Route 66 in Missouri

Grades 3-5

Lesson Plan Overview: Route 66 travels directly through Missouri, stretching from St. Louis, across the Ozark Mountains, and through the prairies to the Oklahoma border. Springfield, Missouri, holds a special place in the story of Route 66 as the city where the highway was officially named. Today, its identity as the “Birthplace of Route 66” is still visible along its main streets. Each community along the highway offers its own distinct contribution to the road’s rich history. Exploring Route 66 provides an engaging lens through which students can examine the profound social, economic, and cultural changes that shaped American life throughout the 20th century. This lesson is divided into six 15-30 minute activities which can be completed in isolation or combined with the complete lesson plan. 

All materials available in Google Drive and PDF formats

Many thanks to the Route 66 Association of Missouri for its support!

MATERIALS

  1. Presentation for Lesson Plan

  2. Route 66 Mystery Box  (15-20 minutes)

  3. Mapping Route 66 (15-20 minutes)

  4. Reading: History of Route 66 in Missouri (20-25 minutes)

  5. Route 66 and the Green Book (25-30 minutes)

  6. Primary Source Activity: Life on Route 66 (15-20 minutes)

  7. Women on Route 66 (20-30 minutes)

  8. Art Activity: Plan Your Documentary! (25-30 minutes)

    ALIGNMENT WITH STANDARDS

    Missouri Social Studies Standards: 

    • 5. Knowledge of major elements of geographical study and analysis and their relationship to changes in society and the environment

      • 5A. Reading and constructing maps.

        • 3rd - Name and locate major cities, rivers, regions, and states which border Missouri.  

        • 3rd - Read and Construct Maps

      • 5E. Understanding relationships between and among places

        • 3rd - Describe how changes in communication and transportation  technologies affect people’s lives.

        • 4th - Analyze how changes in communication and transportation  technologies affect people’s lives.

        • 5th - Evaluate how changes in communication and transportation  technologies affect people’s lives.

      • 5F. Understanding relationships between and among regions

        • 3rd. - Identify and compare regions in Missouri

    • 6. Knowledge of relationships of the individual and groups to institutions and cultural traditions

      • 6A. Cultural characteristics of all people 

        • 3rd. - Comparethe culturalcharacteristicsofregions in Missouri 

      • 6C. Ideas and Beliefs of different Cultures

        • 3rd. - Research stories and songs that reflect the cultural history of Missouri

      • 6D. Cultural Heritage and Preservation

        • 3rd. - Describe how people in Missouri preserve their cultural heritage.

        • 4th & 5th - Analyze the preservation of cultural life, celebrations, traditions, and commemorations over time.

      • 6E. Changing roles of various groups

        • 3rd. - Examine the changing roles of Native Americans, Immigrants,African Americans,women and others in Missouri history.

        • 5th - Examine the changing roles among  Native Americans, Immigrants, African Americans,women and others from 1800-2000.

    • 7. Knowledge of the use of tools and social science inquiry

      • 7A. Identify, select, analyze, and evaluate resources to create a product of social science inquiry

        • 3rd. - Select and analyze primary and secondary social studies’ sources to determine importance with guidance and support. Create and use artifacts to share information on social studies’ topics.

        • 4th - Select,  primary and secondary social studies’ sources with guidance and support. Analyze and use artifacts to share information on social studies’ topics

        • 5th - Identify, select, analyze, and evaluate resources to  create a product of social science inquiry. Evaluate and use artifacts to share information on social studies' topics.

      • 7B. Use visual tools to communicate information and ideas

        • 3rd. - With guidance and support, use visual tools and informational texts to interpret, drawconclusions, makepredictions, andcommunicateinformation and ideas.

        • 4th - Use visual tools and informational texts to interpret, drawconclusions, makepredictions, andcommunicateinformation and ideaswith guidance andsupport, as needed. Create products such as maps, graphs, timelines, charts and models, diagrams etc. to communicate information and understanding.

        • 5th - Use visual tools to interpret, draw conclusions, make predictions, and communicate information and ideas.   Create and present products such as maps, graphs, timelines, charts and models, diagrams etc. to communicate information and understanding on social studies.

      • 7C. Understanding and supporting fact, opinion, bias, and point of view in sources

        • 3rd. - Identify facts and opinions in social studies’ topics.Identify point of view in social studies’ topics.

        • 4th - Distinguish between fact and opinion and recognize bias and point  of view in social studies’ topics.

        • 5th - Explain how facts and opinions affect point of view and/or bias in social studies’ topics.Identify, research, anddefend a point of view/position on a social studies’ topic.

    C3 Social Studies Standards: 

    • D2.Eco.4.3-5. Explain why individuals and businesses specialize and trade.

    • D2.Geo.2.3-5. Use maps, satellite images, photographs, and other representations to explain relationships between the locations of places and regions and their environmental characteristics.

    • D2.Geo.3.3-5. Use maps of different scales to describe the locations of cultural and environmental characteristics.

    • D2.Geo.6.3-5. Describe how environmental and cultural characteristics influence population distribution in specific places or regions.

    • D2.Geo.7.3-5. Explain how cultural and environmental characteristics affect the distribution and movement of people, goods, and ideas.

    • D2.His.2.3-5. Compare life in specific historical time periods to life today.

    • D2.His.3.3-5. Generate questions about individuals and groups who have shaped significant historical changes and continuities.

    • D2.His.6.3-5. Describe how people’s perspectives shaped the historical sources they created.

    • D2.His.10.3-5. Compare information provided by different historical sources about the past.

    • D2.His.11.3-5. Infer the intended audience and purpose of a historical source from information within the source itself.

    • D2.His.12.3-5. Generate questions about multiple historical sources and their relationships to particular historical events and developments.

    ELA Common Core Standards: 

    • RI.3.1. Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.

    • RI.3.3. Describe the relationship between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text, using language that pertains to time, sequence, and cause/effect.

    • RI.3.7. Use information gained from illustrations (e.g., maps, photographs) and the words in a text to demonstrate understanding of the text (e.g., where, when, why, and how key events occur).

    • RI.3.9. Compare and contrast the most important points and key details presented in two texts on the same topic.

    • RI.3.10. By the end of the year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, at the high end of the grades 2-3 text complexity band independently and proficiently.

    • RF.3.3.b. Decode words with common Latin suffixes.

    • RF.3.3.c. Decode multisyllable words.

    • RF.3.3.d. Read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words

    • RF.3.4.a. Read grade-level text with purpose and understanding.

    • W.3.3. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.

    • W.3.4. With guidance and support from adults, produce writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task and purpose. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1-3 above.)

    • SL.3.1. Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 3 topics and texts, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.

    • SL 3.1.c. Ask questions to check understanding of information presented, stay on topic, and link their comments to the remarks of others.

    • SL.3.2. Determine the main ideas and supporting details of a text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.

    • SL.3.3. Ask and answer questions about information from a speaker, offering appropriate elaboration and detail.