Book Summary
In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson asked his private secretary Meriwether Lewis to lead an expedition to find the Northwest Passage. Jefferson, along with countless others, believed this undiscovered waterway would provide an ideal trading route by connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. This book examines the reasons for the expedition, the preparations Lewis and his friend William Clark made for the trip, and the early part of the expedition. The informative text, presented in sequential order, is engaging and easy to understand. The adventure of Lewis and Clark is continued in Book 2: To the Pacific Ocean.

About the Lesson 

Targeted Reading Strategy

• Summarize

Objectives

• Sequence events
• Recognize and use adverbs
• Identify and use multiple meaning words

Materials

• Book - The Story of Lewis and Clark; Book 1: Up the Missouri River (copy for each student)
• Chalkboard or dry erase board
• Sequencing, Multiple-Meaning Words, Adverbs worksheets

     Indicates an opportunity to use the book interactively (All activities may be completed with paper and pencil if books are not consumable.)

Vocabulary

• Content words: boils, Continental Divide, expedition, fabled, hostile, interpreter, keelboat, nomadic, Northwest Passage, pirogues, sod, uninhabited