Westward Expansion Travel Brochure Project Guide
A 10-step, multi-day project guide in which 5th graders research the benefits, risks, landmarks, and routes of westward migration and then write a persuasive travel brochure. It builds research, note-organizing, and persuasive writing skills, with a step-by-step roadmap, checkboxes, and sign-off points that let students work at their own pace before moving to Canva.
“create a 15 day lesson plan, very detailed exact graphic organizer with instructions to complete this project. They will be using Canva but not until they are totally signed off on the writing portion. this is a wild west module they're reading about”
Teacher Guide & Tips
- Use this as the backbone of a 15-day unit: roughly days 1-3 for brainstorming and research (Steps 1-4 using HMH Module 4 texts), days 4-6 for organizing notes into a Benefits vs. Risks graphic organizer (Step 5), days 7-10 for drafting and revising the persuasive writing, and days 11-15 for teacher sign-off and then Canva design work.
- Discussion question: Why might a family in the East find the promise of western land persuasive, and what risks would they have to weigh against it?
- Scaffold for struggling readers: Provide a pre-filled sample Benefits vs. Risks chart with one example from the text, and allow students to dictate or sketch ideas before writing full sentences.
- Extension for advanced students: Ask them to write a counter-brochure from the perspective of a Native American nation or a family who warned against migration, comparing how persuasive techniques shape the reader's view.
- Estimated time: About 40-50 minutes per day for research and writing, with a 30-minute block reserved for each teacher sign-off checkpoint.
What is Diffit?
Teachers use Diffit to get quality materials for their unique classrooms. Adjust difficulty, add scaffolds, or change the topic to get started.
Try Diffit for free“create a 15 day lesson plan, very detailed exact graphic organizer with instructions to complete this project. They will be using Canva but not until they are totally signed off on the writing portion. this is a wild west module they're reading about”
Teacher Guide & Tips
- Use this as the backbone of a 15-day unit: roughly days 1-3 for brainstorming and research (Steps 1-4 using HMH Module 4 texts), days 4-6 for organizing notes into a Benefits vs. Risks graphic organizer (Step 5), days 7-10 for drafting and revising the persuasive writing, and days 11-15 for teacher sign-off and then Canva design work.
- Discussion question: Why might a family in the East find the promise of western land persuasive, and what risks would they have to weigh against it?
- Scaffold for struggling readers: Provide a pre-filled sample Benefits vs. Risks chart with one example from the text, and allow students to dictate or sketch ideas before writing full sentences.
- Extension for advanced students: Ask them to write a counter-brochure from the perspective of a Native American nation or a family who warned against migration, comparing how persuasive techniques shape the reader's view.
- Estimated time: About 40-50 minutes per day for research and writing, with a 30-minute block reserved for each teacher sign-off checkpoint.
Westward Expansion Travel Brochure Project Guide
A 10-step, multi-day project guide in which 5th graders research the benefits, risks, landmarks, and routes of westward migration and then write a persuasive travel brochure. It builds research, note-organizing, and persuasive writing skills, with a step-by-step roadmap, checkboxes, and sign-off points that let students work at their own pace before moving to Canva.
What is Diffit?
Teachers use Diffit to get quality materials for their unique classrooms. Adjust difficulty, add scaffolds, or change the topic to get started.
Try Diffit for free