Kinetoscope

Kinetoscope

The kinetoscope was a wooden box used to look at images made on a kinetograph. A kinetograph took many quick pictures in a row. People paid a nickel to look through a slit in the box to see the images in motion. You can make your own kinetoscope and motion picture. NOTE: You will need an adult to help you with this project.
Download a Printer-Friendly PDF

Featured in Explore the Wild West!

Explore the Wild West!

More Projects Like This

A Monumental History

A Monumental History

From Reconstruction

Monuments designed to honor places, events, or people stand in public places across the United States. Some, such as the Lincoln Memorial and the Statue of Liberty, are classic icons. Others, such as the 2,000-pound African Killer Bee located in Hidalgo, Texas, are less than traditional. Monuments are often controversial. What is honorable to one person may be offensive to another. Also, the meanings of monuments change as the culture around them evolves. What do...

View
Does Racial Inequality Exist in Your School?

Does Racial Inequality Exist in Your School?

From Changing Laws

It can sometimes be hard to recognize racial inequality when it doesn’t directly affect you. Take a look at the statistics relating to your own school and see if anything surprised you.

View
Listen!

Listen!

From Singing for Equality

Music of the Civil Rights Era arose from several different styles of music, most notably gospel, folk, blues, and jazz. What did these different styles offer? How did they combine to form music that was completely new?

View
Planning a Boycott

Planning a Boycott

From Boycotts, Strikes, and Marches

Segregated buses and trains were only one of the ways whites discriminated against African Americans in the Jim Crow South. A boycott is the act of refusing to buy, use, or participate in something as a form of protest. Why didn’t the African American community use boycotts more often in their fight against segregation?

View

Reviews

A Moonbeam 2012 Gold Award Winner

School Library Journal
“Entertaining and informative. Overall, this is a useful and engaging introductory overview of the Wild West.”

Booklist
“Part teacher's manual, part student workbook, this resource invites early elementary kids to learn about the Wild West through hands-on projects and activities . . . No aspect of the Old West is neglected, and particular topics include geography, Native American cultures, miners and boomtowns, cowboys and cattle trails, and pioneer life. Yasuda shows off her Montessori training in conceiving the projects, most of which are perfectly suited to student self-direction and appeal especially to kinesthetic and spatial capacities. The book is also extremely teacher-friendly, thanks to clear directions and engaging images, and the materials for the projects are readily available in most classrooms.”

Becky Smith, Executive Director, National Oregon/California Trail Center
“Explore the Wild West! is an insightful, fun, and educational book with hands-on interactive history lessons. A great book for children and adults alike.”

Marla Conn, Education Consultant
“Explore the Wild West! is a great resource!”

Project Templates

Reading Explore the Wild West! now? Download your Map Your Own Lewis and Clark's Route template here.

Detailed Book Description

Explore the Wild West! invites young readers ages 7-10 to experience the spirit of the Wild West. Kids learn about explorers who mapped the American West, Native Americans, gold miners, cowboy culture, cattle drives, Wild West legends, frontier towns, peacekeepers, lawbreakers, and much more. Through projects ranging from making a settler's soddie to mining for gold, kids develop a better understanding of the rich history of the Wild West in the 1800s.

Available In:
Paperback, $12.95
9781936749713
Includes: Table of Contents | Timeline | Maps | Glossary | Resources | Index
Specs: 8 x 10 size | black and white interior | 96 pages
Subject: Social Studies
Content Focus: U.S. History
Leveling: Ages 7-10 |Grade Level 3-4 |GRL Q |Lexile 890L
- Show Keywords -

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction
Let’s Explore the Wild West!

Chapter One
Where Was the Wild West?

Chapter Two
Gold Rush Miners

Chapter Three
Moving West

Chapter Four
Pioneer Life

Chapter Five
Frontier Towns and Lawmen

Chapter Six
Native People in the West

Chapter Seven
Cowboys

Glossary
Resources
Index