Title – Who Were the Cowboys?

By – Ana Arrien

Primary Subject – Social Studies

Secondary Subjects – Language Arts

Grade Level – 3-5

Purpose:

The cowboy is a prominent figure in the story of American history and even more so in the story of Texas history. Many books, songs, and movies have been written about cowboy life. So much has been written about cowboys that they have been mythologized. The legendizing of cowboys can also be attributed to the fact that they themselves liked to tell stories about their long travels.


The following lesson is meant to integrate history with reading and writing by using the study of cowboys in Texas history with the study of tall tales during a genre reading lesson and finally, by having students write their own tall tales using cowboy characters.

Time Frame:

This unit is meant to last at least two weeks, but is left open for teachers to pace according to their scheduling needs.

Curriculum Objectives:

• Social Studies:
  The student will be able to explain the growth of the cattle industry and the life of a cowboy.
  
  
  Big question: What kind of people were cowboys?
  

• Reading:
  During this unit of study, the students will gain practice in distinguishing between fact and myth, reading and writing for varied purposes (in this case to be entertained),
  
  recognize the features of tall tales as a genre
  
  . The singing of the song is helpful to the student’s fluency, listening and speaking skills.

Procedure:

• 
  Play a cowboy song
  
  (
  
  Cattle Call
  
  by Tex Ritter), having students just listen the first time through, then pass out the lyrics and read aloud as the students follow with their fingers without the music. Have students choral read through the words again without the music. Finally, play the song a few more times while the
  
  students sing along
  
  .

  Cattle Call The cattle are prowlin’ and the coyotes are howlin’ Way out where the dogies bawl Where spurs are a-jinglin’ a cowboy is singin’ This lonesome cattle call Woo-hoo woo-hoo hoo hoo Woo-hoo woo-hoo hoo hoo Woo-hoo woo-hoo hoo hoo hoo Woo-hoo woo-hoo hoo He rides in the sun, till his day’s work is done And he rounds up the cattle each fall Woo-hoo woo-hoo hoo hoo Singin’ his cattle call For hours he will ride on the range far and wide When the night wind blows up a squall His heart is a feather in all kinds of weather He sings his cattle call Woo-hoo woo-hoo hoo hoo Woo-hoo woo-hoo hoo hoo Woo-hoo woo-hoo hoo hoo hoo Woo-hoo woo-hoo hoo He’s brown as a berry from ridin’ the prairie And sings with an ol’ western drawl Woo-hoo woo-hoo hoo hoo Singin’ his cattle call

• After singing through a few times, have students share their thoughts about the song, discussing the mood of the song, the meaning of the lyrics, etc. Then generate a class
  
  K-W-L chart
  
  of what students think they know about cowboys and what they would like to know more about (keep the list up till the end of the unit).

• 
  Read all or parts of each chapter
  
  of
  
  Cowboys of the Wild West
  
  by Russell Feedman, instructing the students to keep in mind the big question:
  
  What kind of people were cowboys?
  
  Ideally, every student or pair of students would have a copy of the text to follow along and post-its or index cards to write down unknown words. Most likely should be done as a read aloud, stopping to discuss, clarify, and check for understanding intermittently. Can also have students act out or illustrate after each reading session.

  
  Time frame
  
  can vary; half a chapter to a chapter a day is recommended. It is also recommended to leave time to sing the
  
  Cattle Call
  
  song at the beginning each day.

• After each reading session, the teacher can also lead a
  
  class discussion
  
  using the overriding question:
  
  What kind of people were cowboys?
  
  as a focus. The teacher should list student responses on chart paper and leave it up to continue adding throughout the unit study.

• 
  The Writing Block
  
  will be spent studying the elements of a tall tale. The teacher might start each day with a read aloud of a tall tale. Maybe even different versions of the same tall tale. Pecos Bill is recommended since the students will eventually be writing their own cowboy tall tale. The teacher would first want to do a class generated tall tale and then either have students work in small groups (three) or individually to write their own.

Vocabulary Extension:

The teacher draws from the student’s post-its to make vocabulary index cards to serve as flash cards with the word on one side and the definition with an example on the other (or the students can make the flash cards). The students then pair up and act out their word charades style while the other one tries to guess the word. The words can also be written on the board somewhere as a bank. Then the students trade roles. Then trade partners. Can do several rounds as time allows.

Closing:

Once finished studying

Cowboys of the Wild West

, go back to the K-W-L chart and mark a true or false next to each item on the list under “K” that students thought they knew and have students list the things they learned.

E-Mail

Ana Arrien

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