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K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Living the pioneer life

In this lesson, students will use photographs of Appalachian log dwellings to understand how advances in technology, the desire to own land, and political incentives have resulted in economic and social changes over time for the people of North Carolina. The students will examine text and historical documents to assess the time period in which log cabin structures were built, the reasons for constructing them, and the lives of the people who built these houses.

A lesson plan for grade 4 Social Studies

By Sonna Jamerson

Provided by North Carolina State University / D.H. Hill Library and Special Collections

Learn more

  • Built Heritage collection The Built Heritage collection in North Carolina State University Special Collections provides access to documentation on hundreds of buildings and structures in North Carolina dating from the 1700s to the early 1900s.
  • ThinkQuest The ThinkQuest website provides many links offering teachers and students opportunities to explore topics related to pioneer life.
  • The Cradle of Forestry Historic Site A school field trip to this site allows students to choose from a movie set in the late 1800s, a hands on exhibition hall, or an interpretive trail to learn about the lifestyles of early pioneers.
  • Log Cabin Reconstruction Project Log Cabin Reconstruction Project on the Chatham County Historical Association website discusses the ongoing restoration of two log cabins built during the Civil War era.

Related pages

  • Vance Birthplace (NC Historic Site): Learn about the birthplace of Zebulon Baird Vance and his famous mountain family on this site.
  • Lighting the maritime path: The geography of North Carolina's lighthouses: In this lesson students will examine images of North Carolina lighthouses from the Built Heritage Collection at North Carolina State University and explore various websites to determine the relative location of eight North Carolina lighthouses and develop an understanding of maritime activities and coastal living.
  • Outfitting a World War I soldier: Teaching US history with primary sources: What do soldiers wear? Students will say a uniform and mention boots. However, many of the necessities of soldiers are often overlooked by civilians whether the items be standard issue or personal.This lesson gives students the opportunity to not only look at William B. Umstead's artifacts from World War I, but gain insight into how and why each item was used.

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Learning outcomes

  • Students will be able to answer the following essential questions:
    • What is a pioneer or settler?
    • What character traits did these people need to have in order to survive the tasks and challenges they faced?
    • Why did early settlers build log cabin structures and how are those structures invaluable in the tourism industry today?
    • What are the similarities and differences between pioneer life and today’s lifestyle?
  • Students will:
    • Identify the time period log cabin structures were built
    • Recognize why people eventually started settling west of the Appalachian Mountains
    • Relate to the challenges faced by the people who built these houses
    • Examine primary source documents
    • Write an imaginative narrative about pioneer life

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

Three 45-minute class periods

Materials needed

Pre-activities

  • Make copies of the following materials — one for each student:
    • “Log Cabin” and “Sawmill” articles
    • True/false and short-answer Test
    • Pioneer life T-chart
    • Pioneer life imaginative writing prompt
  • Prepare the following materials to be posted somewhere in the classroom:
    • Critical vocabulary
    • Anticipation guide questions (See day two, step two in “Activities” below.)

Activities

Day One: Mapping Skills — Where did the pioneers come from and where were they going?

  1. Using the ThinkQuest links below, show students the various maps to explain how pioneer life started in the Appalachian Mountains and continued in time through the westward expansion:
  2. Ask students these follow-up questions:
    • What was the first area pioneers settled? (Appalachian Mountains)
    • What year did they begin settling there? (1760)
    • How many years ago was that from this year — 2009? (249 yrs.)
    • Where was the next place people began to settle? (They started traveling west, but they were still east of the Mississippi River.)
    • Make an inference as to why settlers would leave the homes they built to move west? (They wanted to start new lives; opportunities for inexpensive or free land; the land provided rich and fertile soil for their crops; looking for magical places to find gold and to hunt and trade fur pelts)

Day Two: Pioneer Life in America

  1. Review the critical vocabulary with the students.
  2. Guide students, using the following anticipation guide questions. Ask the students to either agree or disagree with the following statements, which will help them to make connections to prior knowledge and develop an interest in the topic.
    • People always used the same materials and techniques to build houses.
    • Children of pioneer families usually had their own bedrooms.
    • Appalachian log cabins were first built in the 1700s.
    • Cabins were built of logs because they needed to use the resources available in the environment.
    • Pioneers used electricity to heat their homes during the winter months.
    • Pioneers developed the technology of indoor plumbing.
    • Pioneers would get water for cooking, taking a bath, or cleaning from a well, spring, or other natural water source.
    • Pioneers used outhouses instead of indoor bathrooms.
    • Sawmills were an advancement in technology, helping to assist the construction of log cabins.
    • Log cabins are out of style and never built for dwellings today.
    • Log cabins help today’s economy because the tourism industry depends on these structures for revealing the true Appalachian culture from the early 1700s.
  3. Have students work in groups of three to four to read the “Log Cabin” and “Sawmill” articles. Keep the anticipation questions visible for students to view and discuss as they read the articles.
  4. After reading, have the students work independently to answer the true/false and short-answer test.

Day Three: Students as archaeologists

Preview activity

  1. Tell the students: Imagine you are a child who lived during the pioneer days. Illustrate the type of house you would live in, the flora and fauna that would surround your house, and any other details you learned from yesterday’s reading activity.
  2. Give students share time, helping them understand the objects that would or would not be available during pioneer days.

Main activity

  1. Project the eight Built Heritage cabin images either on the LCD projector or on transparencies using the overhead projector one at a time. For each image, guide the students in a discussion using spiral questions that range from a knowledge level to a critical-thinking level:
    • What do you see in the photograph?
    • How would you describe the scene?
    • What do you hear or smell in the scene?
    • What types of tools would be needed on a farm like this one?
    • What animals did settlers need and use? Why?
    • What do you think is the approximate date of this scene? Give one piece of evidence to support your answer.
    • How would your life be similar or different if you were living during this era?
  2. As a whole class, have the students work with you to complete a T-chart, comparing and contrasting the similarities and differences between pioneer life and 21st century life.
  3. Lead a discussion of how advances in technology, the desire to own land, and political incentives have resulted in economic and social changes over time for the people of North Carolina.
  4. Ask the students to respond to the pioneer life imaginative writing prompt.

Critical vocabulary

pioneer
One of the first to settle in a territory
sawmill
A mill or machine for sawing logs
outhouse
An outbuilding (for using the restroom)
flora
Plant or bacterial life
fauna
The animals characteristic of a region, period, or special environment
westward expansion
The settlement of the North American continent from the Atlantic Coast to the Pacific

Websites

North Carolina curriculum alignment

Social Studies (2003)

Grade 4

  • Goal 3: The learner will trace the history of colonization in North Carolina and evaluate its significance for diverse people's ideas.
    • Objective 3.01: Assess changes in ways of living over time and determine whether the changes are primarily political, economic, or social.
  • Goal 7: The learner will recognize how technology influences change within North Carolina.
    • Objective 7.01: Cite examples from North Carolina's history of the impact of technology.
    • Objective 7.02: Analyze the effect of technology on North Carolina's citizens, past and present.

  • North Carolina Essential Standards

    • Social Studies (2010)

      • Grade 3

        • 3.H.2 Use historical thinking skills to understand the context of events, people and places. 3.H.2.1 Explain change over time through historical narratives (events, people and places). 3.H.2.2 Explain how multiple perspectives are portrayed through historical...

      • Grade 4

        • 4.H.1 Analyze the chronology of key historical events in North Carolina history. 4.H.1.1 Summarize the change in cultures, everyday life and status of indigenous American Indian groups in North Carolina before and after European exploration. 4.H.1.2 Explain...