, 6.2, 7.1
Writing		3.9, 3.10, 4.7, 5.8, 6.6
Virginia Studies		VS.1, VSI.8, VUS.1a, WG.2b