If you’ve stumbled here from Pinterest, or some other site … welcome! While each of these books/lessons can stand alone, they are also a part of a year-long series that we have taught at our homeschool co-op. Each lesson builds in part on the one before. Some stories also have similar themes with the books that go before/after them. If you are interested in more information, or to see the complete booklist, check out our main page, More FIAR – Inspired Literature-Based Lesson Plans, especially for homeschool and homeschool co-ops. Thanks for looking around, and welcome to the site!
Warm as Wool by Scott Russell Sanders
What I Need:
Warm as Wool Book
Warm as Wool Handwriting Sheet
Map of the United States, particularly showing the path from Connecticut to Ohio
“What’s in My Wagon?” Supplies Sheet (link below)
“What’s in My Wagon?” Wagon Sheet (link below)
Pre-cut 4×10 foot paper or tape measure and painters tape to show the size of a wagon
Your own collection of pioneer props (optional, see pictures below for ideas)
Pickles or your own Pioneer Recipe (optional)
Review:
If you are following along with the year-long curriculum, take a moment to review the last two books we’ve covered, The Memory Coat and Fiona’s Lace.
Who remembers what we’ve been talking about the last few weeks (immigration, early life in America)
Does anyone remember the name of the books we read?
Can anyone figure out what those two stories had in common?
If you have extra time, you can review words like:
Immigrant
Emmigrant
Ellis Island
Statue of Liberty
Name of Characters from the Past Book
*I really like this book. It just makes me want to cozy up inside with a cup of hot chocolate. The book is warm, thoughtful, and gives a beautiful picture into these early pioneer days that are so much a part of America’s early history. The pictures are wonderful. The expressions on the characters faces to depict the hardships and joys are very well done. If you haven’t read the book before, and want to get a glimpse before you teach this lesson, Raising Reader’s Bookshelf has an excellent read-aloud version on You Tube.
Introduce Today’s Story:
Now, America because a country in 1776. And in the beginning, a lot of people lived in these 13 states, right along the east coast of America. But after awhile, people began to spread out. They started to move west. Many were looking to get a piece of land and get their own fresh start.
Remind that class that in Fiona’s Lace (last week’s book), Fiona’s family wanted to cross over to Michigan to get their own land once they had enough money to pay off theor passage to America.
This was true for many families in America. They wanted to spread out. They wanted land.
What could you do with land back then (cattle, start a farm, plant crops, make your own space, etc)
Our story today has to do with one of these family’s who was living in Connecticut (show CT on the map) and had left everything in Connecticut, and like so many others, they had loaded up a wagon full of supplies and they had taken a Wagon all the way out to Ohio (show OH on the map).
The life of a Pioneer was hard. They were going out on their own. They had to bring all their own supplies and be ready to live of the land.
Ask the class if anyone has gone camping – if so, compare contrast how this experience would be similar / different to camping
Class Activity – What’s in a Pioneer Wagon*:
This is an optional activity, but with our ages (5-7), it really added to the story. It also made the class activity this day easier to understand. We chose to do this before we read the story, but you could do it before or after
Tape a 4×10 foot square on the floor. This was the average size of most wagons, unless your family was very wealthy and you could bring two wagons. Also, unless someone was extremely elderly or extremely young, they didn’t ride in the wagon. Wagons were bumpy, uncomfortable, and honestly – there wasn’t much room once you packed all of your stuff in.
So what did they bring?
Before class, I searched my house for some “props”. I tracked down cowboy hats, candles, thread, wool, rope, matches, a kettle, cast iron pan,mini “blankets”, and I loaded up mini sacks (purchased at Michaels for prety cheap) with beans, corn, coffee, rice, and sugar.
Give each student in the class one of these props, and go around and discuss why each item would hae been needed.
Why beans, rice, and corn? (they keep for a long time)
Why coffee / tea? (drunk by everyone, including children, and would keep the water from tasting horrid)
Gun (for hunting, protection from wild animals, and possibly an unfriendly passer-by)
Hats (to keep the hot sun off)
Clothing, Blankets, Bedding (Mostly just the clothes you were wearing)
Tools (to build a tent, repair your wagon, build your home, till the land, etc)
Candles, Lantern, Matches (No electricity, need light, warmth)
Dishes, Cooking Supplies, etc
Pickles (knew that Pickles kept sickness away – Vitamin C, the only type of fruit that would keep)
And other big things – a plow, butter churn, spinning wheel, etc (you would probably have to pick just one large thing, unless you were very wealthy)
I also grabbed a toy gun, tools, and play dishes.
*if you need help with materials to add, scan the list from the Oregon Trail Center below to get more ideas.
