United streaming is a free service to schools that allows you to access
short video programs and video clips on educational subjects. The link
below will take you to the United Streaming login screen. Ask your teacher
for your user name and password. Once you have logged in,
1. Click on "Playlist" at the top right-hand corner of the screen.
2. Then click on the "Westward Expansion" folder to open up your playlist.
3. Once you have decided which video you want to watch, click on the "S"
button to the left of its title. This will begin the streaming process.
4. Have patience while the video loads. Make sure you have headphones
plugged into the computer so that you can hear the soundtrack without
disturbing other students.
Internet Links
Click here for United Streaming Video
Other Resources Available in the Library
VIDEOS
Lewis and Clark: Explorers of the New Frontier (VHS, 50 minutes)
The Oregon Trail (VHS, 50 minutes)
The Pioneer Journey Westward (DVD, 23 minutes)
The Song of Sacajawea (VHS, 30 minutes)
United States Expansion (VHS, 25 minutes)
FICTION
The Ballad of Lucy Whipple by Karen Cushman.
In 1849, twelve-year-old California Morning Whipple, who renames herself
Lucy, is distraught when her mother moves the family from Massachusetts to a
rough California mining town.
Dear Levi by Elvira Woodruff.
Twelve-year-old Austin Ives writes letters to his younger brother describing
his three-thousand-mile journey from their home in Pennsylvania to Oregon in
1851.
For Ma and Pa by Haysby Wilma Pitchford
Recounts the adventures of thirteen-year-old John Sager who led his six
brothers and sisters 700 miles to Oregon in the early nineteenth century.
I'm Sorry, Almira Ann by Jane Kurtz.
Eight-year-old Sarah's high spirits help make her family's long journey from
Missouri to Oregon more bearable, though they do cause both her and her best
friend Almira Ann some problems.
The Journal of Jedediah Barstow, an emigrant on the Oregon Trail by Ellen
Levine.
In his 1845 diary, thirteen-year-old orphan Jedediah describes his wagon
train journey to Oregon, in which he confronts rivers and sandy plains, bears
and rattlesnakes, and the challenges of living with his fellow travelers.
Includes historical notes.
Mr. Tucket by Gary Paulsen.
In 1848, while on a wagon train headed for Oregon, fourteen-year-old Francis
Tucket is kidnapped by Pawnee Indians and then falls in with a one-armed
trapper who teaches him how to live in the wild.
Quest for the West by Peter Kent.
In 1849 the impoverished Hornik family decides to leave Bohemia and emigrate
to California in search of gold.
Westward to Home by Patricia Hermes.
In 1848, nine-year-old Joshua Martin McCullough writes a journal of his
family's journey from Missouri to Oregon in a covered wagon. Includes a
historical note about westward migration.