Heritage: Famous People of the West

Summary

Students will learn about two famous people who made an impact on the westward expansion and create a cartoon strip using the information.

Materials

• Reference books
• pictures of Brigham Young and Jim Bridger
• art paper
• rulers
• colored pencils.

Background for Teachers

A well known mountain man was Jim Bridger who came to Cache Valley as a young man to trap along the Bear River. Bridger used a bull boat to follow the Bear River until it flowed into a large body of salty water known as Great Salt Lake. Bridger established Fort Bridger in Wyoming after the trapping days were over.

Brigham Young was in charge of the Mormon Church and their expedition West in 1847. He was named the President of the Mormon Church and was responsible for the establishment of over 300 settlements in the west.

Intended Learning Outcomes

Students will be able to transfer information from a text into a comic strip with illustrations and dialogue between Jim Bridger and Brigham Young.

Instructional Procedures

Put the names of Jim Bridger and Brigham Young on the board. Ask the students for facts about these two famous men. List the facts and identify traits about the men. Challenge the students to do some research to find more personal facts and information about the reasons these men were in the Utah Territory.

Refer to Essential questions on the Heritage Gateways lesson plan book.

Instruct students to do research on Jim Bridger and Brigham Young. Have students record interesting facts about them on a large retrieval chart for all the students to use as a reference.

After facts are listed, the students will work in pairs to create a cartoon strip with at least four boxes depicting what might have taken place on June 28, 1847 when these two famous men met and talked.

Create a clever dialogue between Jim Bridger and Brigham Young in the cartoon. Use balloons that contain real quotes or illustrates the men's personality and expertise. The background for the cartoon should be authentic to the times.

Extensions

Students can make more than four boxes and then role play the situations taken from the cartoon strips.

Assessment Plan

The cartoons strips should be completed with a minimum of four boxes, colored pictures, and the conversation should be factual information.