The Price of a Pioneer Journey Adding and Subtracting Two Digit Dollar Amounts By Barbara M. Linde

 

Title: The Price of a Pioneer Journey 

Adding and Subtracting Two-Digit Dollar Amounts\

Author: Barbara M. Linde

Illustrator: None

Genre: Historical Fiction, Informational, Mathematics

Award: None

Ages: 7- 8 Years old

Summary:

This short Historical fiction story, talks about the first settlers who came to the West side of the United States in the 1840's for a search of a better life. These first settlers were known as the Pioneers. The pioneers formed into groups to travel the west side together in wagon trains. They traveled for about 2,00 miles in covered wagons pulled by horses, oxen, or mules. One of the main roads to which they traveled into the West was known as the Oregon Trail. However, before the pioneers decided to take off to the West side, they had to buy animals and supplies.They used addition and subtraction to figure out how much money they would spend on animals and supplies. They bought things to eat as well, like dried fruit, rice, flour, and beans. Sometimes, the pioneers bought all their supplies in one store, called the general store. The wagon trains had to cross over rivers on their trip. So, the people had to built bridges for them, but each train wagon had to pay to cross over these bridges. Also, there would be ferries that would help the pioneers to cross over the river, but these pioneers also had to pay for the ferries as well. Sometimes these travelers traveled for several days and weeks, and there would be no supplies for them. Therefore, for every stop that these travelers made, they took the opportunity in buying more supplies, when there were available supplies for them. After, the pioneers got over the Rocky Mountains, they arrived at Oregon City, which became the end of their trail. Some of these settlers were in need of new clothes and food. Nevertheless, they bought their supplies there, and the new settlers began living their new lives in the West. 

Book Evaluation:

1) I would recommend this book to my class because it talks about accurate facts about the first settlers. It gives a lot of great information in such a short story for the young students to remember and learn. I also, like that there is a little glossary in the back of the book, so the students can look back and understand what some of the terms mean.

2) I would recommend this book to the second graders all the way through the third graders.

3) I would definitely use this book in the unit of History and Math. This would be an excellent way to introduce to them how the United States came to be. Also, this would be an excellent way to teach the young students how to count money. I would use an activity where I would bring fake money into the class, and have them reenact what they just read from the book. I would create a scene, where their groceries cost like $80, and they gave me a $100 bill.