What would you need to bring with you to start your new life? Many pioneers tried to find others somewhat close by, so they could help each other by sharing supplies and going to school and church meetings. But what if you couldn’t get to a settlement for a long time? What if it is ONLY YOUR FAMILY – what do you need to bring?
This list (just below, in highlighted in peach), is taken from the Oregon Trail Center. You’ll notice these lists do not include a loom or a spinning wheel. These would have been luxury items, or also could have been built once settled. Pick a few things from this list to help the class understand what could fit in the wagon and what would have to stay home.
What Would You Bring – List for Packing Your Wagon
COOKING UTENSILS: Dutch oven, kettle, skillet, reflector oven, coffee grinder, teapot, butcher knife, ladle, tin tableware, water keg, matches.
CLOTHING: wool sack coats, rubber coats, cotton dresses, wool pantaloons, buckskin pants, duck trousers, cotton shirts, flannel shirts, cotton socks, brogans, boots, felt hat, palm-leaf sun hat, green goggles, sunbonnet.
TOOLS & EQUIPMENT: set of augers, gimlet, ax, hammer, hoe, plow, shovel, spade, whetstone, oxbows, axles, kingbolts, ox shoes, spokes, wagon tongue, heavy ropes, chains.
LUXURIES: canned goods, plant cuttings, school books, musical instruments, dolls and toys, family albums, jewelry, china, silverware, fine linens, iron stoves, furniture.
*Random Fun Fact that your class may enjoy, from this site on Oregon Trail Trivia: “Did you know that the pioneers ate a lot of pickles on the Oregon Trail? Although the pioneers didn’t know the scientific reason for it, the they knew that eating fresh fruits and vegetables would keep them safe from the deficiency disease, scurvy. Because fresh fruits and vegetables were hard to come by over much of the trail, pioneers would bring a lot of pickles along, which also were an excellent source of Vitamin C.”
So — if you want a fast pioneer snack, share a pickle with your class 🙂
Read the Story:
As you read, stop to point out the faces of the children.
How do they feel?
Are they worried / cold / etc?
Can you find the patches on their patches?
Can you find the butter churn, spinning wheel, and loom?
If you don’t read the note at the end of the story, be sure to tell them that this story is based on a true story, that there really was someone named Betsy Ward, who came from Connecticut to Ohio and saved money in a stocking to buy sheep. Her family really did suffer through many difficulties, until a herd of sheep happened to cross in front of her cabin.
Pack your Own Wagon Activity Sheets
*If you don’t love the wagon activity (I do – but maybe you’re not as excited about it), we also did a fun “How do you get a coat from a sheep” activity back when we read the book, A New Coat for Anna. You preview it there.
Now its their turn.
Give each kid in the class their own Wagon Handout.
I had thought about trying to actually create a popsicle stick wagon, but with our ages groups (5-7) and time constraint (less than 1 hour), I opted to create my own cut-and-glue handout instead.
Once everyone has their own Paper Wagon, give each child a Supply Sheet. You have already discussed what was needed, and you’ve read the book. This is a great way for little fingers to get busy with scissors and glue and have these beautiful historic images stampled on their mind a little better.
Let them cut out their favorites, reminding them they need food, tools, things to stay warm, etc. If they want to hang it outside the wagon, can it get wet? Do they have a small family member they need to save space for? Enjoy this activity – and feel free to bring out the props again for additional reference and fun.
Happy Pioner Day
A crockpot full of bacon beans, rice, or buttery potatoes would make a lovely pioneer snack if you have time. If not, a pickle is a memorable treat with significant meaning.
Handwriting Sheet
Remind the class to start their letters at the top. Read through the verse. If time allows, try to memorize and discuss how our main character took care of the sheep. Compare this to the Good Shepherd who laid down his life for us.
For more ideas on Pioneer Life, an earlier lesson on the book, Three Names, covers many pioneer themes.
For more ideas/activities on Sheep Sheering, and how you get blankets/clothing from a sheep (a large concept in this book), A New Coat for Anna, has a lesson and activity that goes along very well with this concept.
That’s it for this week! To see what we’ve done so far in our Homeschool Co-op’s Literature Series this year, click here. Each lesson builds on the one before and seeks to cover basic geography within the book, historical contexts, a handwriting sheet and a language arts lesson, as it applies to the book.
Or, you can check out the complete Learning the ABC’s through Literature Series, which is a similar series that we did with this same group of kiddos a year earlier. Both of these series of books have been inspired by the Five in a Row curriculum, with many of the books being the same. The ideas, implementation of it for a co-op, and printables are all my own, unless otherwise indicated. Thanks for stopping by to check it out!
