LESSON FIVE: Cattle Drive
LESSON DESCRIPTION
Students participate in a hands-on activity in which they complete a cattle drive while encountering Indian raids, cattle rustlers, and raging rivers. Based on nonfiction text and research from the previous days, students write a letter home making predictions about the activity. After completing the activity, students write another letter home describing problems faced during the cattle drive, solutions to some of the problems, and outcome of the drive.
GRADE-LEVEL EXPECTATIONS
R3C make inferences to respond to a nonfiction text by following cause and effect
R3C make inferences about problems and solutions and make predictions using details from texts
W3E write a well-organized communication in a selected form appropriate to a specific audience (e.g. parent, friend, younger child) and purpose
LESSON MATERIALS
§ Sources of Literature
o None
§ Supplies
o Six brooms
o One hundred balls of scrap paper for each group of six
o Frisbee
o Masking tape
o Money for payment at end of drive
§ Handouts provided
§ Words to know
o infer
o predict
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT
Using prior nonfiction readings, students make inferences about problems encountered on a cattle drive and make predictions on how they would address those problems. Students present these ideas in the form of a Day One letter home written from a cowboy’s perspective. Day One scoring guide provided. After completing the mock cattle drive, students write a Day Two second letter home telling about their cattle drive experience, especially the successes and difficulties encountered. Day Two scoring guide provided.
LEARNING ACTIVITIES
Day One
1. Letters Home
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Strategy
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Student begin by writing a letter home to parents/family making inferences about problems that may be encounter on a cattle drive and the amount of work needed for a successful drive. Students also predict how they will address these problems and whether their drive will be a success. |
2. Cattle Branding/Group Organization
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Strategy
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Place students in groups of six for their cattle drive. Each group needs to design a brand and brand 100 cattle (paper wads). Do this by drawing their brand on each paper wad. Students also need to divide up the jobs for Day Two. They will need
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Questions for Students
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Why were brands important for the ranchers? Can you discuss the importance of the placement of the brand on the animals? How would you develop a brand for your ranch? Can you think of alternatives to branding cattle? What would have happened if the cattle had not been branded? What is your brand? How is it different from other brands?\ How did brands help the cowboys and ranchers? Choose an alternative to branding and tell how your alternative would be better worse. |
Day One Formative Assessment Script
On the day before the cattle drive, compose a letter to your family. Write about problems that could arise on the cattle drive. Include ways to solve these problems.
Day One Formative Assessment
Scoring Guide
Part A Format
1 point: Letter has three or more elements of a letter (date, greeting, indented paragraphs, closing, signature)
0 points: Other
Part B Content
2 points: Students make two or more predictions/inferences about problems they may encounter using details from nonfiction texts.
1 point: Students make one prediction using a detail from a nonfiction text.
0 points: Students make one prediction but use no detail from a nonfiction text.
Day Two
1. Cattle drive
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Strategy
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For each brand, one student should be the drive master who leads the drive and four are outriders who stay beside and move the cattle (these should have been divided the day before). All cattle are mixed up and placed in the center of the floor. Next, cattle should be cut out and separated by brand. Each group goes into the 'cattle' two at a time to find their brands and cut them from the herd. The remaining cowboys keep the cattle. The cattle drive begins after all cattle are sorted. Teams travel one at a time through the trail. At the end of the trail, the cattle are sold, the bills paid, and the cowboys receive their pay. |
2. The Trail
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Strategy
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This needs to be about 50 feet long. One suggestion is to begin in a gym or cafeteria and work towards a classroom. The first stop is a water hole and rustlers attack. One person throws a frisbee three times and every cow under it has been stolen. The next obstacle is Indian territory where the drive master must deal in cattle and broom horses for the right to pass. The next two or three obstacles are bridges. These are just masking tape placed to form a rectangle about 2 ½ feet long and 4' wide. Any cattle that go over the tape have been lost to the river. The cattle are then counted and sold and the bills are paid. All cattle are moved with brooms. No hands allowed. |
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Suggestion |
Before the cattle drive set up a cattle trail. |
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Ideas
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Extension Ideas: Research outlaws and design wanted posters. Design new badges for the lawmen. Design new clothing for the cowboy. |
Day Two Formative Assessment Script
You have just completed the cattle drive. Write a letter home to your family telling about your cattle drive experience relating especially the successes and difficulties you encountered.
Day Two Formative Assessment
Scoring Guide
Part A Format
1 point: Letter has 3 or more elements of a letter (date, greeting, indented paragraphs, closing, signature)
0 points: Other
Part B Content
2 points: Students describe two or more problems and their solutions that happened during the cattle drive activity.
1 point: Students make one problem and its solution.
0 points: Other.