Additional Project - "A Giant Conestoga Wagon" or "The Wagon Stops Here!"

Additional Project - "A Giant Conestoga Wagon" or "The Wagon Stops Here!"

Additional Project - "A Giant Conestoga Wagon" or "The Wagon Stops Here!"
Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 4 to 6
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	5.82

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		watertight, westward, perhaps, majority, travelers, original, breed, lasted, design, medium, supplies, journey, exactly, lines, secretary, often
	content words:		Oregon Trail, Lancaster County, James Logan, William Penn, Oregon City

Print Additional Project - "A Giant Conestoga Wagon" or "The Wagon Stops Here!"
edHelper.com subscriber options:

	Print Additional Project - "A Giant Conestoga Wagon" or "The Wagon Stops Here!" (font options, pick words for additional puzzles, and more)
	Quickly print reading comprehension
	Print a proofreading activity

Feedback on Additional Project - "A Giant Conestoga Wagon" or "The Wagon Stops Here!"

Leave your feedback on Additional Project - "A Giant Conestoga Wagon" or "The Wagon Stops Here!" (use this link if you found an error in the story)

Additional Project - "A Giant Conestoga Wagon" or "The Wagon Stops Here!"
By Sandra Marttinen

¹     Perhaps you heard your parents talking about going on a trip. You think about everything the family did on the last vacation. What an adventure! A thousand questions are going through your head. Where are we going? When are we leaving? What should we pack? Your excitement and plans are exactly the same as a family would have experienced in 1843 before leaving for the Oregon Trail.

²     The first step in their plan would be arranging transportation. Your father would either make or buy a wagon. There were three different types of wagons: a light wagon (about 8 feet x 4 feet), a medium sized wagon with sloping sides and ends (about 10 feet. x 4 feet), and a Conestoga wagon (about 16-18 feet x 4 feet). Many people think this was the wagon used by most of the pioneers. This is not true. Conestogas were freight wagons used to transport goods.

³     This wagon would have been too big and expensive for the majority of the travelers. The top was 28 feet long. It. was made from several types of wood. Oak was best for the wheels, while fir was used for the tongue. Blacksmiths used iron on the frame and bottom. Its size and weight would have been difficult and dangerous to drive over rivers and mountains. Oxen would have become exhausted and would have died from pulling it.

Paragraphs 4 to 9:
For the complete story with questions: click here for printable

Copyright © 2007 edHelper