Aftermath of Windlass Hills
The 4th grade class went looking for a better life on a 2 week journey towards Oregon City. The students had the opportunity to build covered wagons over their desks and travel to Oregon alongside Hattie Campbell (book was read in class). As a class, we discussed all the hardships (diseases, Native Americans, exhaustion) the travelers encountered along their 2000-mile journey. There were a bunch of bumps in the road along their trip, but the most memorable was the wagon crashing down Windlass Hill in Nebraska. Students had to quickly find a new family to travel with before they were left behind. Along their journey, they traveled through 6 states, which took on average 6 months. On our journey, the entire class SURVIVED! Then the class constructed their own wagons that had two circumstances: 1) float and 2) hold an egg (supplies).