Pioneer GirlGrowing up on the Prairie

Andrea Warren

The Gold RushTeacher Read Aloud

How do you think James Marshall feels at this point in the selection? Why?

I think he feels happy and excited. He has just found gold. When people discover something of great value, it usually makes them feel this way.

Why does Sam Brannan walk down the streets of San Francisco shouting “Gold! Gold! Gold from the American River”? He wants people to go prospecting and they

will buy the from his store.

Do you think everyone who heard the tales of gold believed them at first?

No. The author says the tea box filled with gold dust served as proof. If someone needs proof then they are doubtful.

Do you think propaganda played a role in the 49’er’s plan to get rich quick? Why or why not?

Key Vocabulary

Claim Convinced Fertile Heifer Homestead Immigrants Sod memoir

Claim

A piece of land claimed by a settler Everything changed when the Yoder’s took a

claim nearby.

claim

I______this _________ upon my __________.

convinced

Caused to believe Obama convinced Netanyahu to wait a little

with attacking Iran.

convinced

“I am __________ that _________

_____________

_______________.

Please finish the sentence above.

fertile

Rich in material needed to grow healthly plants.

Poppie said that he had never seen such a land as this, so rich, so fertile.

fertile

We were able to harvest ___________ tons of ___________ off our _______ land.

Heifer

A young cow. Herding would have gone fine, had it not

been for one mean-tempered heifer who constantly threatened Grace with her horns.

heifer

The hardest part of the round-up was _______ the __________ from their ______________.

homestead

A farmhouse, its buildings, and the land it sits on.

A few months after the fire, a rainstorm struck the homestead.

homestead

The ___________ ACT made it possible for ____________________________.

Finish this sentence.

Immigrants

People who leave their native country to settle in another country.

The homesteaders settling around the McCances were mostly Swedish immigrants.

immigrants

________ brought _____________ to the United States of America.

Sod

A chunk of grassy soil held together by matted roots.

Grace and Florry gathered up their cob dolls and settled into the sod house for the winter.

sod

__________ was a problem when you live in a _________ house.

memoir

An account of the personal experiences of its author.

Whenever she is quoted, the words are directly from her memoir.

memoir

General Grant wrote

__________________

Please finish the sentence.

Structural AnalysisStressed and Unstressed syllables The new farm brought both adventures and

hardships.

In words with more than one syllable, one of the syllables has the most stress, or emphasis.

In the word, adventures, the second syllable has the most stress.

Ad VEN tures.

Structural Analysis: Stressed and Unstressed Syllables The weather was always a concern.

Try sounding this word out.

First try the stress on the first syllable: CAHN surn

Second, try it another way: cuhn SURN. This sounds familiar and makes sense.

Structural AnalysisStressed and Unstressed syllables Dozen Distance Destroy

Vowels in unstressed syllables are not always spelled the way they sound.

Voyage

Native

Notice

Final /ij/, /iv/, and /is/ are often spelled age, ive, and ice, and occur in unstressed syllables.

knowledge

This is a less common spelling for the final /ij/ sound.

Propaganda

Propaganda is an effort to make people believe a certain opinion or act a certain way.

Example is poster on page 500.

Propaganda techniques Overgeneralization:

Making general statements based on few or no facts Testimonial

Using a celebrity or an expert to support a product Bandwagon

Do this because “everyone else” is doing it Flattery

Your are smart if you chose this product. Transfer

Associating a person with a product so that consumers will transfer their admiration for the person to the product.

Faulty cause and effect Consumers will be happier simply as a result of using the

product.

Propaganda

An ad in the Kansas City paper says, “come to California. Everyone in the country is going west-don’t miss this golden opportnity.”

Bandwagon

propaganda

“I only travel in a Way West Wagon,” says Captain John Anderson. “They’re the best wagons money can buy.”

Testimonial

Propaganda

Everybody who traveled on the Santa Fe Trail enjoyed the trip. We have read the diaries of fifteen people who said it was an easy journey.

Overgeneralization

propaganda

Banish your blues once and for all by moving to the West, where true happiness awaits you.

Faulty cause-and-effect

Propaganda

When the President of the United States visited Independence, Missouri, he toured Maxwell’s Mule Stable, the most reputable seller of mules west of the Mississippi.

transfer